2023–24 Columbus Blue Jackets season

The 2023–24 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the 24th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997.

2023–24 Columbus Blue Jackets
Division	8th Metropolitan
Conference	16th Eastern
2023–24 record	27–43–12
Home record	17–19–5
Road record	10–24–7
Goals for	237
Goals against	300
Team information
General manager	Jarmo Kekalainen (Oct. 12 – Feb. 15) John Davidson (interim, Feb. 15 – Apr. 16)
Coach	Pascal Vincent
Captain	Boone Jenner
Alternate captains	Erik Gudbranson Sean Kuraly Zach Werenski
Arena	Nationwide Arena
Average attendance	17,009[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)	Cleveland Monsters (AHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Kirill Marchenko (23)
Assists	Johnny Gaudreau (48)
Points	Johnny Gaudreau (60)
Penalty minutes	Erik Gudbranson (74)
Plus/minus	Nick Blankenburg Luca Del Bel Belluz (+1)
Wins	Elvis Merzlikins (13)
Goals against average	Malcolm Subban (3.00)
← 2022–23 2024–25 →

In the off-season, on July 1, 2023, the Blue Jackets hired Mike Babcock as head coach.^[2] However, Babcock resigned after the conclusion of an investigation about improper behavior with players on September 17,^[3] and was replaced by Pascal Vincent.^[4]

On March 24, 2024, the Blue Jackets were eliminated from playoff contention for the fourth consecutive season following the Washington Capitals' 3–0 win against the Winnipeg Jets.^[5]

Standings

Divisional standings

Metropolitan Division

Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	p – New York Rangers	82	55	23	4	43	282	229	+53	114
2	x – Carolina Hurricanes	82	52	23	7	44	279	216	+63	111
3	x – New York Islanders	82	39	27	16	29	246	263	−17	94
4	x – Washington Capitals	82	40	31	11	32	220	257	−37	91
5	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	38	32	12	32	255	251	+4	88
6	Philadelphia Flyers	82	38	33	11	30	235	261	−26	87
7	New Jersey Devils	82	38	39	5	33	264	283	−19	81
8	Columbus Blue Jackets	82	27	43	12	21	237	300	−63	66

Source: National Hockey League^[6]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
p – Clinched Presidents' Trophy; x – Clinched playoff spot

Conference standings

Eastern Conference Wild Card

Pos	Div	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	AT	x – Tampa Bay Lightning	82	45	29	8	37	291	268	+23	98
2	ME	x – Washington Capitals	82	40	31	11	32	220	257	−37	91
3	AT	Detroit Red Wings	82	41	32	9	27	278	274	+4	91
4	ME	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	38	32	12	32	255	251	+4	88
5	ME	Philadelphia Flyers	82	38	33	11	30	235	261	−26	87
6	AT	Buffalo Sabres	82	39	37	6	33	246	244	+2	84
7	ME	New Jersey Devils	82	38	39	5	33	264	283	−19	81
8	AT	Ottawa Senators	82	37	41	4	25	255	281	−26	78
9	AT	Montreal Canadiens	82	30	36	16	20	236	289	−53	76
10	ME	Columbus Blue Jackets	82	27	43	12	21	237	300	−63	66

Source: National Hockey League^[7]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
x – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

Preseason

The Columbus Blue Jackets preseason schedule was released on June 22, 2023.^[8]

2023 preseason game log: 4–3–1 (home: 3–1–0; road: 1–2–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1[A]	September 24	Columbus	2–3	Pittsburgh	SO	Dell	13,341	0–0–1	Recap
2[A]	September 24	Pittsburgh	3–4	Columbus	OT	Cajan	13,255	1–0–1	Recap
3	September 26	Columbus	2–3	St. Louis		Dell	15,417	1–1–1	Recap
4	September 30	Columbus	3–4	Buffalo		Merzlikins	12,209	1–2–1	Recap
5	October 2	St. Louis	3–5	Columbus		Greaves	10,239	2–2–1	Recap
6	October 4	Buffalo	3–5	Columbus		Merzlikins	10,169	3–2–1	Recap
7	October 5	Washington	4–2	Columbus		Martin	11,491	3–3–1	Recap
8	October 7	Columbus	4–2	Washington		Merzlikins	12,961	4–3–1	Recap
Notes: A Indicates split-squad.

