Offseason Roster Moves, Rumors, and Discussion

[majormajor]

I posted in the KJ thread in the mains,

But the more I think about it, the more I think Laine on the first line with Gaudreau and Monahan COULD work. But it depends on Laine being open and Evason talking to him and getting him back into the shooter mindset. If Laine still wants to be the guy and carry the puck all the time, I'm not sure he's got a good fit here. But if he wants to be that dominant 30-40+ goal scorer, I think the first line and PP are perfect roles for him. But it's all about how sees himself and his mindset when he shows up to camp.

Getting Laine comfortable with quicker touches would help a lot, but he's also maybe not the ideal guy for Gaudreau because of how high he likes to play in the zone.

Jenner, Monahan, Marchenko, those guys go where Gaudreau likes to move the puck to. The mid slot and netfront. Tkachuk was the netfront guy and Lindholm the mid slot shooter, Monahan is great right in that mid slot, Jenner and Marchenko in the netfront. Laine likes to be from the dots back in the circles - when Gaudreau and Laine did click it was on tight goals around the net but you rarely see Laine playing that deep.

 

[majormajor]

Talking lines at the beginning of August makes no sense to me but since you posted it...

The guy kinda lost me in the first thirty seconds with KJ91 playing on a line with Gaudreau and Monahan, two wingers who are more playmaker than shooter makes no sense to me. That RW slot on the top line seems more destined for Chinny or Marchenko.

This of course blows up his second line where he has the three Russians playing together. While I expect them to get some playing time together during the season, I think early last season when the line clicked we all thought we had something special and I think as the year progressed we realized they don't have to play together and were perhaps more effective on different lines.

And then that third line...let's put three guys who can all play center on one line: one with way more speed than the other two and not sure either can keep up with him and none of these guys has yet shown at the NHL level they are playmakers. So its great all three guys can score but who is getting them the puck?

IOW, I don't like any of his three lines. Have no idea who this guy is and not dissing him because I realize it's hard to dissect someone else's team you rarely get to watch but if that's the case perhaps he shouldn't do it. The local fans know you are full of shit and the general hockey world is more stupid for having watched the video.

Shannon does a pretty good job, like I wouldn't expect better lines from most CBJ experts. His one sin in my book is that he had Sillinger centering Jenner, but I give up, everyone's doing it.

Personally I never got to the point last year where I tired of the Siberian trio, they didn't stop scoring, and none of them looked better to me apart from that line. Though there were times when other lines needed them. Gaudreau especially needed help from Marchenko or Chinakhov, who both have had sterling runs with Gaudreau.

I would like to try Gaudreau opposite Fantilli to start the season, but if that doesn't work then maybe Jenner, or maybe it has to be one of the Siberian boys.

Gaudreau - Monahan - Fantilli
Chinakhov - Voronkov - Marchenko
Sillinger - Jenner - KJ

KJ with Gaudreau, I agree maybe isn't the best fit. But that's because they need muscle to win loose pucks. KJ I know only scored 6 goals last year but his shot is exceptional, I think he could be a good triggerman if need be.

 

[ThirdPeriodTurtle]

Shannon does a pretty good job, like I wouldn't expect better lines from most CBJ experts. His one sin in my book is that he had Sillinger centering Jenner, but I give up, everyone's doing it.

Yeah for a guy who follows all the teams and posts content on them, I find he's got a very good grasp of each team. I don't think lines are his main focus, and even we here have very different ideas about the best combos - and we still get it wrong. As do the coaches, I guess. But there's usually nothing where I object when I watch his videos on CBJ, and he's got a great sense of objectivity in his videos I feel. Definitely one of the better or even the best "non-character" guy doing hockey videos.

 

[Jersey Fan 12]

Markus Bjork hasn't returned to Sweden and has yet to sign an NHL contract. Any chance he signs an AHL deal with the Monsters?

