2002–03 Columbus Blue Jackets season

The 2002–03 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the Blue Jackets' third season in the National Hockey League (NHL), as the team was coming off of a 22–47–8–5 record in the 2001–02 season, earning 57 points and finishing in last in the Western Conference.

2002–03 Columbus Blue Jackets
Division	5th Central
Conference	15th Western
2002–03 record	29–42–8–3
Home record	20–14–5–2
Road record	9–28–3–1
Goals for	213
Goals against	263
Team information
General manager	Doug MacLean
Coach	Dave King (Oct-Jan) Doug MacLean (Jan-Apr)
Captain	Ray Whitney
Alternate captains	Luke Richardson Geoff Sanderson
Arena	Nationwide Arena
Average attendance	17,744
Minor league affiliate(s)	Syracuse Crunch (AHL) Dayton Bombers (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Geoff Sanderson (34)
Assists	Ray Whitney (52)
Points	Ray Whitney (76)
Penalty minutes	Jody Shelley (249)
Plus/minus	David Vyborny (+12)
Wins	Marc Denis (27)
Goals against average	Marc Denis (3.09)
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

Offseason

Ray Whitney was named team captain on October 9.^[1][2]

Regular season

The Blue Jackets got off to a good start, having a 7–5–1–1 record in their opening 14 games. Columbus, however, won only two of their next 12 games to fall out of the playoff picture. The club would play mediocre hockey for the rest of the season, finishing with a 29–42–8–3 record, earning 69 points for last place in the Western Conference for the second-straight season. Midway through the season, Columbus fired head coach Dave King after a 14–20–4–2 start.^[3] King was replaced by general manager Doug MacLean on an interim basis, as the Blue Jackets posted a record of 15–22–4–1 record under his guidance. The 69 points was a 12-point improvement over the previous season, but the club finished 23 points behind the Edmonton Oilers for the final playoff spot in the Conference. The previous season, the Blue Jackets scored a League-low 164 goals, however, the team would beat that total by 49 goals, finishing with a club record 213 goals. Columbus though led the NHL in goals against, allowing 263, also a club record.

Ray Whitney led the club in points for the second-straight season, earning a club record 76 points, as he scored 24 goals and 52 assists. Geoff Sanderson rebounded from an injury-plagued 2001–02 season to score a club record 34 goals, while Andrew Cassels earned 68 points in his first season in Columbus. David Vyborny had a breakout season, scoring 20 goals and 46 points. On the blueline, Jaroslav Spacek scored nine goals and earned 45 points in his first full season with the team. Jody Shelley led the team with 249 penalty minutes, setting a franchise record.

In goal, Marc Denis got the bulk of the action, winning a club-record 27 games, while posting a 3.09 goals against average (GAA) and earning five shutouts along the way.

Season standings

Central Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	2	Detroit Red Wings	82	48	20	10	4	269	203	110
2	5	St. Louis Blues	82	41	24	11	6	253	222	99
3	9	Chicago Blackhawks	82	30	33	13	6	207	226	79
4	13	Nashville Predators	82	27	35	13	7	183	206	74
5	15	Columbus Blue Jackets	82	29	42	8	3	213	263	69

^[4]

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Western Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Dallas Stars	PA	82	46	17	15	4	245	169	111
2	Y- Detroit Red Wings	CE	82	48	20	10	4	269	203	110
3	Y- Colorado Avalanche	NW	82	42	19	13	8	251	194	105
4	X- Vancouver Canucks	NW	82	45	23	13	1	264	208	104
5	X- St. Louis Blues	CE	82	41	24	11	6	253	222	99
6	X- Minnesota Wild	NW	82	42	29	10	1	198	178	95
7	X- Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PA	82	40	27	9	6	203	193	95
8	X- Edmonton Oilers	NW	82	36	26	11	9	231	230	92
8.5
9	Chicago Blackhawks	CE	82	30	33	13	6	207	226	79
10	Los Angeles Kings	PA	82	33	37	6	6	203	221	78
11	Phoenix Coyotes	PA	82	31	35	11	5	204	230	78
12	Calgary Flames	NW	82	29	36	13	4	186	228	75
13	Nashville Predators	CE	82	27	35	13	7	183	206	74
14	San Jose Sharks	PA	82	28	37	9	8	214	239	73
15	Columbus Blue Jackets	CE	82	29	42	8	3	213	263	69

