This season isn’t a lost cause just yet for the Blue Jackets, but their playoffs hopes are now on life support.
After ending a tough road trip with a 3-2 overtime win over the Utah Mammoth on Jan. 11 in Salt Lake City, they’re returning to Columbus still mired in last place of the Eastern Conference and after 45 games.
They’ve got 45 points, have eight teams to overtake for the East’s last playoff spot and only have themselves to blame for a spate of blown leads that cost them dearly. It’s not where the Jackets felt they should be after missing the playoffs by two points last year, but there’s no time to fret.
An upcoming stretch with seven of eight games at Nationwide Arena is likely their last chance to climb back into the postseason chase before the NHL pauses for the Olympics in February, so a make-or-break point is approaching. The Blue Jackets’ front office, led by president/general manager Don Waddell, will watch how it unfolds closely and make moves at the March 6 trade deadline to either help this season’s cause or sell off assets.
The Dispatch recently caught up with Waddell for a midseason chat about what has happened thus far and what may lie ahead. Here’s part of that conversation, edited for length and clarity:
Q: How surprised are you to be last in the Eastern Conference?
Waddell: Well, it’s disappointing for sure, and it’s disappointing because of how we’ve played and how we’ve lost games, particularly in third periods. As the GM of the team, you’ve always got to look at yourself first and say, ‘OK, are we not that good of a team or what’s going on?’ We wouldn’t be (in the positive for goal differential) in the first period, (positive) in the second period and so negative in the third if we were a bad team. You’d have much more balance in all three periods, so that’s the frustrating part.
I’ve said that through all my years as a GM in this league and being a part of this league, this is by far the most frustrating thing because it’s not only that we give up (leads), it’s like Pittsburgh on (Jan. 4). … You’re up by three goals, and then two in the third, and you get a point but you give them two. Going to the game, we’re five behind them, and if we win the game outright, you’re three behind them, and all of a sudden, you give them the two points and you only get one point, and you go six behind them. That’s the frustrating thing.
There’s so many three-point games, but when you give up those extra points to teams in your own division, that’s why we are where we are in our division. New Year’s Eve against New Jersey, same thing. Up by two goals and … can’t close it out.
Have you altered your approach to the March 6 trade deadline?
Waddell: Not yet. You know, we made the trade for Mason Marchment, and we’re continuing to see if we can make our team better. We’re going to continue to look at that. … We’re in a position where I think we’re better than our record, but we have to do it, of course. You can’t just talk about it. We can continue to make our team better. We were looking for that bigger winger that can help offensively and play the harder game, and we got Marchment, so you’re always looking.
We’re not by any means at a point where we’re saying, ‘OK, we’re going to start looking to trade off our (unrestricted free agents)’ or something like that. We’re still at the point where if we can make our team better and we think it’ll help us win this year … then we’re going to make those moves, depending on the price, of course. We’re not going to be stupid about it.
On the Marchment trade, we had some extra draft capital. Draft capital is great. You do two things with it. One is you can select players for four, five or six years down the road, or you’re trying to make your team better now. And in this case, we made our team better. So, we’re going to continue to do that as we move forward here in the next month or so.
Q: Do you need to be careful not to break up the young core group?
Waddell: Oh, 100%. I mean, I always say there’s nobody who’s ever off the table. Obviously, there’s a few guys you wouldn’t trade, but you never know who’s going to be offered to you.
Stars can be offered to you, so, OK, that’s different. But it’s more likely that doesn’t happen, so, no, we’ve got to continue. We’ve got a good nucleus of young players, and you need that mix. But moving out young players at this point to help us win right now or in the short term doesn’t make sense to me.
Q: What needs to happen with goalies Jet Greaves and Elvis Merzlikins, who has struggled?
Waddell: We’ve got to get the most out of our guys. Jet’s played good. He’s played a lot more than probably we thought he’d play.
Elvis went through a tough stretch there. He also had, probably, the toughest starts, so I don’t get caught up in the save percentage and all that stuff. I get caught up in how the goals go in. I keep a chart of every goal that goes in, like, is that a goal that you feel like the goalie could have made the save and did make the save? Or did he have no chance on it?
Elvis’ numbers aren’t great. I don’t think he’s played as bad as his numbers as of late, but at some point we need him to step up and win some games for us.
Q: How concerning is Kent Johnson’s drop in scoring?
Waddell: I watch him along with all our young guys, but in his case … we’ve tried to get him to simplify his game. I think for a while there he was trying to do too much, and then we decided to play him a little less while keeping him on the second power play, because we know he’s a skilled player who can make plays.
The other thing with these guys is that when they don’t score like they’re used to scoring, it’s the old saying about squeezing the stick a little harder. It’s true. He’s had some games where he’s hit crossbars, and that’s why I was so happy for him to get a goal (Jan. 8 in Las Vegas), because you’re hoping that one goal gives him the confidence that he can score in this league.
Look at Adam (Fantilli). Adam started off a little bit slow this year, and when he got it going, he’s been going pretty good. The confidence for older players is a different kind of confidence than with younger players. It’s certainly a much bigger factor.
Q: Is there any concern that Zach Werenski may exit in two years?
Waddell: Well, you look at all your players, and they all want to win. He wants to win and he cares, and that’s what you want out of a hockey player, especially a star player of his quality.
I’ve stayed in touch with him. I talk to him all the time and there’s frustration, which I mentioned, with, ‘How come we can’t keep leads?’ and so forth. But I do feel that he wants to be part of the solution. I don’t think he’s a guy who’s going to say, ‘I don’t want to be here.’
Now, if we’re talking about two years from now, and it’s still like this, then you can’t blame him (if he leaves), but I think we believe we’re better than where we are in the standings. Again, it’s easy to say it. You’ve got to go out and do it. So, I think this next period of time, not just this year but going into next year, is going to be the big factor when it comes to Z.
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at [email protected] and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
