Columbus Blue Jackets: 3 steps to become contenders
Keep relying on depth
While it can be argued that the Blue Jackets do have the cap space to make a run for a free agent, and likely should, the depth in the forward lines is solid moving forward. The likes of Sam Gagner, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Josh Anderson, and even players like Boone Jenner and William Karlsson give much reason to hope that the future is bright.
The depth on the forward lines was a pivotal factor in the 50-win season the Blue Jackets experienced. When you can bring in a forward on the league minimum salary and get 50 points, 18 of them on the man advantage, in 81 games from him, it’s hard to complain about lack of productivity from the bottom six.
On top of Gagner, there is another light being lit in the future of Columbus hockey, and that is Oliver Bjorkstrand. The Danish sniper was able to make the team out of camp, but his lack of offensive production saw him sent back to Cleveland rather quickly. But with 26 points in 37 games for the Monsters, Bjorkstrand earned the trust of Tortorella and Co. again and got his call-up. He finished the 2016-17 NHL season with six goals and seven assists in 26 games for the Blue Jackets. The Bjorkstrand hype train is rolling again, and rightly so.
On top of those two, the Blue Jackets have players like Boone Jenner who, even though having a slump in the first half of the season, can add the blue collar presence John Tortorella loves, while still chipping in offensively. Players that fit that mold, like Josh Anderson, are extremely important to the future of the organization. While the -3.64 Rel.CF% of Anderson points the 17 goals and 12 assists as an unsustainable occurrence, his end-to-end style and ability and willingness to fit into the system prove to be enough to see him becoming somewhat of a Jared Boll-esque figure in The Buckeye State, but with actual ability to score goals.
To wrap all of this into one statement: the Columbus Blue Jackets need to have faith in the depth they have, as this same corps of players will see them rolling deeper into the Stanley Cup Playoffs sooner rather than later.