Divisions: PA – Pacific, CE – Central, NW – Northwest

Z – Clinched Conference; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

Schedule and results

2002–03 regular season[5]
October: 3–5–1–0 (home: 3–2–1–0; road: 0–3–0–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Recap 1 October 10 Chicago Blackhawks 1–2 Columbus Blue Jackets 1–0–0–0 2 Recap 2 October 12 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–3 New Jersey Devils 1–1–0–0 2 Recap 3 October 14 Phoenix Coyotes 4–2 Columbus Blue Jackets 1–2–0–0 2 Recap 4 October 17 Columbus Blue Jackets 1–7 St. Louis Blues 1–3–0–0 2 Recap 5 October 19 Florida Panthers 1–4 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–3–0–0 4 Recap 6 October 23 Tampa Bay Lightning 2–2 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–3–1–0 5 Recap 7 October 25 San Jose Sharks 5–4 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–4–1–0 5 Recap 8 October 27 Los Angeles Kings 1–5 Columbus Blue Jackets 3–4–1–0 7 Recap 9 October 29 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–3 Chicago Blackhawks 3–5–1–0 7 Recap
November: 6–6–1–2 (home: 4–3–0–1; road: 2–3–1–1) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Recap 10 November 1 Dallas Stars 2–4 Columbus Blue Jackets 4–5–1–0 9 Recap 11 November 3 Buffalo Sabres 2–3 Columbus Blue Jackets 5–5–1–0 11 Recap 12 November 5 Washington Capitals 4–3 Columbus Blue Jackets 5–5–1–1 12 Recap 13 November 7 Columbus Blue Jackets 5–2 St. Louis Blues 6–5–1–1 14 Recap 14 November 9 New York Rangers 3–6 Columbus Blue Jackets 7–5–1–1 16 Recap 15 November 12 Columbus Blue Jackets 4–5 Colorado Avalanche 7–6–1–1 16 Recap 16 November 14 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 3–2 Columbus Blue Jackets 7–7–1–1 16 Recap 17 November 16 Columbus Blue Jackets 1–1 Nashville Predators 7–7–2–1 17 Recap 18 November 17 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–3 Dallas Stars 7–7–2–2 18 Recap 19 November 20 St. Louis Blues 2–3 Columbus Blue Jackets 8–7–2–2 20 Recap 20 November 22 Columbus Blue Jackets 4–5 Buffalo Sabres 8–8–2–2 20 Recap 21 November 23 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–5 Ottawa Senators 8–9–2–2 20 Recap 22 November 27 Edmonton Oilers 3–1 Columbus Blue Jackets 8–10–2–2 20 Recap 23 November 29 Columbus Blue Jackets 4–2 New York Islanders 9–10–2–2 22 Recap 24 November 30 Carolina Hurricanes 4–2 Columbus Blue Jackets 9–11–2–2 22 Recap
December: 4–8–1–0 (home: 3–2–0–0; road: 1–6–1–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Recap 25 December 3 Columbus Blue Jackets 3–5 New York Rangers 9–12–2–2 22 Recap 26 December 6 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–3 San Jose Sharks 9–13–2–2 22 Recap 27 December 7 Columbus Blue Jackets 4–2 Los Angeles Kings 10–13–2–2 24 Recap 28 December 9 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–2 Phoenix Coyotes 10–13–3–2 25 Recap 29 December 12 New Jersey Devils 2–4 Columbus Blue Jackets 11–13–3–2 27 Recap 30 December 14 Columbus Blue Jackets 4–6 Detroit Red Wings 11–14–3–2 27 Recap 31 December 19 Calgary Flames 0–3 Columbus Blue