3 Underrated Blue Jackets Who Could Be Key Contributors in 2026-27

The Columbus Blue Jackets in this upcoming season will need to rely on some complimentary players to step up, and be the reason this team takes the next step because there is an expectation the top end talent is not enough.

They will need guys along the middle six of their forward group to take a big step forward and be a key contributor in this season for them. Statistically speaking, with essentially very few additions in key spots this offseason, the team is basically banking on a core group of guys from a season ago who ranked 19th in total offense, and ranked 24th in the league in offensive zone time at just 40.2% which is just below league average of 41.5%.

So, what exactly is the plan, for this group with no real proof of looking to change what happened to a team who appeared to have it all before a late season collapse led to them giving up their playoff bid, and extending the streak to six years.

They will need someone who is not expected to be a big impact producer step up and step into a prominent role of being a one of the reasons the offense becomes a juggernaut. If not, they will likely be stuck in place, and the playoff drought will roll on.

Conor Garland

One of the guys who desperately need a career resurgence, and the Blue Jackets need to take a step to the next level is Conor Garland. He is likely to slate in on the second line, but could also play on the third or fourth lines dependent on production.

They badly need him to play well enough to be a second line winger. If he can’t crack it on the second line, his contract becomes a serious weak spot for them to try to move on from. The 30-year-old winger is in year one of a six year extension that will pay him $6 million per year.

In all reality with a rising salary cap, that number doesn’t sound bad, but with little to no production that contract can swell the cap number quickly. It would look much better if he is the gritty addition on the second line with Sean Monahan and Kent Johnson.

This isn’t specifically a make of break season for Garland, but they need him to prove he has what it takes to score, forecheck, and consistently be a pest for the opposition. If he can take a significant step forward in his goal scoring ability, or even just his playmaking that would create so much additional offense for the team.

He can be an extremely underrated piece of the second line, but he could be a 25 goal scorer or more in Columbus, that would propel this team quite a bit and would give far more than what is expected out of him this season. ESPN Fantasy Hockey currently projects him at 14 goals this season, but if he gets it going early on, that momentum could continue to build.

Garland is a guy who cost them a pair of high picks, a 2026 Third Round pick, and a 2028 Second Round pick, so it is something they will have to answer for, alongside his contract, if indeed he does flop in his first full season with the team.

Ivan Provorov

How do you expect a guy with an $8.5 million per year cap hit to be considered underrated? Well, I am glad you asked, because he is a major piece in a lot of ways, yet he also so easily can float just under the radar in Columbus as well.

As a foundational piece of what the Blue Jackets are looking to do defensively to take an opponent away, Ivan Provorov does everything defensively that needs to be done, and he is super clean in doing so. He has split time in so many different pairings, but his pairing with Denton Mateychuk seemed to stick at the end of the season, and worked well for both guys.

Provorov brings the defensive lock down ability, and give Mateychuk a chance to play free offensively and create chances off the rush and on stretch passes. Both guys benefit from the others playstyle and it resulted in them being ranked sixth amongst NHL defensemen pairings in expected goals percentage (xGoals%) at 65.7%, just behind their top line teammates Zach Werenski and Damon Severson.

Most Distance Skated Last Season 👀

1. Connor McDavid → 330.27 miles
2. Quinn Hughes → 307.46 miles
3. Ivan Provorov → 299.86 miles
4. Moritz Seider → 299.85 miles
5. Matthew Schaefer → 298.60 miles
6. Jackson LaCombe → 295.86 miles
7. Lane Hutson → 295.21 miles… pic.twitter.com/kJ0x1MSqOk

— NHL Forum (@NHLxForum) August 22, 2026

Provorov is also a minutes eater in Columbus, and that is something he will have to do again for top talent to get a chance to breathe, and not be forced to play 28 minutes a night. The fresher the Blue Jackets keep Werenski, the better they can be, which in turn means Provorov is going to see a lot of ice time.

For an ironman like him, that shouldn’t mean anything out of the ordinary. However, they have to get him playing to a level that shows up in more than just the box score for time on ice. It has to be production, that is visible on one end or the other.

That could simply mean being a bit more aggressive on the offensive end of the ice, trying to step up in plays more and spring an attack, or even stepping around defenders to create a better shot lane from the point. Somehow, someway, he has to be more of a factor, and needs to be a key contributor moving forward in the season.

If they can only get real offensive production from two defensemen, Werenski and Mateychuk, it is going to be extremely hard for the Blue Jackets to get more offensive production from a set of forwards who struggled to do it consistently last season. They will need more, and Provorov is next up.

Luca Del Bel Belluz

If you want to talk about a player who pretty much has outgrown the AHL, and now just needs to stick in the NHL, it has to be Luca Del Bel Belluz. He has essentially been fighting for a roster spot for the better part of two years now, but just couldn’t stick in with the NHL club.

An injury to Isac Lundestrom, the presumptive fourth line center, has now opened a window for Del Bel Belluz to find his way to the club and gain every chance he needs to stay up. This past season for him in AHL with the Cleveland Monsters was an impressive one, as he tallied 22 goals and 36 assists in just 55 games.

He did find time on the ice with the Blue Jackets last season in 14 games, but tallied just one assist in the games, and really struggled to get his offensive game going. That would be a huge bump offensively for them is him bringing his AHL success to the NHL ice.

His offense shows so much promise, if he can put it all together, and consistently, he can be a real impact player and not just playing fourth line minutes.

Say it with us LUCA DEL BEL BELLUZ!!!! 🗣🗣🗣

#65 WITH HIS 1ST NHL GOAL, IN HIS 1ST NHL GAME, ON HIS 1ST SHOT 🤯@Nationwide | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/0fyZdCbcuA

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 16, 2024

It might be the hardest to predict his statistics over anyone else on this roster, just because of the vast variance in his scoring abilities from AHL to NHL, but he could be a guy who puts up huge numbers and doesn’t fit on that fourth line.

If he can get up to 15 or more goals, the team would be thrilled I would have to imagine, but a more realistic number for him I believe is 10 goals. The offensive contribution will be the biggest factor because he is an undersized guy, at 6’1″ 185lbs.

One thing that could benefit him on the fourth line will be the pace of newly added winger, Ryan Lomberg, whose pace of play could help benefit keeping Del Bel Belluz flying around on the ice and create offensive chances.

As I mentioned earlier, this season is reliant on other contributors who aren’t expected to be an impact to be the ones who step up, and in this case the Blue Jackets could benefit greatly from these three guys doing it. If they can get them all to be bigger impacts in their own way, they may have just enough fire power to make some noise in the postseason.