Are the Jackets finally on the cusp of something great ?

[Aaaarrgghh]

Maybe. Maybe not. But there is certainly reason for optimism.

 

[NotWendell]

10000x this.

Although I feel a little bit better about it than last time.

Like Charlie Brown and that damn football!

 

[Jovavic]

position, coupled with a star veteran group (Gaudreau, Laine, Werenski) that we just frankly didn’t have then.

How dare you bad mouth legends like Scott Lachance, David Ling, and Andrew Cassels

 

[majormajor]

Klesla is the one that stands out to me. As prospects I probably liked Klesla more back then than Jiricek now. I always thought he'd be what Weber eventually became. Atleast now we are in a position to develop Jiricek and insulate him vs just relying on our teenagers to carry the team

Klesla is a good example of why you don't put D that age in the NHL. They get the creativity drained out of them and learn to play in a cautious way to avoid mistakes. I'm hoping we keep Jiricek in the AHL another year.

The clear difference between then and now is additional top end prospect depth at every position, coupled with a star veteran group (Gaudreau, Laine, Werenski) that we just frankly didn’t have then.

We don't have many veterans but you're right that the ones we do have make for a very different outcome as the prospects join the big club.

You could add the best prospect pool in the league to a stripped bare team (like the early Jackets or current Chicago) and they won't get much off the floor. Chicago is going to be bad for a long time.

 

[Farmboy Patty]

Klesla is a good example of why you don't put D that age in the NHL. They get the creativity drained out of them and learn to play in a cautious way to avoid mistakes. I'm hoping we keep Jiricek in the AHL another year.



We don't have many veterans but you're right that the ones we do have make for a very different outcome as the prospects join the big club.

You could add the best prospect pool in the league to a stripped bare team (like the early Jackets or current Chicago) and they won't get much off the floor. Chicago is going to be bad for a long time.

I think that the prospects are pretty much in an ideal position with the mix of great players carrrying the burden, but they still have a realistic opportunity to make it up the ranks.

IMO CLB are on the right path and it’ll be really interesting to follow this squad and see how things play out. I’m super pumped just to follow the progression of these guys with what I’m expecting solid coaching.

 

[TaketheCannoli]

I remember a Columbus GM saying he'd rather have the CBJ roster than the soon to be Cup Champion Red Wings roster. Remember when Brassard, Voracek, Mason and Filatov were going to make this team a contender? Remember when Brassard a sure franchise 1C won NHL rookie of the month? Remember when Steve Mason won the next two rookie of the month awards? Remember when Ryan Johansen was the answer at 1C? PLD?

I remember when The Hockey News and Sports Illustrated pronounced the Jackets a playoff team going into the 2003-2004 season on the strength of Nash's rookie season.

I'm holding out judgement until I see a lot more. As they used to say, "I'm from Missouri, Show Me!"

 

[CBJx614]

I remember a Columbus GM saying he'd rather have the CBJ roster than the soon to be Cup Champion Red Wings roster. Remember when Brassard, Voracek, Mason and Filatov were going to make this team a contender? Remember when Brassard a sure franchise 1C won NHL rookie of the month? Remember when Steve Mason won the next two rookie of the month awards? Remember when Ryan Johansen was the answer at 1C? PLD?

I remember when The Hockey News and Sports Illustrated pronounced the Jackets a playoff team going into the 2003-2004 season on the strength of Nash's rookie season.

I'm holding out judgement until I see a lot more. As they used to say, "I'm from Missouri, Show Me!"

There's a big difference between those teams and this one. Those teams didn't have established star power throughout the roster. Those guys in all of those situations were expected to be messiah's to help lead the cbj out of the basement and turn the page.

Our current team as assembled has far more talent on it than any of the jackets teams before 2013.

We all know the PLD situation so no need to harp on that. PLD and Fantilli seem about as polar opposite as you can get when it comes to personality and character. So I'm not really worried about Fantilli forcing his way out after his ELC.

 

[JacketsDavid]

There's a big difference between those teams and this one. Those teams didn't have established star power throughout the roster. Those guys in all of those situations were expected to be messiah's to help lead the cbj out of the basement and turn the page.

