PREVIEW: Blue Jackets open 2021-22 season at home vs. Arizona

BLUE JACKETS vs. COYOTES

Exactly zero NHL.com writers have predicted that the team will make the playoffs. In The Athletic's poll of Metropolitan Division writers, eight of nine had the team finishing in last place. And just about every oddsmaker has the CBJ with by far the lowest point total expected among Metro teams.
Have the Blue Jackets heard the noise? Well, yes...
"In Columbus, we don't get talked about too much," winger Oliver Bjorkstrand said last week. "We always get told that we're not the best team."
… and no.
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"I don't read it," head coach Brad Larsen said. "I don't. I know what is going on in the room. I'm there every day. People are going to say what they are going to say. I can't control the narrative on that. All I can do is try to prepare our team, and that's all we should be focused on."
But the reality is everything said in the preseason, good or bad, is just talk. And when it comes time to walk the walk, the puck will be dropped on the 2021-22 season tonight in Nationwide Arena when the Blue Jackets host Arizona.
And it certainly has been an offseason of change for the Blue Jackets, who saw a number of veterans traded or leave of their own accord over the past few months, leaving the opening night roster the youngest in the NHL with an average age of 25.71.
Of the 20 players to suit up for last season's opening night in January at Nashville, eight have left the organization entirely and two more are not expected to play tonight, meaning half the playing roster will have turned over from one lid-lifter to another.
But that's somewhat to be expected after the team saw a four-year playoff run end with a last-place finish in the Central Division; the question is if the changes will portend immediate contention or a longer rebuild.
Considering how well the team meshed in preseason, posting a 4-2-2 record and showing immediate chemistry, the hope is certainly the former.
"It just feels fresh here," defenseman Zach Werenski said. "And it feels like a lot of the guys that are here didn't experience last year, and that's probably a good thing. They are coming in with a lot of excitement and just a fresh, clean slate. We play game one and everything starts over. Everyone is 0-0 in the standings, and it's a long year, 82 games.
"We're excited for it, but I think everything that has happened with trades and players and the locker room and the captaincy, whatever it is, anything that is new, I think it's been awesome for our organization and our group. It seems like there's new life in the locker room, and it's been a lot fun so far."
Again, the proof will be in the pudding, drawn out over six months and 82 games of top-flight competition. But after an offseason that reset the course of the franchise, the Blue Jackets feel they're as ready as they can be for what is ahead.
"I think as a group we're feeling good about ourselves," Bjorkstrand said. "I think we're aware of what we have to do to be successful and what that is going to take. Now it's our job to make sure we can keep it at a high level of play. It's a lot of games, so we have to be consistent. With a new group, we have to figure out what we are. I like what we have, at least in the preseason."

Know the Foe

For what it's worth, not many teams in the NHL are projected to finish below the Jackets in the NHL standings -- but the Opening Night foe is one of them.
Arizona comes to Columbus deep in the heart of a rebuild, as a team that placed fifth in the West Division a season ago with a 24-26-4 record seems to be on course to get worse before it gets better.
The Coyotes do bring back four of the team's top four scorers from the shortened season in Phil Kessel (20-23-43), defenseman Jakob Chychrun (18-23-41), Clayton Keller (14-21-35) and Nick Schmaltz (10-22-32), but the rest of the roster has been in for a massive overhaul.
Third-leading scorer Conor Garland was traded to Vancouver, while center Christian Dvorak was dealt to Montreal and longtime defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson also went to the Canucks. The offseason also saw the departures of such names as Derick Brassard (signed by Philadelphia), Michael Bunting (signed by Toronto), Jason Demers, John Hayden (signed by Buffalo), Niklas Hjalmarsson (retired) and both goalies, as Darcy Kuemper was traded to Colorado and Antti Raanta inked a deal with Carolina.
There also was a shakeup in the coaching ranks, as Rick Tocchet parted ways with the team and has been hired by TNT as a studio analyst, with Canadian World Juniors leader and Ottawa 67s head coach Andre Tourginy hired to lead the way.
The biggest question mark will likely be in goal, where former Buffalo netminder Carter Hutton (1-10-1, 3.47 GAA, .886 save percentage) and 25-year-old Czech import Karel Vejmekla, who is yet to play an NHL game, have made the opening roster.
Such veterans as Ryan Dzingel, Antoine Roussel, Andrew Ladd, Jay Beagle, Loui Eriksson, Shayne Gostisbehere and former CBJ defenseman Anton Stralman complete the roster.