This will certainly be a different training camp for the Blue Jackets, and it starts with the man who will start putting the team through the paces this morning in the OhioHealth Ice Haus.
New head coach Dean Evason comes to Columbus with a winning pedigree, not to mention a critical eye as he steps onto the ice.
And that starts with how he’s going to approach getting to know his team in the opening days of camp, presented by OhioHealth.
In two words, it’s a clean slate for everyone.
“I’ve asked the coaching staff to not tell me about the players and their personalities or what happened last year, how they played or how they conducted themselves,” Evason said. “I don’t care. I don’t care what happened last year. I just care about what’s going to happen tomorrow and in practice and in moving forward.”
Indeed, while Evason acknowledged there are some players he can pencil – or perhaps even pen – into the lineup come the Oct. 10 opener in Minnesota, this year’s camp will be an opportunity for the 55 players in camp to show what they bring to the table as the Blue Jackets look to climb out of consecutive last-place finishes in the Eastern Conference.
There are spots up and down the lineup that will need to be filled, and everyone on hand comes in with a chance to do so. For the CBJ players, who will step onto the ice in front of the coach with the seventh-best points percentage among mentors with at least 250 games behind a bench, it’s an exciting time to try to get better.
“He’s been coaching for pretty much as long as I’ve been alive, to be honest,” defenseman Zach Werenski said about the 25-year coaching lifer. “He was really good in Minnesota. Obviously they struggled a little bit last year, but after conversations with him, the one thing I kind of gathered, it’s just black and white. He’s gonna tell you how it is. There’s no gray areas.
“And I think that makes it a lot easier as a player when you’re not thinking too much. You just know what’s right, know what’s wrong. It allows you to go out there and play, and it kind of frees you up a bit. I’m really excited for it, ready to get camp going.”
As camp starts, what should fans know about the Blue Jackets? Read on to find out what’s new, what’s the same, and what the team hopes to accomplish over the next three weeks.
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What’s New
The Blue Jackets made some forays into the free agent market and also said goodbye to some notable names from the past few years, but the reality is this isn’t a majorly different squad from what the team put on the ice the past two years.
The most notable addition came up front, where NHL veteran Sean Monahan signed a five-year deal to bring a No. 1 center and some consistency to the CBJ offense. Monahan has topped 20 goals in eight of his 11 seasons in the NHL and played in a league-high 83 games last year between Montreal and Winnipeg, posting a 26-33-59 line that’s in line with his career averages. He’s one of the top faceoff men in the league as well and should be able to hold down a spot in the top six for the Blue Jackets.
Columbus also made a late signing up front this past weekend in James van Riemsdyk, a 15-year veteran of more than 1,000 NHL games. A pro’s pro, the man known as JVR is coming off a season in which he showed he can still be a consistent contributor at the NHL level, totaling 11 goals – six on the power play – and 38 points in 71 games with Boston.
On the blue line, the major addition is Jordan Harris, a 24-year-old who played in 121 games over the past two seasons with Montreal. A Massachusetts native brought in via the Patrik Laine trade with the Habs, Harris is coming into his own and describes himself as a two-way defenseman who is ready to take a step forward with his game after getting his feet wet with Montreal.
Among the other veterans brought in by the front office are center Dylan Gambrell, who has 17-23-40 in 233 games in six NHL seasons; returning defenseman Jack Johnson, a longtime CBJ blueliner who won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022 and still has something in the tank at age 37; and goalie Zach Sawchenko, who made seven NHL appearances in 201-22 with San Jose.
Then there are some young prospects who could force their way into the lineup, a group highlighted by a pair of 20-year-olds in forward Gavin Brindley and defensman Denton Mateychuk.
The Big Ten Player of the Year a season ago, Brindley was one of the top 10 scorers in both goals and points college hockey last year at Michigan, and the 2023 second-round pick made his CBJ debut at the end of last season.