Jackets 12–14–3–2 29 Recap 32 December 20 Columbus Blue Jackets 1–3 Chicago Blackhawks 12–15–3–2 29 Recap 33 December 23 Detroit Red Wings 1–0 Columbus Blue Jackets 12–16–3–2 29 Recap 34 December 26 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–4 Detroit Red Wings 12–17–3–2 29 Recap 35 December 28 St. Louis Blues 6–1 Columbus Blue Jackets 12–18–3–2 29 Recap 36 December 29 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–5 St. Louis Blues 12–19–3–2 29 Recap 37 December 31 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–5 Columbus Blue Jackets 13–19–3–2 31 Recap
January: 7–6–2–0 (home: 4–2–1–0; road: 3–4–1–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Recap 38 January 3 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–2 Washington Capitals 13–19–4–2 32 Recap 39 January 4 Phoenix Coyotes 0–2 Columbus Blue Jackets 14–19–4–2 34 Recap 40 January 6 Nashville Predators 5–1 Columbus Blue Jackets 14–20–4–2 34 Recap 41 January 8 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–1 Minnesota Wild 15–20–4–2 36 Recap 42 January 10 Columbus Blue Jackets 3–2 Vancouver Canucks 16–20–4–2 38 Recap 43 January 11 Columbus Blue Jackets 7–2 Calgary Flames 17–20–4–2 40 Recap 44 January 13 Columbus Blue Jackets 5–8 Edmonton Oilers 17–21–4–2 40 Recap 45 January 15 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 4–3 Columbus Blue Jackets 17–22–4–2 40 Recap 46 January 18 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–7 Boston Bruins 17–23–4–2 40 Recap 47 January 20 Chicago Blackhawks 1–5 Columbus Blue Jackets 18–23–4–2 42 Recap 48 January 22 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–4 Dallas Stars 18–24–4–2 42 Recap 49 January 23 Columbus Blue Jackets 0–5 Colorado Avalanche 18–25–4–2 42 Recap 50 January 25 New York Islanders 1–4 Columbus Blue Jackets 19–25–4–2 44 Recap 51 January 28 Colorado Avalanche 2–2 Columbus Blue Jackets 19–25–5–2 45 Recap 52 January 30 Nashville Predators 1–2 Columbus Blue Jackets 20–25–5–2 47 Recap
February: 3–7–1–0 (home: 2–1–1–0; road: 1–6–0–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Recap 53 February 5 Vancouver Canucks 4–4 Columbus Blue Jackets 20–25–6–2 48 Recap 54 February 8 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–3 Nashville Predators 20–26–6–2 48 Recap 55 February 12 San Jose Sharks 0–1 Columbus Blue Jackets 21–26–6–2 50 Recap 56 February 13 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–1 Montreal Canadiens 22–26–6–2 52 Recap 57 February 15 Chicago Blackhawks 7–1 Columbus Blue Jackets 22–27–6–2 52 Recap 58 February 18 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–5 Phoenix Coyotes 22–28–6–2 52 Recap 59 February 19 Columbus Blue Jackets 0–2 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 22–29–6–2 52 Recap 60 February 21 Columbus Blue Jackets 0–6 San Jose Sharks 22–30–6–2 52 Recap 61 February 23 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–7 Vancouver Canucks 22–31–6–2 52 Recap 62 February 25 Columbus Blue Jackets 0–5 Nashville Predators 22–32–6–2 52 Recap 63 February 27 Los Angeles Kings 1–3 Columbus Blue Jackets 23–32–6–2 54 Recap
