It’s been a long, strange offseason.
Since carefully placing a miserable 2022-23 season into a protective container and marking it “radioactive,” the Blue Jackets have gone through quite a journey the past five months.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets ‘moving on’ from Mike Babcock fiasco they helped create
They’ve fired a coach, picked a new goaltending coach, hired a controversial bench boss, forced that guy’s resignation 78 days later and handed the head coach’s whistle to associate coach Pascal Vincent. The Blue Jackets also added veteran defensemen Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson via trades before selecting a franchise pillar, center Adam Fantilli, third overall at the NHL draft.
Now, mercifully, the NHL’s preseason has arrived. Here are six storylines to follow as the Blue Jackets return to work:
Columbus Blue Jackets may give Patrik Laine another look at center
Babcock’s unceremonious departure may have done more than clear a path for Vincent to get the head coaching job. It might’ve breathed new life into the Jackets experimenting with Patrik Laine at center.
Laine first broached the idea with Vincent, whom he’s known since their shared time with the Winnipeg Jets plus the past two years in Columbus. Laine’s opportunity didn’t materialize until late in the season, when Vincent ran the bench while former coach Brad Larsen took a short absence, and he performed better than expected.
A triceps injury limited the experiment to two games, so Babcock’s arrival felt like a kibosh for the idea. Vincent is the new lineup maestro and is a believer in Laine’s multiple talents. Don’t be surprised if the Finn gets another crack at center.
Columbus Blue Jackets to use strategies similar to Mike Babcock’s plan
One area Babcock could’ve boosted was defensive play. His systems and defensive structure are straight forward and make things easier on goaltenders, who have simple decisions to make in most situations — including odd-man rushes.
Babcock’s team during his NHL career scored an average of 247 goals and yielded an average of 224 goals in seasons that weren’t cut short by work stoppages or the COVID-19 pandemic. That’s an average goal differential (+23) that would get a team into the playoffs most years.
Babcock’s no longer around, but Vincent said the Jackets’ coaching staff spent extensive time talking with the former coach about strategies and systems. The new coach was pleased to learn his own hockey philosophies meshed with Babcock’s thinking.
“That’s where we got along really well, Mike and I,” Vincent said. “His vision of how the game should be played and mine, they align. So, there’s going to be some changes from what you saw last year in how we play. We’re going to tweak quite a few things. It’s going to look different.”
Columbus Blue Jackets have large roster log jam to solve
Not counting rookies, the roster starting camp has 14 forwards and 10 defensemen with meaningful NHL experience. Rookie center Adam Fantilli is practically guaranteed an NHL spot and rookie defenseman David Jiricek is eyeing one up after impressing last season in the American Hockey League.
The NHL limits its regular-season roster to 23 players. Usually, two are goalies and the rest are skaters.
The number of NHL-caliber players starting camp in Columbus should make it one of the most competitive preseasons in franchise history. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen will have a number of difficult decisions to make before the Oct. 10 season-opener against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Columbus Blue Jackets star Patrik Laine shows Adam Fantilli the ropes
Laine was selected second overall in 2016 by Winnipeg, so he’s familiar with the pressure and expectations Fantilli faces. That’s why the 25-year old forward invited Fantilli, 18, to live with him and his girlfriend for two weeks this summer.
“Coming in with a lot of expectations as an 18-year old, it’s not easy to play in this league,” Laine said. “On top of that, people are expecting you to do a lot of great things. It’s not easy, so I just figured, with my girlfriend, we’ll give him a chance and offer for him to stay with us and get more comfortable with the team and city and how everything works here.”
Fantilli jumped at the chance.
“I took him up on that pretty much right away,” he said. “I just wanted to get to know him, get to know the team as soon as possible, so I came down here (a couple) weeks ago and he was unreal in being so nice to me in letting me stay with him and his girlfriend. They’ve just been incredibly welcoming, so it’s been awesome.”
Columbus Blue Jackets already dealing with injuries
The Blue Jackets announced a list of four players who will be “limited” in participation at the start of training camp. All four are either NHL players or projected to stick with the Jackets this season: goalie Daniil Tarasov (knee), right wing Kirill Marchenko (back strain), defenseman Jake Bean (abductor strain) and forward Mathieu Olivier (leg).
Bean and Olivier appear to have the most serious issues. Both are considered week-to-week. Tarasov and Martchenko are each day-to-day. Last season, the Blue Jackets set a franchise record with 563 man-games lost, setting the new mark by 55 games. Tarasov, Bean and Olivier were among the injured to conclude the season.
Columbus Blue Jackets could seek CHL/NHL age exemption for Denton Mateychuk, Jordan Dumais
Depending on the play of defenseman Denton Mateychuk and forward Jordan Dumais in camp, there’s a chance the Blue Jackets may seek an exemption for one or both 19-years olds to play in the AHL if they don’t make the NHL roster.
As it stands, both must make the Jackets’ roster return to their junior teams within the Canadian Hockey League umbrella. That’s due to an agreement between the CHL and NHL requiring players under age 20 to return to their junior clubs unless they’ve played four junior seasons (at least 25 games) or make an NHL roster.
Mateychuk and Dumais dominated the junior level the past two years, but neither turns 20 until after this season. The Seattle Kraken gained an exemption for center Shane Wright, 19, which allows them to assign Wright to the AHL if he doesn’t make the NHL cut.
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Wright, the fourth overall pick in 2022, was born Jan. 5, 2004, which puts him five days short of the age exemption cutoff. He’s also credited for playing four OHL seasons despite one being the 2020-21 COVID-19 year, when that league didn’t play. Kekalainen said the Blue Jackets are studying the Wright case and haven’t filed a formal request with the NHL yet.
“We’ll consider all of our options,” he said. “If they make our (NHL) team we don’t have to deal with it. But that’s a long way from here.”
bhedger@dispatch.com
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets training camp: 6 storylines