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Markus Bjork hasn't returned to Sweden and has yet to sign an NHL contract. Any chance he signs an AHL deal with the Monsters?

They probably want to give the younger guys a look. A guy like Corson Ceulemans, who they invested a first rounder in, needs more ice time.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

They probably want to give the younger guys a look. A guy like Corson Ceulemans, who they invested a first rounder in, needs more ice time.

between letting zboril + blankenburg + sweezey walk and the high likelihood that one of mateychuk/christiansen will make the NHL roster, they actually look like they went from having a logjam in cleveland to a lack of depth.

svozil, knazko, ceulemans, one of christiansen/mateychuk… beyond that, the only guys with NHL deals are clayton and bjorkvik-holm, the latter of whom spent most of the last few years in the ECHL. i'm sure they'll make more moves there, but it feels like they could use a marcus bjork.

funny enough, they still have the rights to tim berni, but i doubt he's ever coming back to north america

 

[Xoggz22]

between letting zboril + blankenburg + sweezey walk and the high likelihood that one of mateychuk/christiansen will make the NHL roster, they actually look like they went from having a logjam in cleveland to a lack of depth.

svozil, knazko, ceulemans, one of christiansen/mateychuk… beyond that, the only guys with NHL deals are clayton and bjorkvik-holm, the latter of whom spent most of the last few years in the ECHL. i'm sure they'll make more moves there, but it feels like they could use a marcus bjork.

funny enough, they still have the rights to tim berni, but i doubt he's ever coming back to north america

And oddly enough, this might be the best year for Berni to have an NHL chance. I think he could be a good 6/7 based on how I felt he played a couple years ago. You just never know how the chips fall.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1822062887789064638

Waddell said the Blue Jackets’ strength/conditioning and athletic training staffs will be retained. The team’s new GM plans to use the coming season to become more familiar with them and make assessments later.

“Everybody is coming back,” he said. “Then, we’re going to assess everything through the season. All the staff, I said we’re going to take this year and assess what we’re doing. You get to know me. I get to know you and we’ll go forward after that.”
Waddell left the Carolina Hurricanes, one of the NHL’s least injured teams, to join one of the league’s most injury-plagued organizations over the past few years.

The Blue Jackets finished with a whopping 327 man-games lost to injuries last season, which was actually a significant decrease from the franchise record of 563 man-games lost in 2022-23. They also lost 371 man-games to injuries in 2021-22, which brings their total for the past three years to 1,261. Bad luck seemed to be the root cause of the health woes, but the Blue Jackets have racked up a collection of torn shoulder labrums that required surgeries for Josh Anderson, Gustav Nyquist, Zach Werenski, Justin Danforth, Jake Bean and, most recently, Johnson.

 

[Cheddarcheese]

Am i delusional for thinking this team can shock some people? fight for a wildcard?

 

[jaxfan45385]

Am i delusional for thinking this team can shock some people? fight for a wildcard?

No. There was a poll on X the other day and it asked how many points CBJ will have this year. The highest was 85 points or above. That's what I picked. It was at 15% when I submitted my answer.

 

[EspenK]

Am i delusional for thinking this team can shock some people? fight for a wildcard?

 

[Jovavic]

Alot of things need to break a good way for them to sniff the playoffs. The defense and goaltending need to be league average. A few of the kids need to take a step. And injuries in general, and especially to star players, need to be low.

 

[DankoCBJ]

I mean last year Capitals did it against all odds.. But yeah, everything needs to click perfectly if we want to compete for a playoffs spot next year.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

I think for that to happen you're hanging your hat on the coaching/GM/culture/organizational change impacting all the other things in a positive way, but the biggest factor would be the changes at the top.

 

[koteka]

I think for that to happen you're hanging your hat on the coaching/GM/culture/organizational change impacting all the other things in a positive way, but the biggest factor would be the changes at the top.