March: 5–8–1–1 (home: 3–4–1–1; road: 2–4–0–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Recap 64 March 1 Edmonton Oilers 3–3 Columbus Blue Jackets 23–32–7–2 55 Recap 65 March 3 Detroit Red Wings 3–2 Columbus Blue Jackets 23–33–7–2 55 Recap 66 March 6 Vancouver Canucks 4–5 Columbus Blue Jackets 24–33–7–2 57 Recap 67 March 8 Calgary Flames 3–2 Columbus Blue Jackets 24–33–7–3 58 Recap 68 March 10 Columbus Blue Jackets 5–6 Carolina Hurricanes 24–34–7–3 58 Recap 69 March 11 Dallas Stars 2–0 Columbus Blue Jackets 24–35–7–3 58 Recap 70 March 13 Colorado Avalanche 5–1 Columbus Blue Jackets 24–36–7–3 58 Recap 71 March 15 Minnesota Wild 0–5 Columbus Blue Jackets 25–36–7–3 60 Recap 72 March 17 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–3 Atlanta Thrashers 25–37–7–3 60 Recap 73 March 20 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–4 Columbus Blue Jackets 26–37–7–3 62 Recap 74 March 22 Atlanta Thrashers 3–2 Columbus Blue Jackets 26–38–7–3 62 Recap 75 March 24 Columbus Blue Jackets 0–5 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 26–39–7–3 62 Recap 76 March 25 Columbus Blue Jackets 2–1 Los Angeles Kings 27–39–7–3 64 Recap 77 March 28 Columbus Blue Jackets 0–4 Edmonton Oilers 27–40–7–3 64 Recap 78 March 29 Columbus Blue Jackets 6–4 Calgary Flames 28–40–7–3 66 Recap
April: 1–2–1–0 (home: 1–0–1–0; road: 0–2–0–0) Game Date Visitor Score Home Record Pts Recap 79 April 1 Columbus Blue Jackets 0–4 Philadelphia Flyers 28–41–7–3 66 Recap 80 April 2 Minnesota Wild 0–3 Columbus Blue Jackets 29–41–7–3 68 Recap 81 April 4 Detroit Red Wings 5–5 Columbus Blue Jackets 29–41–8–3 69 Recap 82 April 6 Columbus Blue Jackets 3–4 Minnesota Wild 29–42–8–3 69 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)   Overtime loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
14	Ray Whitney	LW	81	24	52	76	−26	22
25	Andrew Cassels	C	79	20	48	68	−4	30
8	Geoff Sanderson	LW	82	34	33	67	−4	34
9	David Vyborny	RW	79	20	26	46	12	16
3	Jaroslav Spacek	D	81	9	36	45	−23	70
16	Mike Sillinger	C	75	18	25	43	−21	52
61	Rick Nash	LW	74	17	22	39	−27	78
28	Tyler Wright	C	70	19	11	30	−25	113
29	Grant Marshall‡	RW	66	8	20	28	−8	71
20	Lasse Pirjeta	C	51	11	10	21	−4	12
23	Derrick Walser	D	53	4	13	17	−9	34
44	Rostislav Klesla	D	72	2	14	16	−22	71
19	Sean Pronger	C	78	7	6	13	−26	72
22	Luke Richardson	D	82	0	13	13	−16	73
21	Espen Knutsen	C	31	5	4	9	−15	20
41	Matt Davidson	RW	34	4	5	9	−12	18
24	Hannes Hyvonen‡	RW	36	4	5	9	−11	22
42	Duvie Westcott	D	39	0	7	7	−3	77
43	David Ling	RW	35	3	2	5	−6	86
45	Jody Shelley	LW	68	1	4	5	−5	249
17	Tomi Kallio†‡	LW	12	1	2	3	−7	8
27	Darren Van Impe†	D	14	1	1	2	−6	10
34	Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre	D	41	1	0	1	−6	64
33	Jamie Allison	D	48	0	1	1	−15	99
7	Scott Lachance	D	61	0	1	1	−20	46
26	Andrej Nedorost	LW	12	0	1	1	−6	4
38	Blake Bellefeuille	C	3	0	0	0	0	0
12	Mathieu Darche	LW	1	0	0	0	−1	0
30	Marc Denis	G	77	0	0	0		6
11	Kevin Dineen‡	RW	4	0	0	0	0	12
35	Jean-Francois Labbe	G	11	0	0	0		2
17	Paul Manning	D	8	0	0	0	0	2
15	Kent McDonell	RW	3	0	0	0	−1	0
37	Darrel Scoville	D	2	0	0	0	0	4

