Columbus' 6-4-0 start includes a number of good signs going forward, but also some areas for improvement
Every NHL season is an 82-game marathon – that, at times, feels like a sprint – where every team develops its own quirks, habits and personality.
A year ago, the Blue Jackets were a young, maturing, exciting team learning how to win games consistently at the NHL level. They often scored goals in bunches (but sometimes not at all), excelled at home, and struggled on the road and in the second half of back-to-backs, all while making a big jump in the standings and nearly returning to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
This year, the story has just finished its first chapter, with the Blue Jackets going 6-4-0 through the first 10 games. Already, there’s been major improvement away from home (4-1-0 record) and in the back half of consecutive games (2-0-0), and Columbus finds itself tied for the final Eastern Conference playoff game through the opening 10 contests.
While teams are ever-evolving in the NHL, one thing that has carried over from one season to the next with this group is its culture and habits. Through the opening stretch of games, head coach Dean Evason has seen several positive qualities about his team, but what might excite him most is how the Blue Jackets have fortified a culture of showing up each day ready to give their best.
“Besides the (Colorado) game, I know that we’ve had solid efforts,” Evason said. “There’s been some circumstances with our special teams and some circumstances with some maybe lack of scoring, but there hasn’t been a lack of commitment, a lack of effort, so that obviously is exciting for the coaching staff.
“I think that the standard that they have set, as we’ve talked about before, going back to last year, the work is there. That’s what we really like about our team.”
Defenseman Zach Werenski sees one key difference, though, as the Blue Jackets have taken the ice this season. While last year’s squad was still developing a level of swagger to match the league’s perennial contenders, Werenski said he feels the current team goes into each game believing it will do what it needs to do to earn two points.
“We have the confidence going into every night that we feel like we can win every game,” Werenski said. “I feel like we didn’t have that last year until maybe November, December, Christmastime, maybe January. I think that’s a good confidence to have right now.”
So far, it’s been evident in the results, with Columbus winning four of seven contests against playoff teams from a year ago. While it remains early in the campaign, the Blue Jackets have shown signs of improving weaknesses from last season – but have had some new ones pop up along the way.
Where do things stand through the opening 10 games of the season? Here’s three observations on what’s going well – and what needs improved – so far in the season.
The depth up front has emerged as a real strength of the team, and the last two games have been proof of that.
Tuesday night against Buffalo, the line of Miles Wood, Isac Lundeström and Yegor Chinakhov – what many would call the team’s fourth line – combined for three goals including the overtime winner against the Sabres. A night later, the trio of Cole Sillinger, Charlie Coyle and Mathieu Olivier combined for 11 points as the Blue Jackets pulled away from the Maple Leafs.
General manager Don Waddell didn’t make a ton of moves in the offseason, but bringing in Coyle, Wood and Lundeström – who had 30 combined seasons of NHL experience coming into the campaign – has served to deepen the lineup up front. That’s proved crucial in a compacted schedule, as the Blue Jackets were able to roll four lines and save the legs of top players in the back-to-back earlier this week.
“I feel like we’re probably a deeper team than last year,” Werenski said. “That’s no offense to the guys that are gone, but you have a guy like Charlie Coyle as your third-line center, you have Lundy as your fourth-line center, you have Chinny playing on your fourth line. We’re a really deep team.”
A look at the analytics shows how well the CBJ forward lines have meshed, especially recently. The top line of Dmitri Voronkov, Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko has been as good as advertised, outscoring teams 8-1 and earning a 55.7 percent goal share at 5-on-5 per MoneyPuck.com. The Coyle line has a 7-2 edge in scoring and earned 55.6 percent of expected goals, while the Lundeström line has outscored teams 2-0 and posted a 56.3 percent expected goal share in the two games since Wood’s return.
The only outlier right now is the line of Boone Jenner, Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson (outscored 5-2, 42.3 percent expected goal share), but much of that is skewed by a rough outing Wednesday vs. Toronto. But given the success up and down the lineup, the Blue Jackets are in a good position when it comes to depth thus far.
“That’s a strength in our team obviously right now, and that’s something we’re going to look to continue moving forward,” Olivier said.
Denton Mateychuk just might be the Blue Jackets’ next great defenseman.
OK, maybe we’re getting a little ahead of ourselves saying that. But Mateychuk’s performance as a 21-year-old drawing top-pair minutes alongside Werenski has been nothing short of impressive in the early going.
According to MoneyPuck, the Werenski-Mateychuk pairing has played 108.3 minutes so far this season, outscoring teams 5-3 and earning 56.7 percent of the expected goal share. That places 13th among the 47 NHL defensive pairs to play at least 100 minutes.
Mateychuk himself has shown more willingness to get involved offensively this season, too, scoring two goals and adding an assist through 10 games. When he tallied in back-to-back games vs. Dallas and Washington, he became just the third CBJ defenseman age 21 or under to do so.
“It’s hard being a young defenseman in this league, trying to help the team win and have results,” said Werenski, who knows all about that having been a 19-year-old rookie back in 2016-17. “He’s been unbelievable. I’ve really enjoyed playing with him. It’s only a few games now, but I feel like we’ve really played well together. He’s a smart player. He makes plays all over the ice. He defends hard.
“It’s been fun to get to know him on a deeper level. I’ve known him throughout the room, but I feel like sometimes you know your D partner better than anyone else because you’re talking to them the most. I have gotten to know him a lot more that way, and I’m really enjoying it. He’s a hell of a player.”
Evason occasionally notes that being a hockey coach is like filling a never-ending supply of holes in a dike. The second you get one leak fixed, a different one pops up.
So while it isn’t as easy as getting better at the penalty kill – Columbus currently has killed 65.6 percent of penalties, 28th in the NHL – and expecting more wins to come, it’s also fair to say the PK has been one of the team’s biggest weaknesses this season.
The Blue Jackets have allowed just 17 goals in 10 games at 5-on-5, the eighth-best mark (1.7 per game) in the NHL. On the other hand, Columbus has ceded 11 power-play goals, leaving the Blue Jackets as just one of four NHL teams to allow more than one goal per game on the PK.
Things have been better in the last three contests, with Columbus killing six of seven penalties, and the numbers are a bit skewed by Minnesota scoring four power-play goals in the Jackets’ win over the Wild in game No. 2 of the season.
At the same time, the Blue Jackets are still looking to get better on the PK, including homing in on a new system that’s still working out the kinks.
“We made some changes,” Evason said. “We have kind of a hybrid of what we did and a hybrid of a couple of different systems. Obviously, we haven’t had success on it, but we believe if we stay the course that we will. We’ve had some big kills already this year – and again, some circumstances that we talked about before with (giving up goals with) one second or three seconds (left).
“We’re working hard at it, and we’ll continue to do that and hopefully we can get some stops. We’re not panicking about it. We just have to keep working and get the job done.”
A kill is all about minimizing the opposition’s chances, and the numbers show the Blue Jackets have struggled so far. Per Natural Stat Trick, Columbus is in the bottom seven of the NHL on the PK in shot attempts against per 60 minutes, expected goals against per 60 and high-danger chances against per 60, which indicates where the problems lie to Evason.
“If there’s one area that we’re concerned about or have been concerned about is that we’re not firm enough in front of our net, which is a little bit uncharacteristic for us,” Evason said. “We’ve asked the group to do that and make it a little harder to get to that area. A lot of the goals that have been scored aren’t flank shots or one-timers or seams, so systemically we’re in place. But we’re getting beat around the net, which means that we’ve got to do a better job of getting people away from there or getting the puck away from there.”
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