GDT: Game 77 | Senators at Blue Jackets | “We still have 0.3% chance” edition

[Cowumbus]

Players know CBJ have young talent but they aren't ignorant to our history, it's still probably a tough sell regardless but we can definitely afford to overpay

If you are a player serious about winning why would you sign here? We have won nothing in 25 years. No banners, not even a Nashville pitty banner. 1 series win, we haven’t ever had home ice advantage We have to overpay. That’s the only real way to get guys to overlook it all. I can’t get myself to believe (or maybe I refuse to believe ) winning games 78-82 when you’re out of playoff contention moves the needle for anyone in terms of associating winning with Columbus.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

I assume you mean moneywise, right?

Just in terms of the roster I think you can absolutely win a cup with a Werenski - Fabbro top pairing. Fabbro is better than any of Hedman's main D partners were. He's been really excellent at his role and we will miss him terribly.

I'm not sure Dante Fabbro is in the same ballpark as Ryan McDonough and Mikhail Sergachev and I wouldn't pay him the same amount of money those guys were getting paid (6.75 and 4.8 cap hits respectively) during Tampa's cup years if we are talking about being serious contenders and not just a "pretty good" team that gets into the playoffs.

 

[Cowumbus]

I'm not sure Dante Fabbro is in the same ballpark as Ryan McDonough and Mikhail Sergachev and I wouldn't pay him the same amount of money those guys were getting paid (6.75 and 4.8 cap hits respectively) during Tampa's cup years if we are talking about being serious contenders and not just a "pretty good" team that gets into the playoffs.

Didnt Hedman play with Shatty Cernak and Ruuta

Cernak > Fabbro tho

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Didnt Hedman play with Shatty Cernak and Ruuta

In the 19-29 season their top 3 D in ice time were Hedman, Sergachev and Shattenkirk (who had a 6.65 cap it that year)

20-21 the top 3 in ice time were Hedman, Sergachev, and McDonough.

I don't know how much they may have actually played together but minutes for Cernak don't seem to line up to getting much ice time with Hedman.

 

[stevo61]

If you are a player serious about winning why would you sign here? We have won nothing in 25 years. No banners, not even a Nashville pitty banner. 1 series win, we haven’t ever had home ice advantage We have to overpay. That’s the only real way to get guys to overlook it all. I can’t get myself to believe (or maybe I refuse to believe ) winning games 78-82 when you’re out of playoff contention moves the needle for anyone in terms of associating winning with Columbus.

I just wonder how many players today are "serious about winning". Money is pretty convincing, there is just the balance of knowing when an overpay is too much of an overpay. I mean Toronto has never won more than 3 rounds in its entire history but anyone who signs there will reference what that organization has done before most of us were born. Columbus does have some solid selling points, we just need to hope Waddell has his sights set on the same area's we do. I personally can't remember if he's been a big FA player in his past but I do know he's not afraid of blockbuster trades

 

[stevo61]

Didnt Hedman play with Shatty Cernak and Ruuta

Cernak > Fabbro tho

Ruuta if I remember correctly

 

[majormajor]

Cernak > Fabbro tho

In a good year.

In the 19-29 season their top 3 D in ice time were Hedman, Sergachev and Shattenkirk (who had a 6.65 cap it that year)

20-21 the top 3 in ice time were Hedman, Sergachev, and McDonough.

I don't know how much they may have actually played together but minutes for Cernak don't seem to line up to getting much ice time with Hedman.

Hedman's main D partners were guys like Rutta. Shattenkirk was thoroughly washed at that point and Hedman was carrying him when they did play together.

In overall minutes Sergachev played more than those guys because he topped up his 3rd pair usage with a few shifts with Hedman and PP2 time.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

Jan Rutta played 33 and 35 regular season and 5 and 23 playoff games in their cup years. He averaged 14 minute per game in the 21 playoffs while Hedman was playing 24.

To get back on track, Fabbro is not these guys if we want to be serious cup contenders. A nice depth guy to have in the 2nd/3rd pair but if we want to be serious we need to find better while not overpaying him.

Find better and make him Provorov's replacement on the 2nd pair if the money is right.

