Gudbranson says Columbus ‘still bitter’ after narrowly missing postseason for 5th straight year
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BRAMPTON, Ontario — What a difference a year makes for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Though they fell just short of earning an unexpected berth into the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, they are ready to enter this season with a sense of purpose and a belief that had been absent for too long, one that leaves them confident they can end the franchise’s five-season playoff drought.
“We’re still bitter about how our season ended,” defenseman Erik Gudbranson told NHL.com at the 11th annual Smilezone Celebrity Golf Tournament at Lionhead Golf Club on Monday. “We felt like we should have got in. We left some doors open we should have closed. From an honest way, we were looking at that as we kind of shot ourselves in the foot here and there but that still very much burns throughout the summer. Guys are attacking their summers very purposefully this year.”
After defeating the Detroit Red Wings 5-3 in front of 94,751 in the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Ohio Stadium on March 1 in their 60th game of the season, the Blue Jackets were 30-22-8 and held the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
But a 1-7-1 stretch immediately after, during which they were shut out on four separate occasions, dug them a hole even a six-game winning streak to end the regular season could not overcome. Columbus (40-33-9) finished two points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card.
When Don Waddell was hired as president of hockey operations and general manager of the Blue Jackets on May 28, 2024, he spent the next several months observing the culture within the organization before coming to a startling conclusion.
“The one thing is, I’m not saying it was everybody, but losing was acceptable (here) and losing is not acceptable,” Waddell told SiriusXM NHL Network Radio on Aug. 22.
Gudbranson had shared a similar belief with NHL.com the day prior.
“We have to get something out of every single day, we can’t lose a day,” he said. “We’re not in a position to do so. We did that the last two years (2022-23 and 2023-24) and it did not work out well…We’ve got to get our culture going the right way.”
But then tragedy struck just over a week later on Aug. 29, when forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew died when they were struck by an alleged drunk driver, who has been charged with two counts of death by auto, while riding bicycles near their home in Salem County, New Jersey.
The Blue Jackets only knew one way to move forward last season.
“Within the dressing room, with everything that happened with the Gaudreaus, we were just flat-out better people to each other,” Gudbranson said on Monday. “Not to say we were bad previously, but that brought in a culture of caring and just being better teammates. That obviously translated on the ice, we were just better people all around.”
It is fair to say Gaudreau’s legacy was impactful and remains strong within the organization.
“We played a lot better than we had in previous years and that goes to our attention to detail and just the growth of the group,” Gudbranson said. “Our new coaching staff led by Dean (Evason) were not hard on us, but very direct and we were purposeful in how we attacked every single day and that made a difference. We got something out of every day this year. Me and Boone (Jenner) weren’t [on the ice] for a long portion of it but we were seeing it.”
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The reasons for optimism are real. The Blue Jackets very nearly made the playoffs despite missing Boone Jenner, their captain, for 56 games after sustaining a shoulder injury in practice on October 4 that required surgery. He did not return until Feb. 22.
Gudbranson himself missed all but 16 games after sustaining his own shoulder injury against the Florida Panthers in Columbus’ third game of the season on Oct. 15. He was out until March 24.
Veteran center Charlie Coyle, who has made the playoffs each of his 13 NHL seasons, was acquired along with veteran forward Miles Wood from the Colorado Avalanche on June 27. The trade sent a message to the players that the future is now.
“Huge, huge,” Gudbranson said. “There’s a good belief system there that [management] really does believe it. Bring those guys in, guys who have been in the NHL a long time, they’re going to help a ton. We’re very excited to have them.”
Perhaps most importantly, young forwards Kirill Marchenko (25 years old; 31 goals, 43 assists), Kent Johnson (22; 24 goals, 33 assists), Adam Fantilli (20; 31 goals, 23 assists) and Dmitri Voronkov (24; 23 goals, 24 assists) each established new career highs in goals and assists last season. Rookie defenseman Denton Mateychuk was tied for second among rookie defensemen with 13 points (four goals, nine assists) while averaging the 10th most ice time at 18:02 in 45 games.
Rookie forward Luca Del Bel Belluz, who is likely to push for a full-time NHL role, was effective in 15 games with eight points (two goals, six assists), and he recorded 53 points (27 goals, 26 assists) in 61 games with Cleveland of the American Hockey League.
“Those guys all took huge steps forward,” Gudbranson said. “We feel very good about where we are at. There’s a ton of work to be done. The NHL is a hard league to win in so we certainly can’t rest on our laurels and feel good about what we did the prior year. You can have a minute of that, but you have to turn the page and get back to work because within the locker room, we believe we can do some really good stuff.”
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