Interesting Info: Part XXII (Jackets-related "tidbits" here)

[Iron Balls McGinty]

An interesting read, mostly avoiding the “kids these days” takes that bug me.

Can’t believe the days of Shoresey chirps could be over, bro.

Just to be clear. Riley and Jonesy aren’t my friends and their mom was wheeling me.

 

[squashmaple]

Wasn't sure where else to put this, but I figured I'd write it up for a little bit of color.

I went to the STH Appreciation event on Wednesday evening. In classic Jackets fashion, it was disorganized and poorly promoted ahead of time. They had a single entry line for the thousands of attendees, one single door on the Front St end. The line to enter reached North Market when we made it to the end, around 6:15. Upon entering, we were disinterestedly handed a flyer by an employee that showed where the various players. Nothing else. Maybe I missed it, but as a first year STH, I would've really liked more comprehensive information about what exactly this event was supposed to entail. I kept feeling like I was missing something, but maybe it really was just a series of cattle calls to get signatures from the players and that was it. We also felt like we missed out on getting at least one more set of autographs because we weren't sure exactly what the set up was, especially with the bottleneck to enter the arena.

We had our free food, then wandered down to start with the Olivier/Robinson/Kuraly line because my best friend is a big Kuraly fan and I wasn't paying attention to the time so she missed out on getting to meet him at the draft party at PINS last summer. Olivier was by far the nicest and most interactive of all the guys we got to meet Wednesday, taking the time to initiate and carry on a conversation with me so long that Robinson was visibly annoyed at the hold up. Kuraly looked exhausted and I accidentally knocked his name plate off the table, said "Whoops. gravity's a bitch" and made Robinson and the handler at their table laugh (Kuraly didn't seem to notice it happened).

I was just getting the guys to sign their pages in the STH Yearbook we got with our giftbags this year. My favorite moment of the night was finally reaching the Foudy/Boqvist/Marchenko table and Foudy lighting up when he realized I was wearing this year's All Star jersey. He greeted me and immediately complimented the sick jersey, then asked if he was signing it. No, no. "Just Johnny, eh?" he asked, laughing. Oh no, I told him, he can sign the book just like everyone else. This jersey's not getting one bit of ink of it. This clearly delighted him. Boqvist is uncomfortably tan for a Swede--golf? He is always extremely nice every time I've met him, which is several now. Marchenko was pretty done with English by the time we made it to him, so he was just smiley (and still excited by the fact the guy in front of me was wearing a Hofbrauhaus shirt, which he was also wearing under his own jersey; there was lots of excited pointing and him pulling his jersey up to show him and miming holding a big stein of beer).

From there we went upstairs because they were out of tickets for the Blanks/Bean/Johnson line and Blanks and Johnson both looked like all they wanted to do was flee. Since I was getting signatures in the yearbook, I didn't want to make it weird for Pederson or Hutchinson, so we skipped the tables where they were (missing out on Elvis and Laine) and headed for Jenner and Bayreuther because the Gaudreau/Berni and Werenski/don't remember who he was with lines were INSANE. We got lucky because they cut it off not too far after us. Bayreuther was by far the rudest player I've ever interacted with, and I say this as a former four-year employee of the arena with plenty of player interaction over that span (he managed to beat out Ryan Dzingel on that, which is saying something). Just cold to me, then genuinely straight-up rude to my friend. Good luck on the journeyman future, Gavin, because we certainly won't miss you here. Jenner was lovely and gracious as he ever is, jokingly asking me why I was being disappointing with my book and not giving him a random Cheerios box to sign like the guy ahead of me. Sadly, I didn't get the chance to deny Johnny signing my jersey.

All in all, we had a great time despite going in unclear on the exact purpose of the event. We know a lot of teams don't offer such an opportunity to meet the team and get to interact with them on that level, so we appreciate the Jackets for that. It still felt like it could've been better executed. I cannot even imagine what a disaster it might be if we get Bedard, or how it'll probably have to be diminished.

 

[I3LI3]

Wasn't sure where else to put this, but I figured I'd write it up for a little bit of color.

I went to the STH Appreciation event on Wednesday evening. In classic Jackets fashion, it was disorganized and poorly promoted ahead of time. They had a single entry line for the thousands of attendees, one single door on the Front St end. The line to enter reached North Market when we made it to the end, around 6:15. Upon entering, we were disinterestedly handed a flyer by an employee that showed where the various players. Nothing else. Maybe I missed it, but as a first year STH, I would've really liked more comprehensive information about what exactly this event was supposed to entail. I kept feeling like I was missing something, but maybe it really was just a series of cattle calls to get signatures from the players and that was it. We also felt like we missed out on getting at least one more set of autographs because we weren't sure exactly what the set up was, especially with the bottleneck to enter the arena.

