Will Columbus get back to the Post-season?
In the 2009-10 season, just a year removed from their first ever play-off appearance, the Columbus Blue Jackets finished second last in the Western Conference. The team struggled to get it going all season, with sniper Rick Nash only managing 67 points.
Halfway through last season coach Ken Hitchcock was fired in favour of Scott Arniel. Hitchcock is known to be a defensive coach, but also one of the leagues best tacticians. Despite being out of a job he was brought along to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver as a coach for Team Canada.
At the end of the 2010 season it looked as though Arniel was moving the Blue Jackets towards a more offensive game. He gave the forwards more slack, and allowed play to open up. The results were not positive as the team still could not generate a great deal of goal scoring, and their defence and goaltending was less than perfect.
With a full off-season to adjust his game plan and have his team buy in, it will be interesting to see whether or not Columbus has the ability to get back into the Western Conference play-offs.
Line-up Changes
The Blue Jackets have undergone very limited line-up changes this off-season. Perhaps the most important move was acquiring former Edmonton Oilers captain Ethan Moreau.
Outside of the Moreau acquisition General Manager Scott Howson has remained quiet, deciding to stick with his current line-up.
Forwards
The Blue Jackets are still a very young team that should benefit from the development of their youth seeing a full season. It is expected that prized prospect Nikita Filatov will return to the line-up. Filatov was clashing with Hitchcock’s defensive style, and will certainly welcome the coaching change.
The first line will contain Antoine Vermette, Kristian Huselius, and all-star Nash. The Second line looks ready for the 2010-11 campaign and will feature youngster Derrick Brassard at centre, with R.J. Umberger and Nikita Filatov on his wings.
It is difficult to predict the teams third line, as several of the team’s depth players departed at the end of the season. It is clear that the line will have Samuel Pahlsson, and Jakub Voracek playing on the wings.
The fourth line will feature former Washington Capitals captain Chris Clark, Moreau, and tough guy Jared Boll.
Defence
The Blue Jackets defence still needs a great deal of work, as they had a terrible season last year, and are missing two or three puck moving defencemen.
There is expected to be a four-way race for the top two spots on defence, which will feature Mike Commodore, Rostislav Klesla, Fedor Tyutin and the recently re-signed Anton Stralman. The final two spots are most likely to be filled by Jan Hejda and Kris Russell.
Goaltending
Set to begin his third year in the league, a great deal of pressure falls on the shoulders of youngster Steve Mason. Mason had an impressive first season with the club, winning the Calder Trophy as the leagues top rookie, and making a case for the Vezina as the league’s top goaltender. Mason’s sophomore year was the exact opposite, the youngster could not seem to find his groove, and the Blue Jackets were victims of sub-par goaltending for most of the season.
Can Columbus get back to the post-season?
It is unclear how effective an offensive game plan will be, paired with the Columbus forward crop. They have several forwards that would love the opportunity to break out offensively. However, the Blue Jackets current group of forwards are simply not talented enough to compete in run-and-gun hockey with the top teams in the Western Conference.
Nevertheless, the Blue Jackets success will come down to their goaltender Mason, and the resurgence of Rick Nash as a 50 goals scorer. In addition, the club will have to hope that rookies Brassard and Filatov live up to their high draft selection and chip in some secondary scoring.
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