Arace: Blue Jackets' opening night is Adam Fantilli's 19th birthday. Should fans hope?
The Blue Jackets’ 23rd season opener, against the Philadelphia Flyers at Nationwide Arena on Thursday, will be played on Adam Fantilli’s 19th birthday. Jackets fans can hope this is a sign of a new era, that the cosmic tumblers that have grinded and smoked and screamed in Columbus for most of this century are gearing into alignment.
The Jackets’ 23-man roster is set. It may well be the most talented opening night roster ever assembled in Columbus.
In 2016-17, when the Jackets set a franchise record with 108 points, there was a depth of scoring and some fine goaltending; Cam Atkinson (now a Flyer) led the team with 35 goals and 62 points and Sergei Bobrovsky won the Vezina Trophy. In 2017-18, Artemi Panarin came aboard, and the Jackets had a bona fide game-breaker. Alas, those were the years when the Metropolitan Division, with Washington in ascendancy and Pittsburgh at or near peak power, was a bear, and the Jackets were relegated to wild cards.
The 2018-19 Jackets must also be mentioned here. That was an estimable team with Panarin, Atkinson, the Seth Jones-Zach Werenski combination on defense and some young studs in Pierre-Luc Dubois and Josh Anderson. That was the “all in” team that brought in Matt Duchene at the trade deadline and swept the mighty Tampa Bay Lightning out of the first round of the playoffs, one of the greatest upsets in NHL postseason history.
Was the opening night (pre-Duchene) roster the most talented in franchise history? Maybe. But deeper in elite talent? Potential stars? Discuss.
This year, the Jackets have 11 first-round picks on their opening night roster. As with most pharmaceuticals that advertise on television, first-round picks are no guarantee of success and sometimes lead to harmful side effects. (Do not take Nikita Filatov unless advised by your doctor.)
It’s fair to posit that there has never been a confluence of high-end talent in Columbus like there is right now. Johnny Gaudreau, 30, is another Panarin, maybe better. Kent Johnson, 20, may be his heir. Patrik Laine, 25, is an enviable package of size, skill and sangfroid. Werenski, 26, will be the best defenseman in franchise history by the time he retires. He may be already. Kirill Marchenko, 23, scored 21 goals in his first 59 NHL games.
Fantilli, the No. 3 overall pick in the June draft, has the potential to be the top-line, franchise-type center the Jackets have been searching for since Oct. 7, 2000, when the first puck dropped on Nationwide Arena. (Final score: Chicago Blackhawks 5, Blue Jackets 3.)
No pressure, kid.
And then there’s the pipeline, the players who aren’t on the opening night roster but will be in Columbus sooner or later – players like defensemen David Jiricek, Denton Mateychuk and Stanislav Svozil and forwards Jordan Dumais, Gavin Brindley and Dmitri Voronkov.
The Jackets and their fans have had to withstand a lot of pain to amass this much talent and potential. They had to eat a 76-112-28 record over three non-playoff seasons – including last season, when franchise records were set for losses (48) and man-games lost due to injury (562). Which is how and why Fantilli fell on the doorstep at Nationwide & Front.
Rebuilds, or resets, or retools, or whatever management wants to call them, should not be rushed. The New Jersey Devils are instructive. The Devils finished last or next to last in the Metropolitan Division in seven out of eight seasons from 2014-15 through 2021-22. Through the pain and turmoil, assets were added, assets such as Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec. Three years ago, Tom Fitzgerald became general manager and set about managing his assets and salary cap.
On the eve of the 2023-24 season, he has a Stanley Cup contender with nary a flaw (well, maybe goaltending?) and a host of young, talented players – many of whom are on team-friendly contracts. In sum, Fitzgerald has set up Newark to be the home of one of league’s elite teams for years to come.
The Jackets aren’t there yet. Las Vegas doesn’t have them anywhere close. At least one aged scribe has pointed out that the Eastern Conference is still too rich for the Jackets, as presently constructed, even if everyone on the opening day roster remains healthy. Let’s not even get into the goaltending.
There may be some more pain ahead. And that’s okay. If it is smartly managed, there are better days ahead for Jackets fans and their children.
It may be that the best thing to happen to this team is that hiring Brad Larsen turned out to be a mistake, hiring Mike Babcock turned out to be an embarrassing mistake – and Pascal Vincent has ascended to the top job. He’s ready. He’s saying all the right things. And there’s nothing phony about him. He and his team can grow together, and you can find it easy to root for all of them, together.
What are realistic expectations, then? In a word, improve – and they will, if only because 59 points is not a high bar to clear. The Atlantic is loaded and the Metro isn’t exactly weak by comparison. Show up every day, play together, and with heart. Have some fun.
Progress.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Expectations for the 23rd NHL season of Columbus Blue Jackets hockey
