3 Offseason Changes To Get Columbus Blue Jackets Back In The Playoffs

The Columbus Blue Jackets almost defied odds and gave fans a great run this season after expectations were very low. Some things went right and wrong throughout the season, but the future is bright and exciting. As the team was so close, these are a few things that have to be changed in order for the last step to be made back into the playoffs.

Continual Growth From Young Players

A lot of the young players stepped up for the Blue Jackets this season. This included Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, Kirill Marchenko, Dmitry Voronkov, and Denton Mateychuk. All of these players are expected to get even better, but some others who played pretty well and/or will get more of a chance next season include Cole Sillinger, Yegor Chinakhov, Luca Del Bel Belluz, and Jet Greaves. This is a very exciting team filled with potential stars. Just a little more from everyone and the veterans to hold strong should be enough to give the team a great chance at playoffs.

Add At Least One Third Line Scoring Forward

As of right now, Zach Aston-Reese is slotted in on the third line. That will have to change and will. The Blue Jackets have enough money to use on at least one third line player who can score. This will not only bolster that line and create even more depth, but be a safety net in case more top players miss time with injuries like Sean Monahan and Boone Jenner did.

Better Defensive Structure & More Saves

The Blue Jackets were a high offense team, but lacked in the defensive end. They didn't give their goalies a ton of help, but the goalies could have also helped a bit more by making more saves. I'm talking about Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov, not Greaves. I expect the latter to play more this season and even possibly take over the backup role full time. He only got into 11 games, but was 7-2-2 with a 1.98 GAA and .938 SV%. Merzlikins had a 3.16 GAA and .892 SV% while Tarasov had a 3.54 GAA and .881 SV%.