5. Murray is forced on the team in camp, Erixon to AHL.
4. Johansen has a good year, calming the bust talk.
3. Jackets finish last and win the lottery.
2. Bobrovsky is OK, mason struggles again and is not resigned.
1. Brassard becomes the teams go to guy, in which he steps up his game.
1. Murray gets 9 games in the NHL and is sent back to Everett.
2. The Blue Jackets have the fewest goals scored come Christmas.
3. Realizing there is a dearth of goals and fan interest, Howson acquires a goal-scoring winger that completely contradicts his plan of gritty, character-driven hockey.
4. Nikitin shows that last season's performance was a fluke (similar to Stralman's that one year).
5. Rick Nash will score more goals than the two best CBJ players combined (only counting those scored as a Blue Jacket, not those prior to being acquired or after being traded).
1. Umberger scores 35 and is named a second team All Star
2. Mason regains Calder season form and starts 60 games for the Jackets finishing with a gaa below 2.25.
3. Johansen shows why he was drafted so highly. After a slow start, he ends up with 65 points.
4. Brassard finally lives up to potential and leads team with 75 points.
5. Howson named Executive of the Year in NHL.
2) The CBJ clinch a playoff berth on April 5th after beating the Rangers.
3) Johansen and Atkinson have break-out years.
4) There is one fairly big trade made between now and the start of the season, where we move a young defenseman. The main board laughs at Howson, regardless of what the trade is.
1. Jackets finish in the bottom six of the league
2. Only if they finish 6th or better do they win the lottery
3. Atkinson scores at least 20 goals
4. LA suffers Cup hangover and is eliminated in first round after barely getting in making their pick #15 - 18.
5. Howson seriously considers drafting Seth Jones to build depth on the blueline until CP says “Hey Scott, you know that MacKinnon kid is supposed to be pretty good”
1. third in the Central, ahead of DET
2. Cam scores 30+
3. Gillies is waived at some point.
4. Full season played under existing CBA
5. Murray to junior
1. Having been so maligned all summer, CBJ start fast, say 12 - 5 - 3 after 20 games.
2. Mason outplays Bob in training camp and wins starting job.
3. Nikitin's offensive production falls precipitously.
4. RJ scores 25 goals and Dubinsky adds 25 more.
5. CBJ fade in second half and miss playoffs but achieve a much needed culture change boding well for the future.
1. Bob plays decently (.910 SV% and 2.53 GAA) and gives fans hope that we have a goalie for the future.
2. Mase is traded at the deadline to a team that needs some veteran backup and we get almost nothing in return.
3. Jackets are in the top ten for goals against but bottom five for goals for.
4. Johansen steps it up and scores 24 goals.
5. Jackets finish 11th in the Western Conference.
Five more, this time related to in-season roster moves/call-ups
1. Will Weber makes his NHL debut late in the season
2. One of Mason or Bobrovsky will go down for a significant stretch, allowing Curtis McElhinney to play at least 5 NHL games.
3. Tim Erixon cements himself as part of the Jackets blue-line in camp, allowing Savard and Moore to get more seasoning
4. Cody Bass is named captain of Springfield, but still plays at least ten games in Columbus
5. Ryan Johansen starts the year in Springfield, but dominates and is called up permanently in December
5. Players propose starting season on old CBA, but owners refuse, thus delaying the season causing the ASG to be cancelled.
4. When CBJ camp finally opens this years surprise player is Boone Jenner
3. Brassard finally "gets it" and has his break-out season.
2. Atkinson proves last season was no fluke and scores at a 30 goal pace.
1. Bobrovsky proves the skeptics wrong, and helps an improved D-corps keep the CBJ in the play-off hunt well into March.
My five Predictions
1. Ryan Murray will regularly play in the CBJ and will finish a season from 15-20 points.
2. Mason starts 15-20 games, and will leave team after a season.
3. RJU will be CBJ New Captain.
4. We finish 11th in the West, 20th on PP in the league and 15 on PK in the league.
5. Chaput debuts in the CBJ.
From a former fan and someone who still follows the team:
1) Both Bobrovsky and Mason improve their GAA & S% from last season, but neither goalie proves to be anything more than a serviceable #1 on a good defensive team.
2) With a renewed commitment to team defense, the Jackets keep most games low scoring and close. However, the lack of a proven top six scoring threat who is not only a threat to score every night, but takes pressure off of other players on the ice, means the Jackets struggle to score goals most nights.
3) No player 23 or older proves to be anything more than they've been their entire career.
4) The Bluejackets improve on last season's point total, but are still the worst team in the NHL.
5) Scott Howson, in one of his few good decisions as GM, sends Ryan Murray back to juniors before the season starts regardless of Murray's excellent camp. This allows Murray to grow as a player instead of losing confidence as a healthy scratch or on the bottom pairing of the league's worst team.
It's difficult for me to be optimistic as far as the Bluejackets are concerned until Howson and Priest are replaced by a competent management team.
1.) Either Cam or Johan has a breakout season, puts up 50+pts
2.) Ansimov and Dubinsky play on the same line. Both put up 50+pts-ends all nash trade mumbo jumbo.
3.)Bobvrosky proves his worth with a stellar season while mason has another mediocre season, howson doesnt resign him at the end of the year.
4.)One of the either NYR/LA will bomb the season and CBJ will have 2 top 20 picks trades. The 3rd pick and a young dman will be traded for a nhl ready player or another top pick.
5.) Cbj comes close but does not make the playoffs. Sets up the team for a stellar breakout season next year.
1. If Atkinson played 2 less games last year he would have been a runner-up for Calder in 2012-13. He gonna score between 25-30.
2. Johansen takes over the 1st line center spot after 20 games.
3. Bobrovsky will post SV% 0.92 - 0.93.
4. The Jackets will be top-5 in the league in PIM.
5. The Jackets gonna have four 20 goals scorers.
1. If Atkinson played 2 less games last year he would have been a runner-up for Calder in 2012-13. He gonna score between 25-30.
2. Johansen takes over the 1st line center spot after 20 games.
3. Bobrovsky will post SV% 0.92 - 0.93.
4. The Jackets will be top-5 in the league in PIM.
5. The Jackets gonna have four 20 goals scorers.
One of those four 20 goal scorers will include... Derek Dorsett!
1. The season starts late, prolly around Jan 1 with the Winter Classic
2. Attendance is horrible in the beginning of the season, moving many in Canada to question Columbus once again as a hockey market
3. The Jackets win their first game of the season, then fade terribly to finish in last place
4. Scott Howson, in all of this, gets a vote of confidence
5. The Jackets have no one voted on the All Star Team, prompting the league to intervene and put on Jacket on for the home team
