Better luck next year: The Columbus Blue Jackets should be set up for success

This team could be really good, really quickly.

Welcome back to Better Luck Next Year, a series that will focus on each team as they get eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention and the Stanley Cup Playoffs. What went wrong, why it went wrong, what (if anything) went right, and what is next. We continue today with the next team to be eliminated from Stanley Cup Playoff contention: The Columbus Blue Jackets.

When the 2024-25 NHL season began expectations were understandably low for the Columbus Blue Jackets. They also had every possible reason to struggle.

They finished the previous two seasons 31st and 29th in the league-wide standings, still had major goaltending concerns, had a lot of unproven players, were starting the season with their fourth head coach in three years (including the predictable Mike Babcock failure), and then had to deal with the trauma and tragedy of Johnny Gaudreau being killed by a drunk driver just before the season began. That was the second time in only a few years that a number of players on the roster had to deal with the loss of a teammate. That’s not something you ever expect, and it’s not something anybody should ever have to go through.

It would have been completely understandable if the team struggled.

By the end of the season, however, the Blue Jackets were not only a team that spent the entire year seriously competing for a playoff spot, they started to look like a team that is going to be well positioned for success in the coming seasons.

Young players rapidly improved.

Defenseman Zach Werenski was healthy for a full season and played at a Norris Trophy level.

Adam Fantilli looked like a potential franchise player and emerging superstar.

From a team-building perspective, three of their top-five scoring forwards are under contract for next season at salary cap hits of $4 million or less. They only have two players making more than $6 million per season overall, and only one making more than $7 million. They are set to go into the offseason with two first-round draft picks at their disposal and more salary cap space than all but one other team in the NHL. They were also one of the youngest rosters in the NHL this past season, while still boasting one of the league’s better prospect pools.

If there is a player available in free agency or trade, the Blue Jackets are better positioned than anybody to pursue them.

The questions now become: Was the improvement this season for real and sustainable, and will they do enough this offseason to add to the roster.

Let’s talk about all of it.

What went right this season