 

[majormajor]

Jan Rutta played 33 and 35 regular season and 5 and 23 playoff games in their cup years. He averaged 14 minute per game in the 21 playoffs while Hedman was playing 24.

To get back on track, Fabbro is not these guys if we want to be serious cup contenders. A nice depth guy to have in the 2nd/3rd pair but if we want to be serious we need to find better while not overpaying him.

Find better and make him Provorov's replacement on the 2nd pair if the money is right.

In the 2020 cup run Hedman's main two partners were Shattenkirk (washed, on a $1.75m x 1 deal) and Zach Bogosian. He played a combined 300 minutes with those two and less than 100 minutes combined with McDonagh, Sergachev, or Cernak.

In the 2021 cup run Hedman played 248 minutes with Jan Rutta and 93 minutes with Sergachev.

Dante Fabbro is miles better than that version of Shattenkirk, or Bogosian, or Rutta. He makes excellent decisions with and without the puck. A serious cup contender would NOT move him down the lineup, they'd keep that pairing together and go out and get the McDonagh-Cernak combo behind them. That's what separates our D group from Tampa's.

 

[VT]

It doesn’t matter, Columbus is not winning all of its games

I always try to believe in a miracle, but this one would have to be extra miraculous.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Torn in answering your question. If they have it in them for such a victory, why did they wait until now. Part of my disappointment is comforted in knowing they just don't have any more to give.

On the other hand, I'll be in the building tonight, and such a performance would, short term, be rewarding as a fan.

Have to say as a fan in the building, a solid win felt really good. Sadly, it's still followed by slumping shoulders and a sigh.

 

[MoeBartoli]

This was definitely one of the most positive and complete games in a while. Each line contributed with the top line actually posting the lesser advanced stats. Scoring came from 5 players. Obviously it was great seeing Voronkov snap his goalless streak and Olivier push toward 20. The Fantilli goal was a beauty - classic Fantilli - and the pass by KJ to Monahan yelled Ed a PP goal.

The team was engaged and played with physicality. The defense played solid hockey with Mateychuk continuing to show confidence and steady improvement, a huge positive for next season. Elvis, who has more ups and downs than a Cedar Point roller coaster, had his up game and looked solid (damn shame he can’t do that consistently).

And kudos to Evason for the forward lines. Reuniting JVR with KJ produced great offensive zone time and Voronkov looked good with Silly and Olivier. What he does with Severson is a story that will continue to unfold.

Overall a great night to watch Blue Jackets hockey.

 

[NotWendell]

I'd give Fabbro 4x4.

 

[GoJackets1]

Pretty random question, but does someone know the rule behind why Sillinger didn't get an assist on Olivier's goal? He passed it out to Guddy who shot it, didn't seem like a Sens player had possession at any point so I'm confused as to why Guddy would get an assist but not Sillinger. Doesn't necessarily matter, but curious about it.

 

[stevo61]

Pretty random question, but does someone know the rule behind why Sillinger didn't get an assist on Olivier's goal? He passed it out to Guddy who shot it, didn't seem like a Sens player had possession at any point so I'm confused as to why Guddy would get an assist but not Sillinger. Doesn't necessarily matter, but curious about it.

Hit Danforth so he technically got the primary assist

 

[GoJackets1]

Hit Danforth so he technically got the primary assist

Ah that explains it, I didn’t see that Danforth got an assist there. That obviously makes sense. lol

Anyway, credit to Silly for the hit along the wall and making that play happen!

 

[cbjthrowaway]

a few stray thoughts from last night:

• werenski is still awesome but it really looks like he's out of gas.
  
  
• cole sillinger pops more in person than he does on the broadcast imo. he's come a long way – he looks fast, confident and skilled out there. i'm still not 100% convinced that he has a long-term role on this team (i'd prefer a veteran 3C to anchor a shutdown line) but i think he's a far more valuable trade chip than some people realize.
  
  
• fantilli is going to be a monster in short time. the d-zone reads are still bad but he's so young that i don't care. it'll get better.
  
