The Columbus Blue Jackets enter the 2025-26 season with a rare sense of stability, absent the major offseason headlines that have defined recent years.
Instead, the organization is looking forward to building upon a strong 2024-25 campaign that had them finish just two points out of a playoff spot. Here are five storylines worth monitoring as the team goes through the preseason:
Can Zach Werenski Sustain Norris Trophy-Level Play?
Zach Werenski has consistently been a pivotal player for the organization. Still, last year he took a major step on the national stage by finishing as the runner-up for the Norris Trophy, edging out Quinn Hughes but falling behind Cale Makar. Regardless of his standing among those three, the question is: can he remain in the conversation with those two this year? Even a slight regression to his mean is an all-star level player, and it will be fascinating to see if the 28-year-old can follow up his career-best season with another similar campaign.
What Level Can Adam Fantilli Reach?
Perhaps no player gives the Blue Jackets more optimism in the future than Adam Fantilli, still only 20 years old, who scored 31 goals and played in all 82 games last season. If he can become a more consistent player, it's not out of the question for him to be in the 40-goal range. His size, speed, and tenacity already make him tailor-made for the coveted top-center role that every Stanley Cup-contending team needs. If he can continue to grow, watch out.
Wanted: Consistent Goaltending
Jet Greaves put on a run for the ages to end last season, nearly willing the team to the postseason by going 5-0-0 with two shutouts in just eight calendar days. Elvis Merzlikins has started 244 games over the past six seasons, but hasn't posted above a .900 save percentage since 2021-22. The club added Ivan Fedotov as organizational depth, but he struggled in Philadelphia last season. In a league with razor-thin margins, the team will need to improve upon its 267 goals-against (25th overall). While Greaves is the trendy pick to play a good chunk of games this year, there are fair questions about him: Can he be the guy at the NHL level?
Who Are This Team's Four Centers?
I don't recall a season where the Blue Jackets boasted this much (healthy) center depth. It's conceivable that any/all of: Fantilli, Sean Monahan, Boone Jenner, Cole Sillinger, Charlie Coyle, and Isac Lundestrom (others, too, but you have to cut the list off somewhere) could slot in at center in different slots. I tend to think that Jenner is best served hunting on the wing at this point in his career. Sillinger was likely supplanted as the 3C by Coyle's addition, which I think could be good for the 22-year-old. Lundestrom feels like the team's 4C for now, but all of this is subject to change. Put simply, this level of flexibility is a nice change of pace.
Is 5v5 Goal Scoring Sustainable?
Not to be a debbie-downer, but I have a hard time understanding how the Blue Jackets led the NHL in 5v5 goals (201) last year. More to the point, it's quite the commentary that a team could lead the league in such a metric and still miss the playoffs. That doesn't portend well. Can Fantilli, Werenski, Monahan, Kent Johnson, Dmitri Voronkov, Kirill Marchenko, etc., all have repeat-career seasons? That is a fair question. My initial thought is that the team probably outscored expected goals last year as a result of their inability to keep the puck out of their net. This track-meet style of hockey can be fun to watch, but it isn't necessarily ideal playing circumstances. A more well-rounded team may paradoxically score, but win more. We shall see.