We had our free food, then wandered down to start with the Olivier/Robinson/Kuraly line because my best friend is a big Kuraly fan and I wasn't paying attention to the time so she missed out on getting to meet him at the draft party at PINS last summer. Olivier was by far the nicest and most interactive of all the guys we got to meet Wednesday, taking the time to initiate and carry on a conversation with me so long that Robinson was visibly annoyed at the hold up. Kuraly looked exhausted and I accidentally knocked his name plate off the table, said "Whoops. gravity's a bitch" and made Robinson and the handler at their table laugh (Kuraly didn't seem to notice it happened).

I was just getting the guys to sign their pages in the STH Yearbook we got with our giftbags this year. My favorite moment of the night was finally reaching the Foudy/Boqvist/Marchenko table and Foudy lighting up when he realized I was wearing this year's All Star jersey. He greeted me and immediately complimented the sick jersey, then asked if he was signing it. No, no. "Just Johnny, eh?" he asked, laughing. Oh no, I told him, he can sign the book just like everyone else. This jersey's not getting one bit of ink of it. This clearly delighted him. Boqvist is uncomfortably tan for a Swede--golf? He is always extremely nice every time I've met him, which is several now. Marchenko was pretty done with English by the time we made it to him, so he was just smiley (and still excited by the fact the guy in front of me was wearing a Hofbrauhaus shirt, which he was also wearing under his own jersey; there was lots of excited pointing and him pulling his jersey up to show him and miming holding a big stein of beer).

From there we went upstairs because they were out of tickets for the Blanks/Bean/Johnson line and Blanks and Johnson both looked like all they wanted to do was flee. Since I was getting signatures in the yearbook, I didn't want to make it weird for Pederson or Hutchinson, so we skipped the tables where they were (missing out on Elvis and Laine) and headed for Jenner and Bayreuther because the Gaudreau/Berni and Werenski/don't remember who he was with lines were INSANE. We got lucky because they cut it off not too far after us. Bayreuther was by far the rudest player I've ever interacted with, and I say this as a former four-year employee of the arena with plenty of player interaction over that span (he managed to beat out Ryan Dzingel on that, which is saying something). Just cold to me, then genuinely straight-up rude to my friend. Good luck on the journeyman future, Gavin, because we certainly won't miss you here. Jenner was lovely and gracious as he ever is, jokingly asking me why I was being disappointing with my book and not giving him a random Cheerios box to sign like the guy ahead of me. Sadly, I didn't get the chance to deny Johnny signing my jersey.

All in all, we had a great time despite going in unclear on the exact purpose of the event. We know a lot of teams don't offer such an opportunity to meat the team and get to interact with them on that level, so we appreciate the Jackets for that. It still felt like it could've been better executed. I cannot even imagine what a disaster it might be if we get Bedard, or how it'll probably have to be diminished.

this was a really entertaining read. thanks for this!

 

[ThirdPeriodTurtle]

Johnson and Marchenko getting some recognition at NHL.com:
Rookie Watch: Johnson, Kochetkov among best in Metropolitan Division

"I look a lot (at rookie scoring leaders) just because a couple are my friends and buddies," said Johnson, referring to Seattle Kraken forward and former Michigan teammate Matty Beniers. "Just for competitive reasons, I like to see how they're doing, so I keep up pretty good with it. At the same time, I'd love to be right there with them or get more points than them. It's not my main focus, but it'd be cool to be up there for the award at the end of the year."

Marchenko flew under the radar for much of the season until recently his name has popped up a bit more (well obvious reasons I guess):

"I try not to think or look at the Calder Trophy (race) because I want to focus on the game," Marchenko said. "If I think about (the) Calder, I don't score goals. If I just think about having a good game, forechecking, winning battles, it's better. But it is interesting. I know (the) first guy is Beniers. (He's) a good guy, a good player."

 

[EspenK]

Wow!

The Blue Jackets improved to 18-1-1 when scoring at least four goals. They are 3-37-6 when scoring three or fewer. ...Yikes!

 

[NotWendell]

Wow!

The Blue Jackets improved to 18-1-1 when scoring at least four goals. They are 3-37-6 when scoring three or fewer. ...Yikes!