• he and KJ showed some good chemistry last night. hopefully that can continue. interestingly enough, some of KJ's offensive zone tendencies are what you want out of a center (vision from the middle of the ice) whereas fantilli's are more reminiscent of a wing (speed down the wall). that line may really pop if they start switching roles in the offensive zone a bit more frequently, while maintaining their traditional roles in the d-zone. this is also why marchenko and fantilli worked so well earlier this year – marchy often took the center ice lanes in their rush patterns.
  
  
• mateychuk's poise is unreal. obviously we've seen some sophomore slumps, but if he hits another level over the summer he could be a legitimate star defenseman very soon.
  
  
• olivier's year-over-year growth has been discussed ad nauseam, and obviously he had a hot streak to start the year, but his in-season growth has been really impressive as well.
  
  
• monahan's short-area game is still unbelievably good, and he's shown more bite since coming back from his injury. he's not flashy, and he hasn't been here long, but he is an absolute treat to watch.
  
  
• i'm not the biggest boone guy but he had an excellent game last night. his defensive game reputation has always been vastly overstated (a byproduct of the team having had domi, voracek, laine, and a lot of youngsters for the last few years) but i still think he's probably best utilized moving forward as the anchor on a matchup-focused third line instead of being a supporting player on a top line. evason's leaned on danforth + olivier as an "identity" line despite it not being all that effective in practice. i love the idea of turning that third line into a true bully forechecking line next year with voronkov, jenner and olivier together.

 

[KJ Dangler]

I assume you mean moneywise, right?

Just in terms of the roster I think you can absolutely win a cup with a Werenski - Fabbro top pairing. Fabbro is better than any of Hedman's main D partners were. He's been really excellent at his role and we will miss him terribly.

Ideally we go out and overpay if necessary thru trade or free agency and get a rhd to play with Zach . Mateychuk and Fabbro would make a good pair… Much more so than Provorov and Mateychuk … Don needing to sign Ekblad type , sign Fabbro , buy out Elvis , and trade Severson with retention is a monumental task . Time to earn his money

 

[majormajor]

cole sillinger pops more in person than he does on the broadcast imo. he's come a long way – he looks fast, confident and skilled out there. i'm still not 100% convinced that he has a long-term role on this team (i'd prefer a veteran 3C to anchor a shutdown line) but i think he's a far more valuable trade chip than some people realize.

I can't comment on the in person view, but from the broadcast Cole looks much better to me since returning from his injury break. It's been seven games and he's got a noticeable pop in his stride. Maybe more mental energy too because he's more patient with pucks and willing to do a puck protection move to buy time for a pass to open up. Maybe he just needed a break.

He had stretches in the year when Evason was running him out there 20 minutes a night and Cole was running around braindead, so it might also help that he's closer to 15 per since his return.

I just want to emphasize that it's a very big difference in how he is playing, not a marginal improvement. We need to bottle whatever we are doing with Cole - whether it's better rest or better training - and keep doing that.

I initially thought Cole just looked better on the wing, with less on his mind, but he looked good last night too.

• he and KJ showed some good chemistry last night. hopefully that can continue. interestingly enough, some of KJ's offensive zone tendencies are what you want out of a center (vision from the middle of the ice) whereas fantilli's are more reminiscent of a wing (speed down the wall). that line may really pop if they start switching roles in the offensive zone a bit more frequently, while maintaining their traditional roles in the d-zone. this is also why marchenko and fantilli worked so well earlier this year – marchy often took the center ice lanes in their rush patterns.

If you could convince Fantilli to stop trying to go end to end, then a lot of wonderful possibilities open up.

• i'm not the biggest boone guy but he had an excellent game last night. his defensive game reputation has always been vastly overstated (a byproduct of the team having had domi, voracek, laine, and a lot of youngsters for the last few years) but i still think he's probably best utilized moving forward as the anchor on a matchup-focused third line instead of being a supporting player on a top line. evason's leaned on danforth + olivier as an "identity" line despite it not being all that effective in practice. i love the idea of turning that third line into a true bully forechecking line next year with voronkov, jenner and olivier together.

I love that idea. I do wonder if that trio is quick enough for the forecheck. Especially Voronkov, his best attributes are net front and passing, not getting to his check on time. The timing with forechecking is the biggest thing. I really want us to have that sort of line and it looks like they'd dominate on the cycle, but maybe not the forecheck.