Columbus Blue Jackets 2013-14 Season Primer

• Team Outlook from McKeen’s Hockey Guide:

  Without Rick Nash, the Blue Jackets were expected to finish at or near the bottom of the standings in 2013. Instead, they soared in the second half of the shortened season thanks in large part to the play of goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.Although Columbus finished just shy of the playoffs, Bobrovsky won the Vezina Trophy and got a two-year, $11.25 million contract for his efforts. At the same time, he was largely cashing in on two stellar months of hockey. Would Bobrovsky have been able to maintain anywhere near that level of play over the course of a full 82-game schedule? The Blue Jackets need to hope so because the backup goaltender they hired over the summer, Curtis McElhinney, is a mostly-unproven alternative.

  Although it’s hard to see Columbus making the playoffs without a solid campaign from Bobrovsky, it’s possible to envision them falling short even if he rises to the occasion. That’s largely due to their questionable offense, led by Marian Gaborik and, in theory, Nathan Horton. The obvious problem with the latter is that he’s not healthy. Horton is recovering from shoulder surgery and, while the news over the summer has been largely positive, it’s still entirely possible that he won’t return until December or January.

  That leaves Gaborik and the hope that his streak of good seasons followed by bad ones persists. Given that he’s surpassed the 40-goal milestone three times in the last six seasons, he certainly can’t be overlooked, but nor is he a sure bet. That’s likely why Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen suggested that he was in no rush to re-sign Gaborik when the issue was raised in July.

  Columbus is a team that needs practically everything to go right for them to make the playoffs, which is typically a recipe for disappointment.

• Team Fantasy Outlook from Dobber Hockey’s 2013-14 Fantasy Guide – Over a 150 pages of fantasy goodness:

  Dobber’s lowdown on: Cam Atkinson – The 5-7 dynamo was the best offensive player on the Jackets for three games, but then he suffered a high-ankle sprain in the third game. He missed 13 games and returned far, far too soon. Still hampered by ankle pain, he was half the player he was. He managed just six points in 17 games. As the ankle felt better, he finished off the year with 11 points in 19 games playing at about 80 percent. Now fully recovered, the 24-year-old is ready to break out. He has thrived at every level and he’ll thrive at this one – provided he stays healthy. And therein lies the risk. If Atkinson pulls a Nathan Gerbe and gets hurt every time he gets rolling, he’ll never get off the ground. However, if he stays healthy especially during the early part of the season while Horton is sidelined, his career will take off and he’ll never look back. Another thing going for him is the fact that he hasn’t been a key part of the top power-play unit. Early scoring success will get him on that top unit and things would snowball from there. So yes, he needs a couple of bounces, but there is a lot of upside here.

  Letestu is another player who constantly has to prove himself. He reminds me of Dominic Moore that way. Anyway, Letestu was one of Columbus’ best players last season, yet he started off in the press box and his first four games he saw around 10 minutes of ice time in each. He had 26 points in his last 42 games. It’s a 50-point pace, but with Dubinsky and Anisimov now healthy, Letestu will start the year in the back seat once again.

  Nikitin had double the points when Wisniewski was in the lineup (opposite of last year). But not because they played together. When Wisniewski was hurt, Tyutin played with Johnson. When Wisniewski was healthy he played with Johnson while Tyutin played with Nikitin. I think if Wiz is healthy all year, Nikitin will have 25 points. If Wiz is hurt for half the year, then Nikitin will tally 35. He has upside, but will not be able to use it if Wiz is in the lineup.

  Dubinsky is coming off of a couple of rough seasons, but he had 16 points in his last 18 games and the team leans on him in all situations. If he can just stay healthy…

  For the second consecutive season, Tyutin saw a tremendous slowdown in the second half. His strong first two months make him a better draft pick than at first glance. Just be sure to trade him by Christmas.

  The struggles of Johansen continue. Still a top prospect, he managed just two points and was minus-6 in his first 10 games before being sent down. After he was recalled, he was better but not by a whole lot – 10 points and minus-1 in 30 games. However, while playing for Springfield in the AHL playoffs he was actually a healthy scratch for a game for his indifferent play. I don’t need to spell out ‘red flag’, do I?

Follow link for more info and stats

Additions: F Ryan Craig, F Nathan Horton, G Mike McKenna, D Patrick McNeill, D Ilari Melart, F Jack Skille, G Jeremy SmithF, Frederic St. Denis.

Subtractions: D Adrian Aucoin, D Steven Delisle, F Nick Drazenovic, F Matthew Ford, F Colton Gillies, D Nick Holden, F Andrew Joudrey, G Patrick Killeen, G Michael Leighton, D Drew Olson, F Vaclav Prospal, F Ryan Russell, D Theo Ruth, G Allen York.

UFAs: C Vinny Prospal; D Adrian Aucoin

Promotion candidates: D Ryan Murray, C Boone Jenner, D Cody Goloubef

Player salaries: $60,976,667 (23)
Cap Number: $66,808,809
Bonuses: $4,525,000
Cap Space: $2,016,191
Forwards: $37,024,167 (14)
Defensemen: $22,417,976 (7)
Goalies: $6,225,000 (2)
Source: CapGeek

Forwards
Cam Atkinson – Artem Anisimov – Marian Gaborik
RJ Umberger- Brandon Dubinsky – Nathan Horton
Matt Calvert – Ryan Johansen – Nick Foligno
Blake Comeau – Mark Letestu – Jared Boll
Derek MacKenzie

Defensemen
Jack Johnson – Fedor Tyutin
Nikita Nikitin – James Wisniewski
Ryan Murray – Tim Erixon
Dalton Prout

Goalies
Sergei Bobrovsky
Curtis McElhinney

2013 Columbus Blue Jackets Draft Results 

Columbus Blue Jackets Top Prospects

2012-13 Columbus Blue Jackets Player Stats

Some info, stats and video taken from NHL.com’s 30-in-30 series.