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Columbus Blue Jackets cannot afford to miss the playoffs

By Dave Stevenson

COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 3: Zach Werenski #8 of the Columbus Blue Jackets talks with Seth Jones #3 of the Columbus Blue Jackets before a face off against the Winnipeg Jets on March 3, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - MARCH 3: Zach Werenski #8 of the Columbus Blue Jackets talks with Seth Jones #3 of the Columbus Blue Jackets before a face off against the Winnipeg Jets on March 3, 2019 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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Many projected the Columbus Blue Jackets to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs even before they added Matt Duchene, Ryan Dzingel, Keith Kinkaid, and Adam McQuaid at the trade deadline. But after a rough week, they’re in danger of missing the postseason.

The Columbus Blue Jackets knew they were going to have a tough choice to make in February even before the 2018-19 season began. During the summer, with a year remaining on each of their deals, both Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky refused to sign long-term extensions.

Despite this, the Blue Jackets decided to hang onto both of them and play both situations by ear. If they were Stanley Cup contenders, it would be easy to justify keeping both through the trade deadline. But if the Blue Jackets fell apart, they could at least trade both and build for the future.

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Columbus elected to the former option. Not only that, they doubled down on it by trading a mountain of draft picks and prospects to acquire several huge pieces at the trade deadline.

Blue Jackets Got:

Blue Jackets Gave Up:

  • 2019 first-round pick (top three protected)
  • 2020 first-round pick (depending on if Duchene re-signs)
  • Vitaly Abramov
  • Jonathan Davidsson
  • Anthony Duclair
  • 2020 second-round pick
  • 2021 second-round pick
  • Julius Bergman
  • 2019 fourth-round pick
  • 2019 seventh-round pick
  • 2022 fifth-round pick

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The Blue Jackets saw their chance to finally do something in the postseason. Each time they have gone to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, they’ve been eliminated in the first round. General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen bet on his team by mortgaging a healthy portion of their future to finally deliver a Stanley Cup to Columbus.

They emerged from the trade deadline as one of the biggest winners. Few teams in today’s NHL go bold. The Blue Jackets pushed in their chips and didn’t hold back. If they’re going down, they’re going down swinging out of their gosh darn shoes.

Since the deadline on Monday, Feb. 27, the Blue Jackets have a 1-3-0 record. They fell to an already shorthanded Pittsburgh Penguins team on Monday. Next, the Blue Jackets managed to scrape out an overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

They entered the first weekend of March with a chance to get some points over the Edmonton Oilers and the Winnipeg Jets in a back-to-back. The Blue Jackets got zero points out of the weekend and are currently out of the playoffs, though they trail the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild-card spot by just two points with one game in hand.

The Risk Of Going All-In

Columbus went all-in because they thought the risk was worth the reward. Ultimately, the hefty price they paid for upgrades will be worth it if they experience postseason success. However, there’s an undeniable amount of risk involved too. What if the Blue Jackets don’t do any better than they have? Or what if, heaven forbid, Columbus misses the postseason?

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Luckily, the Blue Jackets lottery protected their 2019 first-round pick in the Duchene, so they won’t be potentially giving up Jack Hughes. However, their future was dicey even before they mortgaged it. Now, the Blue Jackets face an extremely uncertain future.

It’s quite possible Columbus will lose four of their best players (Bobrovsky, Dzingel, Duchene, and Panarin). Losing Panarin is a given, so maybe the Blue Jackets will pay to keep Duchene. If they want to do that, they’d have to give up their 2020 first rounder, which would further steepen the price of going all-in.

The next two weeks have the potential to make or break the Blue Jackets. They enter the seven-game stretch with 75 points. 95 points is a pretty consistent cutoff point for the postseason. The easiest way to get there is 10 regulation wins. Over the next two weeks, they’ll face six teams fighting for a spot in the postseason, including the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins twice each.

In a few months, the Blue Jackets are either going to look brilliant and change the way teams approach the trade deadline or they will look like fools. For the sake of entertainment, everyone hopes Columbus has success so trade deadline day can mean something again. The MLB, NBA, and even the NFL have crazier, more fun trades than the NHL. Teams go all-in more often in those leagues than in the NHL.

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It’s not a secret the NHL is a copycat league. If other teams see another team having success, they’re going to copy what the team is doing. At the same time, if a team tries something bold and fails, no one’s going to copy them. For better or for worse, the Blue Jackets are a test subject of how to handle the trade deadline.

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