Regular season

The Columbus Blue Jackets regular season schedule was released on June 27, 2023.^[9]

2023–24 game log
October: 3–4–2 (home: 2–3–1; road: 1–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 12 Philadelphia 4–2 Columbus Merzlikins 18,614 0–1–0 0 [10] 2 October 14 NY Rangers 3–5 Columbus Merzlikins 16,520 1–1–0 2 [11] 3 October 16 Detroit 4–0 Columbus Martin 14,959 1–2–0 2 [12] 4 October 20 Calgary 1–3 Columbus Martin 16,276 2–2–0 4 [13] 5 October 21 Columbus 5–4 Minnesota OT Merzlikins 18,479 3–2–0 6 [14] 6 October 24 Anaheim 3–2 Columbus OT Merzlikins 16,432 3–2–1 7 [15] 7 October 26 Columbus 3–4 Montreal OT Merzlikins 21,105 3–2–2 8 [16] 8 October 28 NY Islanders 2–0 Columbus Martin 15,424 3–3–2 8 [17] 9 October 30 Columbus 3–5 Dallas Merzlikins 18,532 3–4–2 8 [18]
November: 4–9–2 (home: 3–4–0; road: 1–5–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 10 November 2 Tampa Bay 2–4 Columbus Merzlikins 14,276 4–4–2 10 [19] 11 November 4 Columbus 1–2 Washington Merzlikins 18,573 4–5–2 10 [20] 12 November 6 Columbus 4–5 Florida OT Martin 17,103 4–5–3 11 [21] 13 November 9 Dallas 5–2 Columbus Martin 15,253 4–6–3 11 [22] 14 November 11 Columbus 4–5 Detroit Martin 19,156 4–7–3 11 [23] 15 November 12 Columbus 3–4 NY Rangers SO Merzlikins 18,006 4–7–4 12 [24] 16 November 14 Pittsburgh 5–3 Columbus Merzlikins 16,596 4–8–4 12 [25] 17 November 16 Arizona 3–2 Columbus Merzlikins 15,909 4–9–4 12 [26] 18 November 18 Columbus 3–4 Washington Merzlikins 18,573 4–10–4 12 [27] 19 November 19 Columbus 2–5 Philadelphia Martin 17,416 4–11–4 12 [28] 20 November 22 Chicago 3–7 Columbus Merzlikins 18,158 5–11–4 14 [29] 21 November 24 Columbus 2–1 New Jersey Merzlikins 16,514 6–11–4 16 [30] 22 November 26 Columbus 2–3 Carolina Merzlikins 18,700 6–12–4 16 [31] 23 November 27 Boston 2–5 Columbus Martin 14,357 7–12–4 18 [32] 24 November 29 Montreal 4–2 Columbus Merzlikins 14,316 7–13–4 18 [33]
December: 5–5–4 (home: 3–3–2; road: 2–2–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 25 December 1 Ottawa 2–4 Columbus Merzlikins 15,552 8–13–4 20 [34] 26 December 3 Columbus 1–3 Boston Martin 17,850 8–14–4 20 [35] 27 December 5 Los Angeles 4–3 Columbus OT Merzlikins 15,088 8–14–5 21 [36] 28 December 7 Columbus 3–7 NY Islanders Martin 13,510 8–15–5 21 [37] 29 December 8 St. Louis 2–5 Columbus Greaves 15,713 9–15–5 23 [38] 30 December 10 Florida 5–2 Columbus Greaves 16,269 9–16–5 23 [39] 31 December 14 Columbus 6–5 Toronto OT Merzlikins 18,338 10–16–5 25 [40] 32 December 16 New Jersey 6–3 Columbus Tarasov 18,172 10–17–5 25 [41] 33 December 19 Columbus 9–4 Buffalo Tarasov 14,888 11–17–5 27 [42] 34 December 21 Washington 3–2 Columbus OT Merzlikins 18,172 11–17–6 28 [43] 35 December 23 Toronto 4–1 Columbus Tarasov 17,806 11–18–6 28 [44] 36 December 27 Columbus 3–4 New Jersey OT Merzlikins 16,514 11–18–7 29 [45] 37 December 29 Toronto 5–6 Columbus OT Martin 18,516 12–18–7 31 [46] 38 December 30 Columbus 2–3 Buffalo OT Tarasov 19,070 12–18–8 32 [47]
January: 4–6–2 (home: 1–3–1; road: 3–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 39 January 2 Boston 4–1 Columbus Martin 18,262 12–19–8 32 [48] 40 January 4 Columbus 3–2 Philadelphia SO Tarasov 17,510 13–19–8 34 [49] 41 January 6 Minnesota 4–3 Columbus OT Tarasov 18,771 13–19–9 35 [50] 42 January 9 Columbus 0–5 Winnipeg Tarasov 12,512 13–20–9 35 [51] 43 January 13 Seattle 7–4 Columbus Tarasov 18,588 13–21–9 35 [52] 44 January 15 Vancouver 3–4 Columbus SO Merzlikins 17,622 14–21–9 37 [53] 45 January 19 New Jersey 4–1 Columbus Merzlikins 18,630 14–22–9 37 [54] 46 January 23 Columbus 1–4 Edmonton Merzlikins 18,347 14–23–9 37 [55] 47 January 25 Columbus 5–2 Calgary Tarasov 16,889 15–23–9 39 [56] 48 January 27 Columbus 4–5 Vancouver OT Merzlikins 19,002 15–23–10 40 [57] 49 January 28 Columbus 2–4 Seattle Tarasov 17,151 15–24–10 40 [58] 50 January 30 Columbus 1–0 St. Louis Merzlikins 18,096 16–24–10 42 [59]
February: 3–6–0 (home: 1–3–0; road: 2–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 51 February 10 Tampa Bay 4–2 Columbus Merzlikins 18,876 16–25–10 42 [60] 52 February 13 Columbus 3–6 Ottawa Tarasov 15,203 16–26–10 42 [61] 53 February 17 Columbus 4–3 San Jose Merzlikins 17,435 17–26–10 44 [62] 54 February 20 Columbus 1–5 Los Angeles Merzlikins 16,980 17–27–10 44 [63] 55 February 21 Columbus 7–4 Anaheim Tarasov 14,518 18–27–10 46 [64] 56 February 23 Buffalo 2–1 Columbus Tarasov 18,943 18–28–10 46 [65] 57 February 25 NY Rangers 2–4 Columbus Merzlikins 18,293 19–28–10 48 [66] 58 February 28 Columbus 1–4 NY Rangers Merzlikins 18,006 19–29–10 48 [67] 59 February 29 Carolina 4–2 Columbus Tarasov 18,390 19–30–10 48 [68]
March: 5–8–2 (home: 4–2–1; road: 1–6–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 60 March 2 Columbus 5–2 Chicago Merzlikins 18,782 20–30–10 50 [69] 61 March 4 Vegas 3–6 Columbus Tarasov 17,338 21–30–10 52 [70] 62 March 5 Columbus 3–5 Pittsburgh Greaves 17,072 21–31–10 52 [71] 63 March 7 Edmonton 2–4 Columbus Tarasov 17,718 22–31–10 54 [72] 64 March 9 Nashville 2–1 Columbus Tarasov 17,602 22–32–10 54 [73] 65 March 12 Columbus 0–3 Montreal Tarasov 21,105 22–33–10 54 [74] 66 March 14 Ottawa 3–2 Columbus SO Merzlikins 15,667 22–33–11 55 [75] 67 March 16 San Jose 2–4 Columbus Tarasov 16,967 23–33–11 57 [76] 68 March 17 Winnipeg 6–1 Columbus Merzlikins 16,193 23–34–11 57 [77] 69 March 19 Columbus 3–4 Detroit OT Tarasov 17,707 23–34–12 58 [78] 70 March 22 Columbus 1–6 Colorado Merzlikins 18,117 23–35–12 58 [79] 71 March 23 Columbus 2–4 Vegas Tarasov 18,225 23–36–12 58 [80] 72 March 26 Columbus 2–6 Arizona Merzlikins 4,600 23–37–12 58 [81] 73 March 28 Columbus 2–3 Pittsburgh Tarasov 18,191 23–38–12 58 [82] 74 March 30 Pittsburgh 3–4 Columbus SO Merzlikins 18,873 24–38–12 60 [83]
April: 3–5–0 (home: 3–1–0; road: 0–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 75 April 1 Colorado 1–4 Columbus Tarasov 16,731 25–38–12 62 [84] 76 April 4 NY Islanders 4–2 Columbus Greaves 16,213 25–39–12 62 [85] 77 April 6 Philadelphia 2–6 Columbus Greaves 18,323 26–39–12 64 [86] 78 April 7 Columbus 0–3 Carolina Subban 18,837 26–40–12 64 [87] 79 April 9 Columbus 2–5 Tampa Bay Greaves 19,092 26–41–12 64 [88] 80 April 11 Columbus 0–4 Florida Greaves 18,451 26–42–12 64 [89] 81 April 13 Columbus 4–6 Nashville Greaves 17,282 26–43–12 64 [90] 82 April 16 Carolina 3-6 Columbus Greaves 17,289 27–43–12 66 [91]
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player statistics