Our current team as assembled has far more talent on it than any of the jackets teams before 2013.

We all know the PLD situation so no need to harp on that. PLD and Fantilli seem about as polar opposite as you can get when it comes to personality and character. So I'm not really worried about Fantilli forcing his way out after his ELC.

Yeah look at all the talent we're bringing back - I mean we were better than 1 other NHL team last season...
Also if personality mattered than Elvis would be elite...

Listen I know you love this roster - but great teams don't need star power. They need leadership. Babcock will help a lot here but leadership brings out the best in others. Sometimes star power helps but you need guys leading on the ice.

 

[Marioesque]

Sometimes star power helps but you need guys leading on the ice.

The stars are supposed to lead on the ice, no? They should provide the majority of the leading. That's how you become a star.

 

[squashmaple]

Yeah look at all the talent we're bringing back - I mean we were better than 1 other NHL team last season...
Also if personality mattered than Elvis would be elite...

Listen I know you love this roster - but great teams don't need star power. They need leadership. Babcock will help a lot here but leadership brings out the best in others. Sometimes star power helps but you need guys leading on the ice.

I'm not sure what you're arguing. The roster that ended the year with a whimper had neither leaders nor star power because it was guys who were tenth and below on the depth chart plus Johnny Gaudreau who was still trying. The roster we enter this season with is going to have vanishingly little overlap with the one that lost to the Sabres on April 14th.

 

[BB88]

I remember a Columbus GM saying he'd rather have the CBJ roster than the soon to be Cup Champion Red Wings roster. Remember when Brassard, Voracek, Mason and Filatov were going to make this team a contender? Remember when Brassard a sure franchise 1C won NHL rookie of the month? Remember when Steve Mason won the next two rookie of the month awards? Remember when Ryan Johansen was the answer at 1C? PLD?

I remember when The Hockey News and Sports Illustrated pronounced the Jackets a playoff team going into the 2003-2004 season on the strength of Nash's rookie season.

I'm holding out judgement until I see a lot more. As they used to say, "I'm from Missouri, Show Me!"

What does this have to do with the current build of the roster?

Yeah look at all the talent we're bringing back - I mean we were better than 1 other NHL team last season...
Also if personality mattered than Elvis would be elite...

Listen I know you love this roster - but great teams don't need star power. They need leadership. Babcock will help a lot here but leadership brings out the best in others. Sometimes star power helps but you need guys leading on the ice.

They were a rebuilding team that had the franchise record in mans games lost to injury.

Good luck finding teams that have a good season with that set up

 

[JacketsDavid]

The stars are supposed to lead on the ice, no? They should provide the majority of the leading. That's how you become a star.

Stars are not always leaders.
Hate to bring it up again but Rick Nash was a star who wore the C but he was not a leader (got to the point where the Dispatch was reporting each day that he wasn't at the optional skate to make a point).
And the CBJs record reflected that.
Really nice guy, Really talented guy. Gifted goal scorer.
But not a leader.

 

[JacketsDavid]

I'm not sure what you're arguing. The roster that ended the year with a whimper had neither leaders nor star power because it was guys who were tenth and below on the depth chart plus Johnny Gaudreau who was still trying. The roster we enter this season with is going to have vanishingly little overlap with the one that lost to the Sabres on April 14th.

Look we sucked the first handful of games when Zach played last season.
We sucked with Laine and Johnny playing together
We sucked for 82 games.
Injuries are an excuse and no matter how you look at it we were a bad team last year.

Most on here (last season) thought we would be fighting for a playoff spot because we signed the top free agent (Johnny G). How did that work out?
Listen I understand there are some exciting shiny new toys - but it's a tough haul going from where we were last year to being competitive. Throw in a major coaching change and it will be at minimum a 20 game adjustment and likely a player or two who doesn't fit in.

 

[VT]

Look we sucked the first handful of games when Zach played last season.
We sucked with Laine and Johnny playing together
We sucked for 82 games.
Injuries are an excuse and no matter how you look at it we were a bad team last year.

