The Columbus Blue Jackets were on the receiving end of Tage Thompson’s five-goal performance and a blowout by the Buffalo Sabres over Johnny Gaudreau and his teammates this week. It was not the place any team wants to be and questions in Columbus now turn to what this team does about such an embarrassing situation. This is a club that signed Gaudreau to a massive deal with the expectation he might change the fortunes of the franchise. While he’s starting to pick up his own game, the Blue Jackets certainly aren’t responding as a unit.
The team now sits 30th in the NHL standings, ahead of only the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks. They are tied with the Arizona Coyotes and if you ask a typical fan, even a player on that team what now, they might not have an answer. The players got together in a player-only meeting to try and talk through things, but that’s not expected to lead to changes.
Pierre LeBrun of TSN looked at the issues with this team in the most recent TSN Insider Trading segment and noted:
Yeah, James, the embarrassment was felt from top to bottom, I was told (on Thursday) by someone with the organization. And the players themselves, of course, having a players-only meeting after the game. But the reality is, this isn’t going to fuel GM Jarmo Kekalainen to go out and make a bunch of trades to try and get the team out of the bottom of the standings to salvage the year.
He adds that Kekalaninen sees the team’s massive injury issue and their now sitting this low in the standings as a sign this could be a long season. LeBrun notes, “…they’re too far down, they’ve dug too much of a hole (in the standings). They are going to take their lumps.” He adds that the team won’t acknowledge this publicly, but the club is prepared to lose this season to get a better spot in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft, one they consider to be quite deep.
For now, the Blue Jackets will shift the focus to the development of their young players.
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