Mateychuk, meanwhile, was a dominant player with Moose Jaw of the WHL, leading the Warriors to their first league title and showing well in a cameo late last season with AHL Cleveland’s playoff squad. The 2022 first-round pick might just be difficult to keep off the ice.
What’s Old
While the roster is a bit older with the additions of such players as Monahan, van Riemsdyk and Johnson, it’s still a pretty young group.
That being said, veteran leaders like captain Boone Jenner, alternates Zach Werenski, Sean Kuraly and Erik Gudbranson, and such players as Justin Danforth, Mathieu Olivier, Ivan Provorov, Damon Severson and Elvis Merzlikins will comprise the core of the team this upcoming season.
Outside of that group, there’s a major chance for the team’s young players to take steps forward. Cole Sillinger and Yegor Chinakhov enter their fourth seasons in CBJ colors; Kent Johnson, Kirill Marchenko and David Jiricek are in year three; and Adam Fantilli and Dmitri Voronkov enter their second seasons in the NHL.
All except Marchenko and Voronkov are first-round draft picks, and those two combined for 41 goals a season ago for the Blue Jackets. In other words, those 25-and-under players are in many ways the future of the franchise, and the quicker they continue their transition into consistent players – and potential stars – the more success the Blue Jackets will have.
“There’s no doubt we have a lot of guys in their first, second, third, fourth year,” Jenner said. “This league is tough to break into at a young age. Sometimes you forget that or sometimes guys lose track of that. I think the strides that they’ve taken in their short time here already, I think they’ll just continue to get better at it. I think they’re all gonna be a big part of our team, and they are, so I look forward to that continuing to grow.”
What To Watch
The Blue Jackets’ biggest question comes on the defensive side of the ice, where Columbus has struggled the past two seasons, giving up the most goals in franchise history in 2022-23 and the second most a year ago. The Blue Jackets have a good mix of veterans and up-and-comers in the defensive corps, but there will need to be major improvements.
And as we mentioned above, the Blue Jackets have made a big investment in youth – and dealt with the growing pains of that the past few seasons. At some point, that decision has to pay dividends, and it should start this season as those players continue to gain experience at the NHL level. The size of those strides Jenner referred to could be the difference between another long season and potential postseason contention.
“We’re looking for the players to take the next step,” general manager Don Waddell said. “We’re not going to race them into that. They’re going to be provided an opportunity, and they have to take advantage of it.”
The common thread between those two potential areas of improvement? Evason, who got the best out of such young scorers as Kirill Kaprizov, Kevin Fiala and Joel Eriksson Ek in Minnesota and who has preached to have a hard-working team with good structure on a night-in, night-out basis.
“When we go into a building or teams come in here, they know that if they don’t work hard, they lose,” Evason said. “Simple as that. Our hockey club will work hard each and every night. We might get beat on skill set or something one night or another, but we can never get outworked.”
In addition, the tragic offseason passing of Johnny Gaudreau leaves not just a tremendous hole in the locker room but one at the top of the lineup as well. That will also mean more opportunity for the youngsters on hand, but the Blue Jackets will have to find their way on and off the ice without the seven-time All-Star.
What’s Happening
Fans are invited to the OhioHealth Ice Haus on Sunday for the team’s annual open practice, with the doors opening at 11:30 a.m. and scrimmages starting at 12:15.
The first 1,000 fans will receive free T-shirts, Tim Hortons will provide coffee and debuts, while the Blue Line will have items available for fans to purchase. In addition, two sessions of the Get Out And Learn program are open for kids ages 5-12 to try hockey for free.
After that, the Blue Jackets will open the preseason Monday at 5 p.m. with a game at Buffalo. The four home preseason games will be held Sept. 25 (St. Louis), Sept. 28 (Buffalo) Sept. 30 (Washington) and Oct. 3 (Pittsburgh). All games will begin at 7 p.m.
In addition, scheduled practices Thursday through Saturday, next Monday and then Oct. 4 and Oct. 7 are slated for the OhioHealth Ice Haus and will be open to the public.
