Jingle those bells, Santa Clause, is coming to town!!! With final decorating touches being made and final Wish List add-ons being written, it is a wonderful time of year. For the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Wish List is well pretty extensive. The rebuilding Blue Jackets have regressed in all phases of the game. There is still a sliver of hope. But maybe Santa will be good to the Blue Jackets this holiday season.
Health, this is a beyond obvious wish for the Jolly Santa Clause. With eight players injured (two- are done for the season, and one is out long-term), Nick Blankenburg, Jakub Voracek, Justin Danforth, Jake Bean, Zach Werenski, Joonas Korpisalo, Adam Boqvist, and Eric Robinson have missed games. Santa, please grant the gift of health.
Next on the list is consistent player development. This may be a tricky wish, as players develop at different rates, and some are able to contribute before others are able to carry their weight. Yet, consistent development has eluded the Blue Jackets so far. Cole Sillinger has played much better defensively at the expense of his offensive game. Nick Blankenburg, before being injured, struggled to adjust to the man-toman defense the Blue Jackets switched to. Kent Johnson has looked really good and is not even on the ice for 15 minutes a game; hard to develop when you are on the bench.
Next is the power play, AKA the powerless play in Columbus. This unit has been nearly unwatchable. In fairness, Patrik Laine has missed games, but even Laine has not been able to pull the power play out of the doldrums. Santa, it may take some real holiday magic for this wish to come true.
Coaching is next on the wish list and perhaps needs to be top on the list. Brad Larsen was said to be an excellent developmental coach. Yet, the Blue Jackets players are not getting adequate ice time. Larsen has made some baffling decisions, such as all forwards and no defenseman on the power play. His line shuffles make no sense. He seems to lack a feel for which players should and should not be paired.
The rebuild has taken a big step back so far. Last year’s Blue Jackets team was close to .500. This year’s team is nowhere near that mark. This is beyond tanking. The Blue Jackets roster is not good enough to compete night in and night out, even against some of the weaker teams. The Blue Jackets get worked over pretty good by the good teams.
Another on the Wish List is for management. The team’s management needs to do some hard-core staring at the mirror. Is the organization headed in a sustainable direction that will lead to better days? Santa, would you please add a mirror to the list?
A top 3-draft pick. Santa, the Columbus Blue Jackets usually have little to no luck during the draft lottery. Could you maybe arrange some holiday magic and bring the team a high draft pick? This would indeed be a great holiday gift.
Santa Clause, you who provide what we want. For the Columbus Blue Jackets, there are both wants and needs. Please deliver on some items that would make for an awesome holiday this year.