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season
		GP	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
30	Marc Denis	77	27	41	8	2404	232	3.09	.903	5	4511
35	Jean-Francois Labbe	11	2	4	0	233	27	3.59	.884	0	451

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honor	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	NHL All-Rookie Team	Rick Nash (Forward)	[6]
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Ray Whitney	[7]
	NHL Rookie of the Month	Rick Nash (November)	[8]
	NHL YoungStars Game selection	Rostislav Klesla	[9]
		Rick Nash
Team	Foundation Community Service Award	Tyler Wright	[10]
	Three Stars Award	Marc Denis	[10]

Records

Goaltender Marc Denis set the NHL record for most minutes played in a single season, surpassing Martin Brodeur’s mark set during the 1995–96 season.^[11] Brodeur would reclaim the record in 2003–04.^[12]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Rick Nash	October 10, 2002	[13]
	Lasse Pirjeta
	Paul Manning	January 4, 2003
	Kent McDonell	April 2, 2003

Transactions

The Blue Jackets were involved in the following transactions from June 14, 2002, the day after the deciding game of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 9, 2003, the day of the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals.^[14]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 18, 2002 (2002-06-18)	To Columbus Blue Jackets 1st-round pick in 2002	To Dallas Stars Ron Tugnutt 2nd-round pick in 2002	[15]
June 22, 2002 (2002-06-22)	To Columbus Blue Jackets 1st-round pick in 2002	To Florida Panthers 1st-round pick in 2002 Option to switch 1st-round picks in 2003	[16]
	To Columbus Blue Jackets Rights to Mike Pandolfo Detroit’s 1st-round pick in 2002	To Buffalo Sabres Dallas’ 1st-round pick in 2002	[16]
	To Columbus Blue Jackets Buffalo’s 2nd-round pick in 2002 Detroit’s 3rd-round pick in 2002	To Atlanta Thrashers Detroit’s 1st-round pick in 2002	[16]
	To Columbus Blue Jackets 4th-round pick in 2002	To New York Islanders Mattias Timander	[17]
June 23, 2002 (2002-06-23)	To Columbus Blue Jackets Vancouver’s 6th-round pick in 2002 7th-round pick in 2002	To Philadelphia Flyers 5th-round pick in 2003	[18]
	To Columbus Blue Jackets 9th-round pick in 2002	To Florida Panthers 9th-round pick in 2003	[19]
October 4, 2002 (2002-10-04)	To Columbus Blue Jackets Rights to Petr Tenkrat	To Florida Panthers Mathieu Biron	[20]
December 2, 2002 (2002-12-02)	To Columbus Blue Jackets Tomi Kallio Pauli Levokari	To Atlanta Thrashers Chris Nielsen Rights to Petteri Nummelin	[21]
March 10, 2003 (2003-03-10)	To Columbus Blue Jackets Conditional draft pick in 2004	To New Jersey Devils Grant Marshall	[22]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
July 4, 2002 (2002-07-04)	Scott Lachance	Vancouver Canucks	multi-year	Free agency	[23]
	Luke Richardson	Philadelphia Flyers	multi-year	Free agency	[23]
July 17, 2002 (2002-07-17)	Donald MacLean	Toronto Maple Leafs	1-year[lower-alpha 1]	Free agency	[24]
August 15, 2002 (2002-08-15)	Andrew Cassels	Vancouver Canucks	multi-year	Free agency	[25]
October 4, 2002 (2002-10-04)	Mathieu Biron	Tampa Bay Lightning		Waiver draft	[20]
October 5, 2002 (2002-10-05)	Hannes Hyvonen	Florida Panthers		Waivers	[26]
January 20, 2003 (2003-01-20)	Darren Van Impe	Syracuse Crunch (AHL)		Free agency	[27]
May 15, 2003 (2003-05-15)	Joe Motzko	Syracuse Crunch (AHL)	multi-year	Free agency	[28]
June 2, 2003 (2003-06-02)	Fred Brathwaite	St. Louis Blues	1-year	Free agency	[29]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via[lower-alpha 2]	Ref
July 4, 2002 (2002-07-04)	Brett Harkins	Skelleftea AIK (Allsvenskan)	Free agency (UFA)	[31]
	Robert Kron	Lukko (Liiga)[lower-alpha 3]	Buyout	[33]
July 20, 2002 (2002-07-20)	Andrei Sryubko	Molot-Prikamye Perm (RSL)	Free agency (UFA)	[34]
July 26, 2002 (2002-07-26)	Martin Spanhel	HC Sparta Praha (ELH)	Free agency (II)[lower-alpha 4]	[36]
August 27, 2002 (2002-08-27)	Serge Aubin	Colorado Avalanche	Free agency (UFA)	[37]
October 5, 2002 (2002-10-05)	Greg Gardner	Mississippi Sea Wolves (ECHL)	Free agency (UFA)	[38]
October 16, 2002 (2002-10-16)	Deron Quint	Springfield Falcons (AHL)	Free agency (UFA)	[39]
November 5, 2002 (2002-11-05)	Kevin Dineen		Retirement	[40]
January 1, 2003 (2003-01-01)	Tomi Kallio	Philadelphia Flyers	Waivers	[41]
January 25, 2003 (2003-01-25)	Hannes Hyvonen	Farjestad BK (SHL)	Free agency[lower-alpha 5]	[43][44]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
June 26, 2002 (2002-06-26)	Grant Marshall	multi-year	Re-signing	[45]
	Lasse Pirjeta	1-year[lower-alpha 1]	Entry-level	[45]
June 27, 2002 (2002-06-27)	Marc Denis	multi-year	Re-signing	[46]
July 2, 2002 (2002-07-02)	Tim Jackman	multi-year	Entry-level	[47]
July 8, 2002 (2002-07-08)	Jamie Allison	1-year	Re-signing	[48]
	Mike Pandolfo	multi-year	Entry-level	[48]
July 29, 2002 (2002-07-29)	Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre	multi-year	Re-signing	[49]
	Espen Knutsen	multi-year	Re-signing	[49]
	Geoff Sanderson	1-year	Re-signing	[49]
August 21, 2002 (2002-08-21)	David Ling	1-year	Re-signing	[50]
	Matt Davidson	1-year	Re-signing	[50]
August 28, 2002 (2002-08-28)	Blake Bellefeuille	1-year	Re-signing	[51]
	Derrick Walser	1-year	Re-signing	[51]
September 7, 2002 (2002-09-07)	Kevin Dineen	1-year	Re-signing	[52]
September 24, 2002 (2002-09-24)	Mathieu Darche		Re-signing	[53]
October 7, 2002 (2002-10-07)	Rick Nash	3-year	Entry-level	[54]
May 7, 2003 (2003-05-07)	Geoff Sanderson	multi-year	Extension	[55]
	David Vyborny	1-year	Extension	[55]
May 15, 2003 (2003-05-15)	Duvie Westcott	multi-year	Extension	[28]
June 3, 2003 (2003-06-03)	Aaron Johnson	multi-year	Entry-level	[56]