That's what I takes to overcome a shi**y defense and goaltending.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[Cowumbus]

Do we think Peeke or Gaudreau can win the green jacket this year? They are 4-5 shots off the lead currently.

 

[Xoggz22]

Do we think Peeke or Gaudreau can win the green jacket this year? They are 4-5 shots off the lead currently.

Based on the current roster... absolutely. I would suspect Peeke has a better chance than JG though.

 

[Cowumbus]

 

[Cowumbus]

Based on the current roster... absolutely. I would suspect Peeke has a better chance than JG though.

Tonight was a good round for Peeke and JG.

Went through the +/- list today to see who the lowest ranked player on a “good” team was…

Jack Johnson -22 hahaha

 

[koteka]

Went through the +/- list today to see who the lowest ranked player on a “good” team was…

Jack Johnson -22 hahaha

To be fair, he was -25 with Chicago and is +4 with Colorado. The guy he was traded for was +1 in Colorado and is -3 in Chicago.

 

[Cowumbus]

To be fair, he was -25 with Chicago and is +4 with Colorado. The guy he was traded for was +1 in Colorado and is -3 in Chicago.

Completely forgot he was in Chicago

 

[cbjthrowaway]

behold, the power of 10.2(c) status!

…kent johnson's gonna be a 10.2(c) next summer -- obviously he's probably in line for a longer-term deal, but they can keep the AAV down with a low year 1 that essentially extends his ELC (as is happening with chinny here).

 

[CBJx614]

LeBrun: Jarmo Kekalainen on a 'horrible' Blue Jackets season and the one thing that'd make it all worth it

In an exclusive with The Athletic, the Blue Jackets GM talks willingness to deal a first-round pick, being "Bad for Bedard" and more.

theathletic.com

“I don’t know if anything more could have gone wrong than has,” Kekalainen said. “We were one game under .500 last year. We add Johnny Gaudreau. We were a year more experienced this year. And (when) we got off to a really bad start, 3-9, with a young group, you saw the confidence shrivel a little bit.

“Then then injuries hit. In order to climb out of that 3-9 start, we basically had no chance with the injuries we had. It’s not an excuse, but it’s a real reason when you lose your top defenseman and some other top players.”

Kekalainen has already personally seen the top draft prospects play a number of times, including Bedard. And that will continue right through the end of the season. The NHL season playing out the way it did, the draft quickly became his priority.

“Now that we’ve had this horrible season, I’ve had a chance to narrow down the top guys that our scouts have brought to the mid-term meetings in the order that they had them,” said Kekalainen, who rose up the NHL ranks as a scouting guru. “That’s not a very big group of guys that I can focus on seeing them. So it’ll get me more involved in the discussions once we start discussing the final list.

“I’ve got a pretty good feel for probably the top 10 guys and where they’re at. But at the same time, our scouts are watching them twice as many times as I do. And I trust the guys that run it for us.”

That’s also why that Kings’ first-round pick — acquired by the Blue Jackets in the Vladislav Gavrikov/Joonas Korpisalo deal to L.A. — is very much in play this offseason if it fetches a piece that helps Columbus now.


“Oh, 100 percent,” Kekalainen said. “That’s the mindset that we’re going to take. We lost a real good defenceman in that deal who is UFA and wanted to see what that market brings along. So we’re looking to replace him. We already have three or four defensive prospects that are probably a little bit away … and defense is such a tough position to crack at a young age. So we want to explore every opportunity to replace Gavrikov with that pick.

“But it has to be the right piece.”

Don't see any of the kids on defense (except maybe Jiricek) to get any meaningful NHL time next season.

 

[BB88]

Atleast the good thing is they are all out on scouting the top of the draft.

This pick has a massive impact on their future

 

[koteka]

Atleast the good thing is they are all out on scouting the top of the draft.

Unless: “The more I watch Michkov the more I think he is our guy.”

 

[EspenK]

behold, the power of 10.2(c) status!

…kent johnson's gonna be a 10.2(c) next summer -- obviously he's probably in line for a longer-term deal, but they can keep the AAV down with a low year 1 that essentially extends his ELC (as is happening with chinny here).

Interesting. CBJ don't appear to need cap space next season so I don't think Jarmo will try to buy another year of ELC. I think what he should do is either offer a good deal that keeps one year of RFA at the end or try to get 6-8 years at a relative bargain. I doubt KJ goes for the longer term and I would prefer the one year to RFA deal to allow as much time as possible to determine exactly what the Jackets have in KJ.

