The NHL season is quickly approaching. To speed up the wait until the puck finally drops on the season, I’ll be previewing one team every day. I’ll be going one division at a time and publishing these in the order I think they’ll finish from first to worst. I’m starting with the Metropolitan Division.

Last year’s finish: 5th in Metropolitan Division

Playoffs: No playoffs

Predicted finish: 5th in Metropolitan Division (no playoffs)

It’s been a turbulent offseason in Columbus, to say the least.

Franchise defenseman Zach Werenski, this year’s Norris Trophy winner, let the Blue Jackets know that he wasn’t going to re-sign with the team once his contract expires in 2028. Kirill Marchenko, who’s really come into his own the last couple seasons, did the same.

Columbus historically has a hard time keeping star players around long-term. Rick Nash, the team’s first star, was traded away. Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky walked as free agents. Werenski and Marchenko potentially wanting out brought up a lot of old wounds.

But they’re both still here. Werenski used his no-movement clause to reject a blockbuster trade to Dallas, and it seems like he and the team have patched things up. Marchenko hasn’t been traded, either. As long as everyone still wants to be in Columbus, the Blue Jackets have the potential to do some damage. It just depends on how much you believe in small sample sizes.

When the Blue Jackets canned head coach Dean Evason in January, they were just 19-19-7 and ranked 20th in expected goals share at five on five (48.9 percent). After bringing in Rick Bowness, Columbus went 21-11-5 the rest of the way while owning 53.7 percent of the expected goals, which was sixth in the league. If that second half is who the Jackets really are and not just a New Coach Bump, they should make it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

It starts with Werenski, who’s coming off the best season of his career. Last season, Werenski had a 55 percent expected goals share while being a plus-15 in actual goals at five on five. He’s eclipsed the 80-point mark in back-to-back seasons and has the third-most points per 60 at minutes at five on five among defensemen in that span. Werenski is one of the best defensemen in the league at driving offense, and he’s not a minus in his own, either. Plus, Damon Severson has looked like a completely different defenseman when played with Werenski, which is huge.

It’s not just those two back there, either. Ivan Provorov and Dante Fabbro give Columbus two capable veterans, and 22-year-old Denton Mateychuk is starting to get a feel for NHL action.

But Columbus needs to get more from its forward corps. The Blue Jackets really need Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger to finally figure it out at the NHL level. Both were top-15 picks in 2021 — and Johnson was the fifth selection — and neither of them have played all that well in Columbus so far. Both are coming off nightmarish seasons last year, as they were the two worst Blue Jackets by Hockey Stats’ WAR metric. Sillinger was the victim of poor shooting luck, as he had the sixth-worst difference in the league between his actual and expected goals (minus-8.34 goals). Still, both need to do a better job of driving play.

However, the big difference maker is Adam Fantilli, Columbus’ third overall pick in 2023. Fantilli, who will turn 22 in October, is a unique player because he’s produced at a decent clip the last two years, but his underlying numbers are pretty rough still. Columbus could really use another star player alongside Werenski, and Fantilli has the skill and pedigree to get there. If he takes a step forward this year, that could really help catapult Columbus up the standings.

Marchenko is currently the closest thing to a star forward Columbus has, but it can’t just be him and Werenski. Columbus’ forward corps also suffered a couple of losses in Mason Marchment, an effective middle-six forward, and Boone Jenner, the franchise’s leader in games played. Valeri Nichushkin is a nice pickup for the Blue Jackets, but there are still some holes up front.

The good news is that Columbus seems to have its franchise goalie in Jet Greaves. The 25-year-old is sixth in the league in goals saved above expected in the last two seasons combined, trailing an elite club that includes the likes of Connor Hellebuyck, Ilya Sorokin and Igor Shesterkin. If there’s another gear for him to hit, look out.

Columbus has a lot of the pieces to be competitive and a slew of young players that still have a chance to take another step in their development. If the Blue Jackets’ play down the stretch last year carries over and, say, Fantilli and Greaves take that step, they’ll be a difficult team to play against. But if they get off to another slow start, you have to wonder if people will start wanting to jump ship.

All stats are from Hockey Stats