Subj : 8 Blue Jackets All-Time Points-Per-Game Leaders
To : All
From : The Hockey Writers - Main
Date : Wed Sep 16 2020 04:40 am
To win in today's NHL, a team needs to score goals. Not only does a team need
players who shoot, it needs the playmakers who get the puck to the shooter.
Consider this: in the modern history of the NHL, only twice has a player scored
three goals in a game without any assists on those goals. One of those
unassisted hat tricks was by the legendary Maurice "Rocket" Richard, after whom
the league's annual goal-scoring trophy is named. The other was by
then-Columbus Blue Jacket Rick Nash.
In the best of all worlds, your favorite team is filled with players who can
both score and produce assists. The Blue Jackets, in their 20-year history,
have not been blessed with such players. In fact, only eight players have
averaged over 2/3 of a point-per-game (P/GP) while playing for Columbus.
Two-thirds P/GP game in and game out equates to just under 55 points in an
82-game season.�
Why write about Blue Jackets who scored 2/3 P/GP rather than, say, a full P/GP?
Because that list would be very short. Make that "very, very short." Short as
in "a list of one." Yes, only one player in the history of the Blue Jackets has
managed to average a P/GP during his time in Columbus. Rick Nash (Icon SMI)
The number of players in the NHL averaging at least 2/3 P/GP over the past
several years has ranged from�a low of 65 in 2016-17�to a high of 93 the
following year. (In 2016-17, 761 players skated at least one game in the NHL
and 656 played in at least 20 games. For 2017-18, the numbers were 799 total
and 680 with at least 20 games.)8. Pierre-Luc Dubois - .6725 P/GP
The Blue Jackets' current top center has scored 158 points in his 234 regular
season games with the team. In addition to being extremely durable - Dubois
hasn't yet missed a regular season or playoff game due to injury or suspension
- over the past two seasons his P/GP is .7237. If he continues to produce, the
22-year-old will soon be moving up on this list.7. Andrew Cassels - .6861 P/GP
When Cassels joined the Blue Jackets in 2002, he was reunited with his old
Hartford Whalers teammates Kevin Dineen and Geoff Sanderson. While Cassels and
Sanderson didn't quite re-create their glory days, they did put up some points
in their first season back together. The second season, not so much. Cassels
played only 58 games (26 points), his last in Columbus, and Sanderson was sent
to Vancouver for a third-round draft pick.6. Jason Williams - .7436 P/GP
Even long-time Blue Jackets fans might not remember Williams, who played only
39 games for Columbus in 2008-09. In an NHL career that included 455 games (277
points), that wasn't even his shortest stay with a team - or his second
shortest. (Pittsburgh Penguins: eight games, Dallas Stars: 27 games, and, a
near miss, Atlanta Thrashers: 41 games.) The majority of his career was spread
over three stints with the Detroit Red Wings. A rare photo of Jason Williams
as a Blue Jacket. (The Hockey Writers)
His time as a Blue Jacket was the most productive of his career, but the team
elected not to re-sign him after the season. Although he bounced around the
NHL, the American Hockey League (AHL), and finished his playing career
overseas, he did okay for an undrafted, undersized right-handed
center, earning at least $1.5 million in 4 of his 11 NHL seasons.5. Kristian
Huselius - .7513 P/GP
After two and a half productive seasons in Columbus, a torn chest muscle
derailed Huselius' career. (Later he would claim that the club rushed him back
onto the ice before he was completely recovered, effectively ending his days
in the NHL.) With 142 points in 189 games, the winger was among the most
productive Blue Jackets in his uninjured time with the team. Columbus forward
Kristian Huselius (Dave Gainer/THW)
In 2008-09, he finished second on the team in scoring (behind Rick Nash), and
was third the following season (behind Nash and Antoine Vermette, who played
eight more games and scored two more points than Huselius).4. Thomas Vanek -
.7895 P/GP
