Steve Mears: Ten Things I’m Most Excited About for the 2026-27 Blue Jackets Season

The ice sheet has been installed at Nationwide Arena.  The Zamboni is making its rounds. And the players have gradually gotten back into town and onto Columbus ice. It all adds up to the best time of year: Hockey season and the drop of the puck just a few weeks away! After a long summer, the Columbus Blue Jackets enter the new year with a lot to prove and some very clear goals in mind.  It’s almost time to begin what is now an 84-game journey that will hopefully last well into the spring. Here, in no particular order, are my ten things that I’m most excited about for the upcoming Blue Jackets season:

The Norris Trophy Winner

If you think you had an eventful summer, consider the summer that Zach Werenski had.  On May 6th, Zach became a Dad as he and his wife Odette welcomed their son Hudson to the world. On June 2nd, he became the first Blue Jacket ever to win the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenseman. Then on July 1st, amidst swirling trade rumors, Zach reaffirmed his commitment to the Blue Jackets and the city of Columbus.  Now after making history last year with an award-winning performance and an Olympic Gold Medal, can he get even better in 2026-27? If the Blue Jackets are going to accomplish their goal of making the playoffs, he’ll likely be the biggest reason why.

Jet Takes Off

In just his first full season in the NHL, Jet Greaves established himself as the Blue Jackets’ number one goalie and one of the most promising young goaltenders in the league.  On July 23rd, the Blue Jackets signed Greaves to a three-year $15 million contract, his first big NHL deal. Not only is Jet a battler in the crease, but he passes the test both with traditional numbers and analytics (He was 9th in the NHL in goals saved above expected, which considers the quality of the scoring chances he faces). With Jet still just 25 years old, the Jackets appear to have the most important position covered for the present and the future.

Early Home Ice Advantage

If there’s a team that must be painfully aware of the adage about games in October being just as valuable as games in April, it would be the Blue Jackets.  It’s been two straight years of lamenting points that got away earlier in the year and falling just short of the postseason. So after some slow starts, the Jackets will have a great chance to start this year strong with seven of their first nine games at Nationwide Arena, where they enjoy as good a home ice advantage as any team in the NHL.  In fact, the first long West Coast road trip doesn’t occur until January. They’ll have a great chance to bank some serious points in the months of October and November which will hopefully come in handy later in the year

Bones is Back

In the history of the NHL, no one has been behind the bench for more total games as an assistant or head coach than Rick Bowness. Last year, after his hiring on January 12th, the “Bones Bump” became a full-blown explosion as the team went 19-3-4 in his first 26 games. Bowness would set the tone for the off-season with his Game 82 post-game press conference and said he wanted the players to be “uncomfortable” going into the summer. Now after signing a new contract to return, “Bones” will have a full season to work with the Jackets and will amazingly enter his 37thNHL season as either an assistant or head coach. A span of over 2,750 games.

Bounce Back Years

Two key young players that I’m really excited to watch this season are important pieces to the Blue Jackets present and future: Kent Johnson and Dmitri Voronkov.  Both had some work to put in during the off-season and by all accounts, they have. Remember, it was just two seasons ago that these two combined for 47 goals and were in the top four on the team in that category (Johnson had 24 and Voronkov had 23 in 2024-25). After both found themselves out of the lineup at times last year, it’ll be intriguing to see how they bounce back in 20026-27. We’ve seenKJ and “The Big Boss” produce before and both have some attributes that you just can’t teach.

New Faces Behind the Bench

This season, Rick Bowness and the Blue Jackets will welcome two new faces behind the bench, who are actually not that new to Columbus.  Trent Vogelhuber, the Dublin, Ohio native, gets the call-up from Cleveland as a new assistant coach and former Columbus Chill forward & coach Don Granato brings a wealth of coaching experience at multiple levels. One big question for me…. can they help the Jackets improve on both sides of the special teams? If the team is going to make the playoffs, the CBJ will have to be drastically better on the power play and penalty kill. In Vogelhuber and Granato, they bring in an exciting up-and-coming coach and a veteran assistant who will bring a new dynamic to the team.

Marchenko Madness

In his four seasons in the NHL, Kirill Marchenko has established himself as one of the most dynamic forwards in the league. He’s one of only two players in franchise history to start his career with four straight twenty-goal seasons, which included a career-high 31 in 2024-25. Now entering the final season of his contract, it’s a big year for the star winger and the Blue Jackets will need him to produce at a high level once again. After scoring 27 goals last year, can he reach the 30 mark again or even exceed it? When you look at the Jackets’ forward group, it’s got plenty of balance and depth.  But Marchenko is the guy that can change a game with one spectacular play.

New Captain

With former team captain Boone Jenner moving on to Washington, the Blue Jackets will likely have a new captain for the first time since 2021.  Only seven players have ever worn the “C” for the CBJ and there would be no shortage of great candidates on this team.  Zach Werenski would be an obvious selection to succeed Jenner. But the list of potential captains and great leaders in the locker room is long.  Charlie Coyle could be the captain of any NHL team.  Same could be said for Sean Monahan, Mathieu Olivier or Erik Gudbranson, just to name a few.  No matter who wears the “C” for the Jackets, they have a tremendous core of leaders.

Coyle Encore

It would be hard-pressed to script a better first season in Columbus for veteran center Charlie Coyle. With 58 points, it was the second-best season of his long career and he played in all 82 games for the 8^th time while becoming one of the leaders in the locker room. Knowing the attributes and the intangibles that he brings, GM Don Waddell wisely locked up Coyle to a six-year deal in May before he could hit a free agent market that was particularly thin at center. After establishing himself as a big part of this team and city, what could we see from Charlie as an encore to a wonderful first season as a Blue Jacket?

The New Guys

Two of the newest additions to the team that I’m most excited about bring different styles of play and some much-needed Stanley Cup experience.  Valeri Nichushkin was acquired in June after seven years and a championship in Colorado.  The big winger was instrumental in the Avs’ 2022 title with nine goals and 15 points in the playoffs. Some more grit was added on July 1^st with the signing of Ryan Lomberg, who won a Stanley Cup in Florida in 2024. The “Lomberghini” will bring a ton of energy and physicality each night and will quickly become a fan-favorite in Columbus.  In an Eastern Conference loaded with “heavy” teams, both of these guys will help to continue making Nationwide Arena one of the toughest venues in the NHL for the opposition.