The people at the top are calling this an evaluation year so I don’t get the sense they are “going for it” and expecting to contend for the playoffs. I think they are trying to see what we have and will make major changes for 25-26. I think the objective is to get goals against down (especially in the third period), finish with more points, and not be the worst team in the Eastern conference. But more importantly the objective is to figure out who to keep and who to get rid of (from players to assistant coaches and to other people inside the building like Kevin Collins).

Also, the new regime doesn’t want to over-perform in year 1 and take a step back in year 2 and then have people calling for their heads.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

The people at the top are calling this an evaluation year so I don’t get the sense they are “going for it” and expecting to contend for the playoffs. I think they are trying to see what we have and will make major changes for 25-26. I think the objective is to get goals against down (especially in the third period), finish with more points, and not be the worst team in the Eastern conference. But more importantly the objective is to figure out who to keep and who to get rid of (from players to assistant coaches and to other people inside the building like Kevin Collins).

Also, the new regime doesn’t want to over-perform in year 1 and take a step back in year 2 and then have people calling for their heads.

I get that. I was just saying that if the team somehow challenges for a playoff spot that's going to be what drives it.

And I think we all know that progress isn't linear. Should the team find itself challenging for a playoff spot, I can't imagine them being all "let's take our foot off the gas here so we don't overperform in year one."

Short answer: I don't expect it.

 

[koteka]

Should the team find itself challenging for a playoff spot, I can't imagine them being all "let's take our foot off the gas here so we don't overperform in year one."

No, but challenging for a playoff spot probably means Laine and Provorov are playing well. I still trade UFAs like Provorov and Kuraly at the deadline even if we are in the hunt. I likely still trade Laine if he wants to move on and has improved his trade value. We aren’t winning a Cup this season so let’s get some decent assets back.

 

[Cheddarcheese]

only reason i bring it up is i remember last year the first 40 games of the year were all one goal games or at least 90% of them were.
one year older and a more experienced coach maybe half of those turn to wins ?

 

[koteka]

only reason i bring it up is i remember last year the first 40 games of the year were all one goal games or at least 90% of them were.
one year older and a more experienced coach maybe half of those turn to wins ?

Let’s say 5 losses become wins and another 5 OTLs become wins. Then the Jackets finish with 81 points and are tied for third worst team in the Eastern Conference.

 

[Cheddarcheese]

9 points from a playoff spot then i think it was 90 ,could have been 91

i think i just value this team to high. its almost our time, fingers crossed

 

[alphafox]

I think for that to happen you're hanging your hat on the coaching/GM/culture/organizational change impacting all the other things in a positive way, but the biggest factor would be the changes at the top.

This. If the coaching and organizational shift shakes out in the best way I think the team has alot of potential and its easy to see a scenario where you find an offensive dynamo with Monahan and Gaudreau elevating each other, Fantilli taking the 2C spot and looking like a future superstar, KJ & Sillinger take step/steps forward to get where they should be after a couple of years in the post draft wilderness. Add to that a good chance we see Jiricek and Mateychuk push their way on the Blue Line and if all that proves to be an upgrade we could have a very strong team outside of goal.

Realistically though, We are likely still a bottom 10 nhl team next year because we need half of the above to go right just to be competitive. I think the smart move is to treat this as an evaluation year of the organization (i.e. player development, medical staff, contracting department, scouting, etc.) and try to maximize the assets for 2025 and 2026 by flipping guys like Laine, Provorov, and maybe Jenner so that we can add another couple of blue chip players and/or a Goalie for immediate help.

In addition we have a lot of quality players like Lindstrom, Brindley, Svozil, Cuelemans that will be ready to roster spots this year or next and getting their feet wet at the end of this year/during this year by opening spots up through trade isn't the worst thing in the world.

 

[squashmaple]

Let’s say 5 losses become wins and another 5 OTLs become wins. Then the Jackets finish with 81 points and are tied for third worst team in the Eastern Conference.

