The path to the NHL seemed natural for Columbus Blue Jacket’s captain, Boone Jenner. His journey includes becoming a captain for his AAA minor league team, the Elgin Middlesex Chiefs, and his OHL team, the Oshawa Generals. With a natural leader like Jenner, it’s no surprise he would also be selected to become the Blue Jacket’s captain after former captain Nick Foligno was traded in the 2020-21 season.
Early Life and Amateur Career
Boone Jenner originally hails from Dorchester, Ontario. Currently 30 years old, Jenner grew up playing hockey and lacrosse in Mossley, Ontario. His amateur career started strong with a goal and an assist in his OHL debut for the Oshawa Generals in September of 2009. He finished the season with 19 goals and 30 assists, was the runner-up for the OHL’s Rookie of the Year award, and would earn a spot on the OHL’s All-Rookie team. At 16 years old, the young Jenner would also be named captain of Team Ontario in the 2010 World U-17 Hockey Challenge, and they would go on to win the silver medal. He would also help Team Canada claim gold in the 2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament.
In 2011, Jenner was slated to become one of the top picks in the NHL Entry Draft. He would be selected 37th overall in the second round by the Columbus Blue Jackets. He would return to the Generals for the 2011-2012 season and was also selected to Team Canada’s national junior team for the 2012 IIHF U20 World Championship where they would go on to win a bronze medal. After the Generals were eliminated in the OHL playoffs, Jenner joined the Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate team, the Springfield Falcons, for their 2012 Calder Cup playoffs.
On March 28, 2012, Boone Jenner would be signed to a 3-year entry-level contract with the Blue Jackets. He would return to the Oshawa Generals during the 2012-23 NHL lockout and be renamed captain. Jenner would once again be selected for Team Canada in the 2013 IIH U20 World Championship, where they would finish fourth overall.
Professional Career
After being one of the last cut in the previous Blue Jacket’s training camp, Jenner would find a spot on the team for the 2013-14 NHL season. He tallied his first and second goals in a game against the Montreal Canadiens on October 17, 2013. Unfortunately, Jenner would be sidelined with an injury for about 3 weeks in the early part of the season but would make a strong comeback. Boone would finish the regular season being second in hits among league rookies, third in game-winning goals, and also fifth in shooting percentage. During the 2014 Stanley Cup playoffs he notched his first and second playoff goals in a series against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
For the 2014-15 NHL season Jenner would be out with different injuries for the majority of games, only playing a total of 31. In the 2015-16 season, Boone would be named an alternate captain. He would go on to set career highs in goals, assists, and points as well as become the 5th player in Jacket’s history to get 30 goals in one season. The Blue Jackets would sign him to a two-year contract extension near the end of the season.
In the next season, Boone Jenner would help the Blue Jackets achieve their record-breaking 16 consecutive win streak. He would finish the 2016-17 season with 18 goals and 16 assists and would be one of the players selected to be protected for the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft.
The 2017-18 season would start with injury again but would cause Jenner to only miss the first 7 games. Although there was some scoring trouble at the beginning, Boone would finish the season strong. The team would once again make a playoff appearance but fell short. During the off-season, Boone would sign a four-year $15 million contract to stay with the Blue Jackets.
Jenner would get his first NHL hat-trick in the 2018-19 season on March 12. The hat-trick also happened to be Boone Jenner’s 100th goal. The 2019 post-season was one that Blue Jackets fans will remember as the first time the Blue Jackets made it past the first round of playoffs. Jenner would help the team sweep the Tampa Bay Lightning. This was the first time an NHL team had ever swept the winner of the President’s Trophy, the award given to the team with the best regular season record.
The 2019-20 season would see Jenner notch his 200th career point as well as his 100th career assist. Many may remember this season as one that was cut short due to COVID-19. Despite this, Boone Jenner would be one of three players on the Blue Jackets to play all 70 regular season games. He would also go on to be given the Community MVP award for his work with the Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
With each season Jenner seemed to reach a new milestone in his career. The 2020-21 season saw Jenner become the Blue Jacket’s ninth player to have played all of their 500 career games for the franchise. He would also become fourth on the Blue Jacket’s all-time goal scorers list with his 121st goal.
A New Captain is Named
Boone Jenner was named captain for the 2021-22 season after the former captain, Nick Foligno, was traded in the previous season. Unfortunately, this season would also be marred with injuries and COVID-19 protocols for Boone. In March of that season, it was revealed that Jenner had been playing with a lower back injury for part of the year. He would go on to miss the final 23 games.
The 2022-23 season would note yet another milestone for the Blue Jacket’s captain. Jenner would get his 300th career point which would also make him the fifth player in Blue Jacket’s history to record that many points with the club. Once again during this season, Jenner had to be placed on the injured reserve when he suffered a fractured thumb while playing in a game. He would undergo surgery for the injury and would only miss 11 games. Jenner would pass Cam Atkinson for the second most played games for the franchise with 628.
First All-Star Appearance
So far this 2023-24 season Boone Jenner has achieved his second hat-trick as well as becoming the third all-time scorer with 174 goals. He also passed Rick Nash for 1st for the number of games played for the Blue Jackets with 675. Before being sidelined with a broken jaw Jenner had led the Blue Jackets in goals and points. With recovery just around the corner, Jenner was selected as the one player from the Jackets at this year’s NHL All-Star game making this his first All-Star appearance. Although not in any of the skills competitions, Boone was picked 28th overall by Team McDavid and will be wearing white for the All-Star game this weekend.
The 2024 NHL All-Star game will be played on Saturday, February 3, at 3 PM EST.
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