Most on here (last season) thought we would be fighting for a playoff spot because we signed the top free agent (Johnny G). How did that work out?
Listen I understand there are some exciting shiny new toys - but it's a tough haul going from where we were last year to being competitive. Throw in a major coaching change and it will be at minimum a 20 game adjustment and likely a player or two who doesn't fit in.

O.K. look at the first games. We played without Laine. Voráček always had bad starts, Sillinger had a tragical season. There were first Johnson's games. Also you forget Larsen. And next injuries started.

 

[BB88]

Look we sucked the first handful of games when Zach played last season.
We sucked with Laine and Johnny playing together
We sucked for 82 games.
Injuries are an excuse and no matter how you look at it we were a bad team last year.

Most on here (last season) thought we would be fighting for a playoff spot because we signed the top free agent (Johnny G). How did that work out?
Listen I understand there are some exciting shiny new toys - but it's a tough haul going from where we were last year to being competitive. Throw in a major coaching change and it will be at minimum a 20 game adjustment and likely a player or two who doesn't fit in.

Laine got injured on the 1st game of the season, they were doomed from the start.

& you really can’t talk enough about how the coaching affected the season.
They got basement level coaching from the start and have upgraded it significantly

Why do some of you just love to hate them?
No matter what they’ll do they can never be successfull

 

[CBJx614]

Yeah look at all the talent we're bringing back - I mean we were better than 1 other NHL team last season...
Also if personality mattered than Elvis would be elite...

Listen I know you love this roster - but great teams don't need star power. They need leadership. Babcock will help a lot here but leadership brings out the best in others. Sometimes star power helps but you need guys leading on the ice.

Rebuilding the youngest team in the league, combined with a record amount of injuries was a recipe for a lottery finish. The only teams who were even close to our injury numbers who were in the playoffs were Toronto and Vegas. And both of those teams were considered cup contenders heading into the season. The jackets were playoff hopefuls at best. They needed the perfect storm to make the playoffs last year. And as soon as Z got hurt that storm blew away.

And you made my point for me. Fantillis personality is that of a leader. He's the kinda guy that's gonna give it his all on every shift and will guys into battle with him similar to Jenner.

And on the topic of leadership, one of our main leader wasn't even dressed for 90% of the games, you don't think that affected the team?

 

[stevo61]

Laine got injured on the 1st game of the season, they were doomed from the start.

& you really can’t talk enough about how the coaching affected the season.
They got basement level coaching from the start and have upgraded it significantly

Why do some of you just love to hate them?
No matter what they’ll do they can never be successfull

Some people just like to expect worst case scenario so if thats what happens they can hit you with an I told you so or if its wrong they can be happily wrong, not a fun way to go through life. Also not a trait I hope anyone on the team has

 

[majormajor]

Laine got injured on the 1st game of the season

Twice in the last three years lol.

 

[BB88]

Some people just like to expect worst case scenario so if thats what happens they can hit you with an I told you so or if its wrong they can be happily wrong, not a fun way to go through life. Also not a trait I hope anyone on the team has

Then they really shouldn’t take part in the revenge tour when it starts.

It’s just ”easy” to look at the final standings and say they are million miles away from being good followed by great and ignore everything that had to happen for them to finish where they finished.

Outside of Fantilli most excited to see the effect Babcock has on the roster, coaching was the biggesy failure last season.

 

[TaketheCannoli]

What does this have to do with the current build of the roster?



They were a rebuilding team that had the franchise record in mans games lost to injury.

Good luck finding teams that have a good season with that set up

Fair question - What does this have to do with the current build of the roster?

Nothing and yet it has everything to do with the lofty expectations of many fans and some of the media. I hope this team finally becomes a strong contender.

Yet long time Jackets fans have heard this all before. Talk is cheap, let's see it on the ice.

 

[TaketheCannoli]

There's a big difference between those teams and this one. Those teams didn't have established star power throughout the roster. Those guys in all of those situations were expected to be messiah's to help lead the cbj out of the basement and turn the page.

Our current team as assembled has far more talent on it than any of the jackets teams before 2013.

We all know the PLD situation so no need to harp on that. PLD and Fantilli seem about as polar opposite as you can get when it comes to personality and character. So I'm not really worried about Fantilli forcing his way out after his ELC.

