Last season will go down as one of the worst in Columbus Blue Jackets’ history. The team was drastically worse than it looked on paper at the start of the year and an extreme amount of injuries was a key culprit. They almost immediately lost their number one defenseman, Zach Werenski, to a shoulder injury. After that, they lost a veteran top-six winger, Jakub Voracek, whose career is most likely over. Then a plethora of other injuries to most of their team at one point or another had them constantly dealing with a bench bereft of NHL talent.
The 2022-23 Blue Jackets were like your favourite fast-food restaurant during the COVID era. The uniform was the same but the level of service was greatly lowered. Most of the faces you saw were different and the people you’re used to seeing weren’t acting quite the same because of how overworked they were.
The Blue Jackets had to rely on so many of those new faces for so much of the season. And while it wasn’t great as a whole, in a vacuum there were some bright spots that gave a glimmer of promise and hope for the future. Let’s have a closer look at those rookie players from last season.
Forwards: Johnson, Marchenko & More
Remarkably, Kent Johnson received zero votes for the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL Rookie of the Year. It’s surprising because the skilled forward was able to post 16 goals and 40 points on one of the worst teams in the league. At times in the season, the Jackets were basically icing an American Hockey League (AHL) team and Johnson was still able to produce the fifth most points among rookies. Yet, no love in the Calder race. You can bet he will take that personally this season, which should delight Jackets fans.
The only Blue Jacket who received a vote for the Calder Trophy, or any award for that matter, was pure-shooter Kirill Marchenko. From the moment that he arrived in Columbus, his positivity and jovial nature were a beacon of light in a season of darkness. He started last season with Cleveland and I think it’s fair to say that his AHL career will end with only those 16 games played. Once he was called up to the big leagues, he showed what all the hype was about.
His record-setting season put him on the map, with a franchise-high 21 goals as a rookie. He did that in just 59 games too, so through a full season he was on pace for just under 30 goals. With Johnson and Johnny Gaudreau as elite playmakers, the Blue Jackets’ top-six is looking a lot more dangerous with a second elite shooter in Marchenko to join Patrik Laine.
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Some great depth pieces were also on display throughout last season. That includes Hunter McKown, who joined the team as a college free agent signing after a solid season with Colorado College. He showed strong decision-making, flashes of some serious skill, and was excellent in the faceoff dot – winning 55.2 percent of his draws. While 12 games is a small sample size, there was definitely promise there.
Defensemen: Blankenburg, Berni & More
After four successful seasons at the University of Michigan, Nick Blankenburg instantly endeared himself to the fifth line. He was smart in the defensive zone, able to throw a big hit, score a big goal, and clearly didn’t get the memo that he’s only 5-foot-9.
Unfortunately, the same reckless abandon that endeared Blankenburg to the fanbase also put him into compromising positions which led to injuries. In a key season for his development, the now 25-year-old was held to only 36 games. However, when he was in the lineup, he was excellent. He posted 14 points which is a pace of almost 32 points through a full season. Quite impressive for an undersized rookie defender. Should he be able to stay healthy, it’s not out of the question to project him as the next Torey Krug.
Tim Berni was definitely a beneficiary of the team’s injury situation last season. The defensive defenseman started the season in the AHL but was called up in December and made himself a staple on the blue line. He played the third most games by a defenseman with 59, only trailing Andrew Peeke (80) and Erik Gudbranson (70). He was lauded for finding some chemistry with Gudbranson and was mostly slotted in beside the grizzly veteran. With the new additions and current logjam at the position, I would imagine he starts next season in Cleveland, but the Blue Jackets have a decent 6-7 defender should the injury bug bite again.
Re-signing Marcus Bjork was a tidy piece of business by Blue Jackets management. He’s another solid, big-bodied defender that could be a good 6-7 option, or fetch a late-round pick from a contender at the trade deadline.
Jake Christiansen has had a prolific AHL career thus far. If the 23-year-old can tap into an ounce of that offense at the NHL level, he’ll be a steal. His 24-game sample size was not overly impressive but was a nice taste of the big leagues for him.
It was a tough season for the Jackets from start to finish. One of the few blessings was the ability to see what they had in their professional prospect pipeline. It’s clear that with a little more seasoning, there are some promising pieces in the organization. These players plus the additions of the latest draft class, including Adam Fantilli, are strong evidence that the team’s brightest days are ahead of them.
