Blue Jackets’ first 10 games show real progress – The Hockey Writers Columbus Blue Jackets Latest news, analysis and more

The month of October has come to an end. For the Columbus Blue Jackets, it was a month of settling into the new season.

It was also a month to show that the end of last season was no fluke. It’s still early enough. But the momentum the Blue Jackets had has carried over to 2025-2026.

With a 6-4-0 record through their first ten games, the Blue Jackets are on a roughly 98-point pace in the standings. It took 91 points to reach the East playoffs in 2024-2025.

So far, the Blue Jackets are at least playing well enough to be a playoff team this season. The obvious question becomes: can’t they just keep up the pace? Can they be any better? Let’s discuss a few insights from the first ten games of this season.

Good luck on the road

Remember how bad the road was for the Blue Jackets last season? They won only 14 times in 41 games. This was an area that needed improvement.

How have the Blue Jackets started this season away from Nationwide Arena? Thanks to their 4-3 win in Buffalo on Tuesday, they are 4-1-0 on the road.

What has changed? A few things. First, the Blue Jackets have averaged over 4.00 goals per game along the way. Their power play has also increased to 44.4%.

This kept the Blue Jackets from falling behind early in the games. Even though they have their moments in games, they have shown a tendency to handle situations better when they are behind. That’s real progress.

The other notable change is better goaltending. The Blue Jackets have conceded fourteen goals in their five away games, an average of 2.80 goals conceded per game.

Elvis Merzlikins is a perfect 3-0 on the road so far including wins in Dallas and Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, Jet Greaves won the game in Buffalo with 35 saves.

Playing .800 road hockey will eventually become somewhat realistic. But performing better in this area will drastically improve their playoff chances.

Delivering depth

This aspect has really shown itself in the last few games. On consecutive nights, the Blue Jackets bottom six performed in a big way.

In Buffalo, it was the fourth line that dominated the game. Yegor Chinakhov scored his first of the season. Miles Wood scored in the third period to tie the game. Then, in a rare overtime shift, he won the match.

The next night against the Maple Leafs, it was the third line’s turn to respond. The line of Cole Sillinger, Charlie Coyle and Mathieu Olivier combined for 11 points. It’s not often that you see the Three Stars of the Game being one whole line. This trio succeeded in doing just that on Wednesday.

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This gives the Blue Jackets a different look and feel. The top line of Dmitri Voronkov, Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko is still clicking in many ways. This is despite Monahan not having scored a goal yet this season.

The second line may not have the numbers you would expect at this point, but they all have the ability to break out. The Blue Jackets have four lines that can hurt teams.

This is where the Coyle and Wood acquisitions are paying off some early dividends. The same can be said about Isac Lundestrom.

The Blue Jackets win games with several players contributing to their victories. That’s another strong sign that they can make the playoffs. That is also real progress.

Side dishes

Here are some quick side dishes that caught my attention during these first 10 games.

• The goalkeeper rotation benefits everyone involved. It keeps both Greaves and Merzlikins on their toes. It also allows them to maintain high energy levels. That’s going to be a big problem as the season goes on when we have two goaltenders who can win every night.
• Denton Mateychuk rising to the top pair on offside was a big factor. In over 108 minutes at 5-on-5, Mateychuk and Werenski have combined to outscore the opposition 5-3 and are expected to score just under 56% of the goals. That will work. (Per Nat Stat trick.)
• Marchenko and Voronkov are each 5-5-10 through the first 10 games and lead the way in scoring. Voronkov is only now beginning to realize how much of a danger he will pose.
• Coyle does so many things well that don’t show up on the scoresheet. There’s a reason he’s never missed the playoffs so far in his career. Just a solid hockey player.
• One thing I would like to see. This should be the best power play unit. Load the skill. Werenski, Johnson, Fantilli, Marchenko, Monahan. Interesting that they haven’t scored a power play goal on home ice yet. We’ll see soon enough how the units develop over time.

Overall, the Blue Jackets should be happy with a 6-4-0 start considering the difficulty of the schedule. They have shown real progress in key areas, but also have plenty of room for improvement.

See you in November.