 

[CBJx614]

Deep dive on Marchenko in the beginning

Edit: the guys go to the EA studios and see NHL 24 being made. Marchenko asks what's his overall?
"76 what you wanna be higher?"

" No it's fine.... Next year" *looks at camera with shit eating grin*

"you can just delete pass"

 

[stevo61]

"Just hit the net, just hit the net (misses). Yeah thats Peeker, thats Peeker. Wide open"

 

[ThirdPeriodTurtle]

That's a great episode, a lot of variety and very interesting stuff that we don't normally get to see (the behind the scenes NHL 24 and the furniture bank).

And young Marchenko.

 

[Cowumbus]

Peeke now an NHL worst -40

 

[CBJx614]

Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: Injuries prompt internal investigation, Foudy has arrived

No question, bad luck and bad bounces have played a role. But Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen told The Athletic this week that the organization will take a deep look at its training and conditioning protocols after the season to see if there’s anything they need to improve.

And there could be some difficult exit interviews with certain players next weekend.

“We’re evaluating everything after a season like this, obviously,” Kekalainen said. “You have to ask the questions: Are these soft-tissue injuries? Are these guys getting hurt because they’re not strong enough? I’m not sure that’s the issue, but we’re going to look at everything.”

Kekalainen’s belief, as of today, is that most of the injuries have been “fluky accidents,” he said.

“(Werenski’s) arm gets caught on the dasher and his shoulder dislocates,” Kekalainen said. “(Forward) Mathieu Olivier blocks a shot that punctures his shin pad. (Defenseman) Jake Bean wipes out going 100 miles per hour and slams into the boards. “The stronger you are, the better chance you have to avoid some injuries. But I don’t think any level of conditioning would prevent some of these.”

Beyond looking for any club-wide training issues, Kekalainen said some players — he wouldn’t name names — will likely get strong messages when Larsen and management conduct exit interviews next weekend. The Jackets finish the season on Friday at home vs. Buffalo.

“In some cases with these injuries, guys have to take a long look in the mirror,” Kekalainen said.

Two players the Blue Jackets were counting on heavily this season would seem to match Kekalainen’s description:

• Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins has been out of the lineup three times with back and lower-body injuries. He suffered a lower-body injury and left a game on March 24 in Montreal. He’s missed seven games since then and is questionable to play again this season. He’s started only 27 games this season.
• Forward Patrik Laine has missed the last nine games with a torn triceps, the fourth time this season he’s been out of the lineup. Laine has missed 55 games of a possible 211 games (26 percent) since he was traded to Columbus on Jan. 23, 2021.

Regarding Foudy...

Early this season, Blue Jackets winger Liam Foudy was stuck in a hockey purgatory. He was a healthy scratch for the first six games in Columbus, and the Blue Jackets didn’t want to send him to AHL Cleveland because they were sure he wouldn’t clear waivers.

On Oct. 22, Kekalainen pulled Foudy aside for a conversation. Kekalainen wanted to send Foudy to the minor leagues on a conditioning assignment (no waivers needed) and Foudy agreed, so a plan was put in place: Foudy would travel with the Blue Jackets to Philadelphia after a home game on Oct. 22, then travel from Philadelphia to Allentown, Penn., where the Monsters were set to face AHL Lehigh Valley.

But like so much else this season with the Blue Jackets, the best-laid plans fell to pieces. Forward Justin Danforth suffered a long-term shoulder injury on Oct. 22 vs. Pittsburgh, creating a roster spot that Foudy filled.

“I could have gone down to Cleveland if it weren’t waivers, but I was really happy to have a chance to really solidify a spot with the team,” Foudy said.
“You never know for sure when a guy goes on waivers, but you don’t want to lose a guy like that,” Kekalainen said. “We’ve invested a lot in him — he’s a first-round pick. I had a hunch, too. Some teams had asked about him, and when teams ask about a player, you know there’s some interest. So probably a good indication you’d lose them on waivers.

“We look at the potential, too. And in his case, last year in the American League he was excellent (before a shoulder injury), and he was obviously a good junior player, too, a World Junior player for Canada. We don’t want to lose a guy like that.”

 

[EspenK]

Peeke now an NHL worst -40

He may not be the problem but he doesn't appear to be part of the solution.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Guy on the worst team in the league who plays too many minutes due to injury has a league worse +/-

Next on the news I will explain that the sky is indeed blue