2 Columbus Blue Jackets Who Will Regress In 2024-25

The Columbus Blue Jackets still aren't ready to take the next step and compete for a playoff spot even though the defense is formidable. The other areas seriously lack and the team is young. That being said, while some of the young players will improve, the opposite will happen for a couple of the older players.

Boone Jenner

Boone Jenner only got into 58 games last season, but was on pace to score 31 goals and 50 points. As mentioned above, the younger players are going to be on the rise, so they will inevitably earn more playing time. Someone like Jenner who is now 31 years old, will most definitely see his ice time drop from over 20 minutes a night. It is likely Sean Monahan takes the spot as the top line center because of past chemistry with Johnny Gaudreau to potentially get him going in Columbus. Jenner is expected to play on the third line with Cole Sillinger and Dmitri Voronkov to start, so there won't be as much scoring and will likely be more physical play out of him.

Sean Monahan

Monahan was the big signing by the Blue Jackets this offseason, and though he is a solid player and there used to be chemistry with Gaudreau who has to get going, I think Columbus isn't going to get what they hope out of him in the first year of his contract. Monahan had his best season since 2018-19, scoring 26 goals and 59 points split between the Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets. He managed to stay healthy, which doesn't happen all too often for him anymore, and he is aging. For him to approach 50 points is more reasonable. Last season Gaudreau led the way with 60 points and the next closest forward was Kirill Marchenko with 42. There's not going to be a ton of goals from Columbus unless a number of young players take a step forward all at once.