A late-season rental for the Blue Jackets' 2018 playoff surge, he arrived from
the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for Tyler Motte and Jussi Jokenin. His 15
points in only 19 games produced the second highest P/GP on the Blue Jackets
that year (trailing only Artemi Panarin).Related: The First Jeff Carter Trade
Revisited
After acquiring Vanek, the Blue Jackets lost two games, then went on a 10-game
winning streak (two in OT) to finish the regular season as the first Wild
Card. The team lost in the first round of the playoffs to the eventual Stanley
Cup Champion Washington Capitals. Vanek had only a single goal and an assist in
the six-game series. That summer he signed with the Red Wings as a free agent
and retired a year later.3. Rick Nash - .8116 P/GP
No name quite epitomizes the Blue Jackets like "Rick Nash." To date, he is the
team leader in goals, assists, points, games played, and is one of only four
players to appear in at least nine seasons for the team. (Rostislav "Rusty"
Klesla, the original Blue Jacket, played 10 seasons in Columbus, a record that
could be tied in the coming season by Cam Atkinson and David Savard.) Nash left
the Blue Jackets after the 2011-12 season in a trade with the New York
Rangers, but after retiring as a player, he returned to the club in a
management role.Columbus captain Rick Nash (Photo by Elisalou Designs/Flickr)
Twice in his career he scored at a P/GP rate, 2005-06 (54 points in 54 games)
and 2008-09 (79 points in 78 games), both with the Blue Jackets. In five of his
nine seasons with the team, he tallied more goals than assists. 2. Ray
Whitney - .9272 P/GP
It's almost hard to comprehend that the player known as "The Wizard" was once
claimed off waivers and allowed to walk away as a free agent five times in
his career. The first pick of the second round in the 1991 Entry Draft (#23,
San Jose Sharks), he played for eight different NHL teams and yet was traded
only once. He scored over 1,000 points in his 24-year NHL career and played in
three All-Star Games, yet the only time he was part of trade occurred when he
arrived in Columbus from the Florida Panthers in 2001.Related:�Overlooked and
Underrated: Ray Whitney
Well-liked by both teammates and fans, Whitney racked up 140 points in 151
games for the Blue Jackets. He led the team in scoring both of his full seasons
in Columbus (2001-02: 61 points in 67 games, 2002-03: 76 points in 81
games).1. Artemi Panarin - 1.0563 P/GP
Known as more of a playmaker than a scorer, Panarin's 82 and 87-point seasons
are the highest in team history. In 2017-18, he broke Nash's team record (79
points, 2008-09) with an 82-point season. That was 25 points more than the
team's next leading scorer (Seth Jones). The following season, his 87 points
were 18 more than the next Blue Jacket (Cam Atkinson). Columbus Blue Jackets
forward Artemi Panarin (AP Photo/Paul Vernon, File)
Panarin joined the Blue Jackets following a trade with the Chicago Blackhawks.
He left Columbus as a free agent in the summer of 2019, signing a seven-year,
$81.5 million dollar contract, with an�average annual value of $11.642 million.
(That's just about double the largest Blue Jacket contract for 2019-20.)�The
Future in Columbus
While the Blue Jackets have a number of promising young players in a pipeline
that's�ranked only 27th�best in the NHL, none look to be challenger's to
Panarin's place in the club's history book. But with�the flat salary cap
raising havoc around the league, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen may be able
to trade for a forward of that caliber.Columbus Blue Jackets general manager
Jarmo Kekalainen (THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP, Gary Wiepert)
A point-per-gamer such as Panarin won't come cheap - and will be hard to fit
under the Blue Jackets' salary cap. But if the Blue Jackets are to challenge
for the Stanley Cup, sacrifices will need to be made.
Many statistics used in this article are from HockeyDB.com.
The post 8 Blue Jackets All-Time Points-Per-Game Leaders appeared first on The
Hockey Writers.
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