Columbus Blue Jackets: 2 Players Who Will Bounce Back Next Season

With the off-season starting to slow down a bit, we now have a better idea of every team's roster going into next season. Of course there will be other moves, but the craziness from the Expansion Draft and first day of free agency is officially done.

In this segment, we will be taking a look at two players from each NHL team who are set to bounce back next season. Sometimes players will have down seasons, but end up completely turning it around in the following one. This will inevitably happen for this upcoming year, too.

In this article, we will be looking at the Columbus Blue Jackets. They are coming off of a rough season that saw them finish at the bottom of the Central Division. This was unexpected, as they had made the postseason multiple seasons in a row before this. They need these two specific players to rebound next season if they hope to be competitive again. However, they also have lost Seth Jones, so they have a lot going against them.

Patrik Laine LW: After the Blue Jackets traded for Patrik Laine, it seemed that they finally had their elite goal-scorer. However, struggled significantly with them, as he only had 10 goals and 21 points in 45 games. That is quite low for his standards and he should be able to turn it around next season. He has scored at least 30 goals three times in his career, and that includes a 44-goal campaign during the 2017-18 season. Thus, it is easy to expect more offense from him next season.

Max Domi C/LW: There is a big "if" with this one, as the Blue Jackets are rumored to be shopping Max Domi. However, if they have no takers, there is reason to believe that Domi can have a better season this go-around with Columbus. In 54 games this past season, he scored nine goals and only had 24 points. He is two years removed from a 72-point campaign, so he can clearly produce far more than he did this season. No matter where he ends up playing next season, he should be far better.