Draft picks

Columbus' draft picks at the 2002 NHL entry draft at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario.^[57]

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team (league)
1	1	Rick Nash	Canada	London Knights (OHL)
2	41	Joakim Lindstrom	Sweden	Modo Hockey (Sweden)
3	65	Ole-Kristian Tollefsen	Norway	Lillehammer IK (Norway)
3	96	Jeff Genovy	United States	Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)
4	98	Ivan Tkachenko	Russia	Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Russia)
4	119	Jekabs Redlihs	Latvia	New York Applecore (EJHL)
5	133	Lasse Pirjeta	Finland	Karpat (Finland)
6	168	Tim Konsorada	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
6	184	Jaroslav Balastik	Czech Republic	Continental Zlin (Czech Republic)
7	199	Greg Mauldin	United States	University of Massachusetts Amherst (Hockey East)
7	225	Steve Goertzen	Canada	Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
8	231	Jaroslav Kracik	Czech Republic	HC Plzen (Czech Republic)
9	263	Sergei Mozyakin	Russia	CSKA Moscow (Russia)

Notes

1. Club option for a second year.
2. In parentheses is the player's free agency group on July 1 if applicable.^[30]
3. Kron signed with Lukko on December 30.^[32]
4. Columbus retained Spanhel’s NHL rights through the 2006–07 season.^[35]
5. Columbus retained Hyvonen’s NHL rights through the 2005–06 season.^[42]

References

• "Columbus Blue Jackets 2002-03 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved December 12, 2022.
• "2002-03 Columbus Blue Jackets Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved December 12, 2022.

1. "BLUE JACKETS ANNOUNCE THE CLUB WILL USE MULTIPLE TEAM CAPTAINS IN 2002-03". Columbus Blue Jackets. October 9, 2002. Archived from the original on October 27, 2004. Retrieved December 4, 2022.
2. McKeon, Ross (January 7, 2003). "NHL NOTEBOOK / Ex-Shark Whitney now thriving". SFGATE. Retrieved December 4, 2022. Whitney was made team captain at the outset of the season with the understanding it would be on a rotating basis among teammates. It hasn't rotated away from Whitney yet.
3. "Blue Jackets fire Coach King". UPI. January 7, 2003. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
4. Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2009). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book/2010. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 162.
5. "2002-03 Columbus Blue Jackets Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
6. "Postseason All-Star Teams". records.nhl.com. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
7. "2003 NHL All-Star Game Rosters". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
8. "BLUE JACKETS LEFT WING RICK NASH NAMED NHL ROOKIE OF THE MONTH". Columbus Blue Jackets. December 2, 2002. Archived from the original on October 27, 2004. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
9. "NHL - 2003 YoungStars Rosters". ESPN.com. January 18, 2003. Retrieved December 21, 2022.
10. Columbus Blue Jackets 2014–2015 Media Guide, p.301
11. "BLUE JACKETS G MARC DENIS BREAKS NHL RECORD FOR MINUTES PLAYED FRIDAY NIGHT VS. DETROIT RED WINGS". Columbus Blue Jackets. April 4, 2003. Archived from the original on January 22, 2004. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
12. "Goaltender Records: Most Minutes Played, Season". records.nhl.com. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
13. "2002-03 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 13, 2024.
14. "Hockey Transactions Search Results". www.prosportstransactions.com. Retrieved December 1, 2022.
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