Dobber's offseason fantasy hockey grades – Columbus Blue Jackets

For the last 19 years (12 with The Hockey News) Dobber and the team have reviewed each team from a fantasy-hockey standpoint and graded them.

The 20th annual review will appear here on DobberHockey throughout the summer. This is not a review of the likely performance on the ice or in the standings, but in the realm of fantasy hockey both for the season ahead as well as the foreseeable future. Offensively, will the team perform? Are there plenty of depth options worthy of owning in keeper leagues? What about over the next two or three years? These questions are what we take into consideration when looking at the depth chart and the player potential on that depth chart.

Enjoy!

Gone – Oliver Bjorkstrand, Gabriel Carlsson, Kevin Stenlund

Incoming – Johnny Gaudreau, Erik Gudbranson, Mathieu Olivier

Impact of changes – The Blue Jackets were surprise winners of the Gaudreau sweepstakes. However, by adding Gaudreau (and Gudbranson) in free agency, they were forced to move out Bjorkstrand. The upgrade on wing and the added grit on the blueline won't make a huge difference in the standings, but they do bump up the fantasy value around the team as a whole.

Overall though, the biggest change from year to year will be from the growth of the kids and the overall health of the team. Growth from the young core of Kent Johnson, Cole Sillinger, and Adam Boqvist will help add some secondary scoring that was missing last season. A healthy year from stud blueliner Zach Werenski will also pay big dividends to the team's overall scoring, as he has missed at least a dozen game in each of the last two seasons.

The Eastern Conference will be a gauntlet this year though, so don't expect the team to make the playoffs, or improve much in the goaltending or plus-minus columns.

Ready for Full Time –

Mathieu Olivier – Acquired in a trade from the Predators, the rugged checking forward was viewed as someone ready to step in on the fourth line and help add some of the toughness that the Blue Jackets were looking to target this summer. The forward group is getting crowded though, so it's no guarantee that Olivier and his two hits per game will earn a full-time spot.

Nick Blankenburg – Just like up front, things are getting crowded on the blue line for Columbus. Blankenburg should play games for the team, and appears to be NHL ready after his cameo last season. In seven games he put up three points, 13 shots, 19 hits, and 12 blocks. There is a lot of multi-category potential in him, but he may need to wait for an injury before a spot opens up for him to showcase it.  

Daniil Tarasov – Back in the crease, the team is set with their one-two punch in Elvis Merzlikins and Joonas Korpisalo. However, there have been talks the last few seasons of one of them getting moved, and that could lead to an opportunity for Tarasov, who is viewed as one of the better and more NHL ready goaltending prospects in the game. Signed to a three-year contract at just over $1 million per season, the 23-year-old could very soon be a bargain in cap leagues at that number.

Fantasy Outlook:

In front of Tarasov, we still have Merzlikins and Korpisalo who will share the net. Merzlikins has the better numbers and the contract, but he hasn't put a ton of distance between himself and Korpisalo. Merzlikins has also now seen his save percentage decrease (along with an increase in his GAA) for three straight seasons. His quality start percentage has hovered at almost exactly 50% through the same time period though, suggesting that there are just more bad games, and less great ones. There's some value with the volume here, but the ratios won't be excellent.

On defence, Werenski will see the majority of the power play time, soaking up the extra points added to the defencemen by the addition of Gaudreau. He's a top-10 blueliner in points-only leagues, but leaves a lot to be desired in multi-category setups. Behind him, Boqvist, Jake Bean, and Vladislav Gavrikov all boast some scoring potential, while Gavrikov and Gudbranson bring some added peripherals. All five have their spot-on fantasy teams in the right setup.

The main fantasy question for the forward group is who plays centre for the top group of wingers including Gaudreau, Jakub Voracek, and Patrik Laine. Boone Jenner saw the majority of the top-unit power play time at centre last year, and could get the first shot at it again this year. That would be a plum gig. Jack Roslovic, Cole Sillinger, Kent Johnson, and maybe even Alex Texier should get a chance to centre the top line, though it's likely only one or two of them breaks the 50-point barrier this coming year. Overall, expect similar fantasy value as what Columbus provided last season.

Grade – C+ (last year was C-)