The Jackets came so close to the playoffs it was frustrating. They had an incredible year on defense but it was the offense that left them on the outside of the playoffs looking in.
Team Name: Columbus Blue Jackets
Record: 24-17-7, 4th Central
Player of the Season: Sergei Bobrovsky The goaltender for the Blue Jackets was the reason why Columbus went from 5-12-3 at the end of February to the record they achieved above. He finished 21-11-6 with a .932 save percentage, four shutouts and a goals against average of an even 2.00. He’s a Vezina finalist and rightfully so for his performance. Heck, he might wind up on the cover of EA Sports NHL 14 if he can knock off Martin Brodeur in the finals of the cover vote.
Breakout of the Season: Mark Letestu He had a solid second season in Columbus with 27 points in the shortened season. Letestu led the team in goals with 13 goals and picked up seven points on special teams highlighted by a pair of shorthanded goals.
Disappointment of the Season: The team’s power play was lackluster, finishing 28th in the league for the season. This alone could have been the difference between making the playoffs and sitting at home.
Team Analysis: The Blue Jackets were the story of the season as they went from worst to missing the playoffs by a hair. There’s no doubt Bobrovsky was the key reason of their success but they had to get some offense as well.
2013-2014 Story Lines: Marian Gaborik is a Blue Jacket after he came over from the Rangers in the Rick Nash deal. Nash was the face of the franchise but it’s up to Gaborik to be the offensive face. He needs to be the team leader and has to spark the team on offense. How will they use their three first-round picks at the NHL Draft at the end of the month? That’s the kind of draft that can determine a franchise’s fate for several years either good or bad.
2013-2014 Fantasy Guys to Have: Bobrovsky, Gaborik, Jack Johnson, Letestu
On the fringe: Vinny Prospal, Artem Anisimov and Cam Atkinson.
| PLAYER | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | ATOI | PPG | PPA | SHG | SHA | SOG | SPCT |
| Vinny Prospal, C | 48 | 12 | 18 | 30 | 3 | 32 | 16:32 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 85 | 14.1 |
| Mark Letestu, C | 46 | 13 | 14 | 27 | 7 | 10 | 16:31 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 92 | 14.1 |
| Fedor Tyutin, D | 48 | 4 | 18 | 22 | 9 | 28 | 24:06 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 56 | 7.1 |
| Brandon Dubinsky, C | 29 | 2 | 18 | 20 | 2 | 76 | 18:24 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 50 | 4.0 |
| Nick Foligno, LW | 45 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 6 | 28 | 16:31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 69 | 8.7 |
| Jack Johnson, D | 44 | 5 | 14 | 19 | -5 | 12 | 25:58 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 96 | 5.2 |
| Derick Brassard, C † | 34 | 7 | 11 | 18 | -2 | 16 | 16:32 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 11.1 |
| R.J. Umberger, C | 48 | 8 | 10 | 18 | 3 | 16 | 18:29 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 96 | 8.3 |
| Artem Anisimov, C | 35 | 11 | 7 | 18 | -6 | 12 | 16:25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 16.2 |
| Cam Atkinson, RW | 35 | 9 | 9 | 18 | 9 | 4 | 15:35 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 91 | 9.9 |
| Matt Calvert, LW | 42 | 9 | 7 | 16 | -9 | 32 | 14:11 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 63 | 14.3 |
| James Wisniewski, D | 30 | 5 | 9 | 14 | -1 | 15 | 22:50 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 62 | 8.1 |
| Ryan Johansen, C | 40 | 5 | 7 | 12 | -7 | 12 | 16:05 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 84 | 6.0 |
| Nikita Nikitin, D | 38 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 2 | 17 | 21:12 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 60 | 5.0 |
| Derek Dorsett, RW | 24 | 3 | 6 | 9 | -11 | 53 | 15:59 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 7.9 |
| Derek MacKenzie, C | 43 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 1 | 36 | 10:20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 9.1 |
| Marian Gaborik, RW† | 12 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 18:05 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 7.9 |
| Dalton Prout, D | 28 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 15 | 25 | 18:32 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 6.3 |
| Jared Boll, RW | 43 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | 100 | 8:05 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 10.5 |
| Blake Comeau, RW† | 9 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 11:41 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 50.0 |
| Tim Erixon, D | 31 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 14 | 15:42 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 0.0 |
| Adrian Aucoin, D | 36 | 0 | 4 | 4 | -8 | 16 | 16:20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0.0 |
| Colton Gillies, C | 27 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 17 | 8:18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 5.9 |
| John Moore, D † | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -5 | 2 | 14:31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0.0 |
| Cody Goloubef, D | 11 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 0 | 14:49 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7.1 |
| Jonathan Audy-Marchessault, C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 10:57 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| David Savard, D | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -3 | 0 | 13:12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 |
| Nick Holden, D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8:35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 |
| Sean Collins, C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 6 | 12:30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 |
| Nick Drazenovic, C | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -2 | 4 | 9:56 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0.0 |
| PLAYER | GP | W | L | OTL | GAA | TOI | SV | SV% | SHO | TGA | TSA | PIM |
| Sergei Bobrovsky | 38 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 2.00 | 2218:57 | 1010 | .932 | 4 | 74 | 1084 | 0 |
| Steve Mason† | 13 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 2.95 | 712:05 | 311 | .899 | 0 | 35 | 346 | 0 |