Eighty points feels reasonable in a vacuum. Underperformance the past three years is easily attributable to three things: abysmal coaching, insane injuries (1200ish aggregate man-games lost), and youth put in positions they shouldn't have been. It's fairly easy to project regression to the mean on at least one if not all three. I'll be delighted by an 80-point team.

But I don't see it happening, because the team doesn't exist in a vacuum. The thing is, the rest of the "bad teams" also improved or can point to the exact same things. Montreal has been more injured than Columbus and is full of youth and has a good coach. Anaheim hasn't been unhealthy but they've got better kids overall who are on the same development curve as our kids, and they'll get a boost when they fire Cronin partway into the season and hire McLellan. San Jose, Chicago, and Utah have all made improvments. No one is actively tanking. The other teams who finished better than Columbus but still top ten last year are all better, too (except maybe Calgary, but their base still isn't awful and they'll get most of the season of Andersson before the deadline). Philly will get a massive boost from having the Calder front-runner. Ottawa has better talent that's a couple years ahead in development, although they hired a terrible coach for some reason. Seattle won't stay bad, and no way the Devils are anywhere near a top ten pick next season. Pittsburgh and Minnesota did enough to stay afloat, and Washington shored up bigtime. The Metro will be extremely mid next season but I still don't see the Jackets finishing anywhere other than eighth of eight again.

A lot of contenders got worse, but the Jackets aren't in competition with the contenders.

(I know you and I generally agree on this point; I'm adding to the point not arguing with you)

 

[JacketFanInFL]

Am i delusional for thinking this team can shock some people? fight for a wildcard?

For this to happen, the CBJ need to come up with 25 more points than last year and give up roughly 50 less goals in a combination of defensive system and goaltending improvement. We were one of two teams to give up 300+ goals last year. The Stanley Cup winners gave up 200.

Ideally, we need to score more goals as we were in the bottom 1/3, but not absolutely necessary if we keep the puck out of our own net.

Only two teams made the playoffs last year that were negative on goal differential.

It's a tall order and I would say nearly impossible.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

For this to happen, the CBJ need to come up with 25 more points than last year and give up roughly 50 less goals in a combination of defensive system and goaltending improvement. We were one of two teams to give up 300+ goals last year. The Stanley Cup winners gave up 200.

Ideally, we need to score more goals as we were in the bottom 1/3, but not absolutely necessary if we keep the puck out of our own net.

Only two teams made the playoffs last year that were negative on goal differential.

It's a tall order and I would say nearly impossible.

it's more or less what vancouver did last year. in 22-23 they scored 276 goals and gave up 298. last year they scored 279 and gave up 223. they did that while subtracting a shutdown center in bo horvat.

i wouldn't count on elvis to have a demko-type resurgence, but the difference between a pascal vincent coached team (a sub-NHL level coach) and dean evason, who has a proven track record of squeezing the most out of limited rosters, could be significant.

am i expecting them to be a playoff team, or to even push for a wild card? no. but we're like six weeks away from training camp starting, the team has a legitimate NHL center on the roster, a legitimate NHL head coach, and the young guys are a year older.

being optimistic right now is the whole point of being a fan of a team.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

it's more or less what vancouver did last year. in 22-23 they scored 276 goals and gave up 298. last year they scored 279 and gave up 223. they did that while subtracting a shutdown center in bo horvat.

i wouldn't count on elvis to have a demko-type resurgence, but the difference between a pascal vincent coached team (a sub-NHL level coach) and dean evason, who has a proven track record of squeezing the most out of limited rosters, could be significant.

am i expecting them to be a playoff team, or to even push for a wild card? no. but we're like six weeks away from training camp starting, the team has a legitimate NHL center on the roster, a legitimate NHL head coach, and the young guys are a year older.

being optimistic right now is the whole point of being a fan of a team.

In before someone comes along trying to suggest the opposite of "optimistic" is "realistic."