So the Columbus Blue Jackets haven’t exactly met everyone’s expectations this year. Just because their efforts have not translated into wins in the NHL, it doesn’t mean that they can’t help your fantasy team rack up some points.
The Must-Own Players
Ryan Johansen
Despite the drama surrounding Johansen, he has had respectable fantasy production thus far in 2015-16. He is currently ranked 97th overall in Yahoo fantasy and is owned in 94% of leagues. He is still an elite talent and should be owned and started every night until coach John Tortorella banishes him to the bench…or Siberia. With Torts, anything is possible.
Brandon Saad
Saad goal pic.twitter.com/I1AE5XLsqo
— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 10, 2015
The Blue Jackets big catch of the offseason has performed well, depending on your expectations. There is no reason that he should not score 30 goals this year, and if some of his teammates pick up their production, the sky is the limit for Saad. Ranked 78th in Yahoo leagues, he should be owned and started every night. Scott Hartnell Hartnell is always a solid fantasy asset. He can score, takes a fair amount of shots, and racks up a decent amount of penalty minutes. Another must start based on all around metrics. Sergei Bobrovsky
Bobrovsky robs James Neal pic.twitter.com/YYBbgUv7bl — Stephanie (@myregularface) November 21, 2015
A lot of people drafted Bobrovsky relatively high in anticipation of a big year in Columbus. After early season struggles he was dropped by a lot of people, then picked back up after a good showing prior to getting injured. Given the current team situation, “Bob” isn’t exactly a given for regular wins, but is still a solid start at a position where quality is hard to come by.
The Second Tier
Cam Atkinson
Atkinson has shown promise, and a solid goal scoring touch. He shouldn’t necessarily be owned all of the time, but if you need an injury replacement you could do worse.
Boone Jenner
Boone Jenner goal pulls Columbus even with Colorado pic.twitter.com/AjML9n4let
— Stephanie (@myregularface) October 25, 2015
Boone Jenner could have a similar review to that of Atkinson, but Jenner has the higher upside. He could, and should become a consistent 30-40 goal scorer in the NHL. Keep a close eye on him.
Nick Foligno
If you had told me that Foligno wouldn’t be a must-own player this year I would have thought that you were crazy. If the Captain can correct his game, he will definitely be on that list. But until then he is just a stop-gap player like Atkinson and Jenner.
The Keepers
Alexander Wennberg
Wennberg with the Blue Jackets first goal in the Tortorella era, ties the game 1-1 pic.twitter.com/DyF7oQJh3F — Stephanie (@myregularface) October 23, 2015
Wennberg has been one of the few bright spots on the Blue Jackets roster, but that hasn’t translated to fantasy value. Look past the numbers of this season and there are a lot of reasons to be excited about this youngster’s future.
Ryan Murray
After an injury-shortened season last year, the return of Ryan Murray was considered to be the saving grace of the Blue Jackets defense. No pressure.
Murray has struggled at times like the rest of the Columbus roster, but the talent is definitely there. He will be an asset in fantasy hockey for years to come. Just not this year.
Just like in real life, the lack of fantasy success from the Columbus roster has been a head shaker. But there is a great future ahead of many of these players, and hopefully they will figure out what ails them sooner than later.
Until next time.
Each gif in this post was made, as you can tell, by Stephanie@myregularface on Twitter. If you aren’t following her already I highly recommend it. She does amazing work.