I'm not sure you followed the Jackets in those days. Star power? Rick Nash had major star power, imo way more star power than Gaudreau. Steve Mason didn't have star power? The guy lead the league in shutouts, won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year and was arguably the best goalie in the NHL. How about Panarin? Johansen? Hell Filatov had star power. I can give you a list of past players with REAL star power. Can you show me Cup winners? How about Cup finalists? No? How about conference finalists?

You are entitled to love this roster. I hope you are right.Show me a team that has a winning record, more actual wins than losses. I want to see real performance before I decide to buy in.

 

[BB88]

Fair question - What does this have to do with the current build of the roster?

Nothing and yet it has everything to do with the lofty expectations of many fans and some of the media. I hope this team finally becomes a strong contender.

Yet long time Jackets fans have heard this all before. Talk is cheap, let's see it on the ice.

Again why would you mix past to the current set up?

When exactly have they had a top 2/3 prospect in the league lead by 2 legit franchise prospects(Fantilli best prospect in franchise history& and a C prospect) + have proven talent in:

Werenski
Gaudreau
Laine
Provorov
Severson
Jenner

The doubters always keep thinking the potential is solely build around the prospects and keep ignoring the proven talent they also already have and have under controll for multiple years.

 

[Xoggz22]

Yeah look at all the talent we're bringing back - I mean we were better than 1 other NHL team last season...
Also if personality mattered than Elvis would be elite...

Listen I know you love this roster - but great teams don't need star power. They need leadership. Babcock will help a lot here but leadership brings out the best in others. Sometimes star power helps but you need guys leading on the ice.

Do you honestly believe that this team had no talent before injury last year? Even losing one player shifts a roster. I'm not calling this team a world beater but the loss of a few key veterans and the constant revolving door did no favors to the roster construction. Yes, they were "better" than one team last year but give me a break. They were better using an AHL roster to fill in for the loss of NHL players. The loss of Voracek and Werenski alone caused major ripples to this roster and protecting/supporting some of the young players. I'm not going to rehash all the injuries but if you know anything about being a team you would know even a single injury can be problematic for a middling team. CBJ wasn't going to be a world beater but come on... thinking they were really the 2nd worst? That's just silly

 

[stevo61]

Our view of our veterans gets thrown off to some just because of last year. Its funny how different teams can view their own outlook. There was recently a U24 poll of Columbus vs Montreal in the mains which Columbus won but it was a good debate. Montreal fans (large fan base so a large number of delusional fans but still) are extremely excited for the future because of their young guys. Meanwhile we have people hesitant to be excited about a better group and then factor in the vets over 24 it becomes Laine, Gaudreau, Jenner, Werenski, Severson, Provorov vs Anderson, Savard, Dvorak, Matheson and Gallagher yet as a fanbase they can allow themselves to find more joy when looking to the future while some here will forever remain pessimistic

 

[TaketheCannoli]

Again why would you mix past to the current set up?

When exactly have they had a top 2/3 prospect in the league lead by 2 legit franchise prospects(Fantilli best prospect in franchise history& and a C prospect) + have proven talent in:

Werenski
Gaudreau
Laine
Provorov
Severson
Jenner

The doubters always keep thinking the potential is solely build around the prospects and keep ignoring the proven talent they also already have and have under controll for multiple years.

I'm not sure if you followed the team then. They had a lot of decent NHL players like Malhotra (led the NHL in face-off % for several years), Vyborny ( very underrated skilled playmaking forward), Adam Foote ( a previous All Star and Norris finalist),Ron Hainsey, -I could go on - and a lot of highly regarded prospects. Those teams had proven players and highly regarded prospects. They also had questionable coaching and a dysfunctional front office.

I don't want this team to stay bad. I'd like to see a program where the team is usually in the thick of things, as an example an operation like the Bruins. I once thought we were on the cusp of that from 2016-20. I was wrong.

I hope they can build an operation like this. I'm not hoping they suck or looking to tell anyone "I told you so." I just want some tangible evidence that the potential turns into years of 100+ points and deep playoff runs. I bought season tickets and attended 40+ games per season for years. I'd love to see an operation that's unlike anything I've yet seen in Columbus. Let's see what happens.