As of April 16, 2024

Skaters

Regular season^[92]

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Johnny Gaudreau	81	12	48	60	–27	22
Zach Werenski	70	11	46	57	0	22
Kirill Marchenko	78	23	19	42	−5	14
Boone Jenner	58	22	13	35	−8	28
Dmitri Voronkov	75	18	16	34	−6	52
Cole Sillinger	77	13	19	32	−4	46
Ivan Provorov	82	5	27	32	−11	20
Alexandre Texier	78	12	18	30	−5	38
Yegor Chinakhov	53	16	13	29	−3	6
Damon Severson	67	9	19	28	–10	51
Adam Fantilli	49	12	15	27	−21	16
Justin Danforth	71	10	16	26	–10	26
Erik Gudbranson	78	6	20	26	−14	74
Jack Roslovic‡	40	6	17	23	−9	14
Sean Kuraly	62	9	9	18	−5	40
Kent Johnson	42	6	10	16	−2	10
Alexander Nylander†	23	11	3	14	−1	6
Jake Bean	72	4	9	13	−10	32
Mathieu Olivier	54	5	7	12	−4	70
Emil Bemstrom‡	32	5	6	11	−5	10
David Jiricek	43	1	9	10	–4	22
Adam Boqvist	35	1	9	10	–8	0
Patrik Laine	18	6	3	9	−10	6
Andrew Peeke‡	23	1	7	8	−2	6
James Malatesta	11	2	1	3	–1	4
Brendan Gaunce	24	2	2	4	–1	6
Trey Fix-Wolansky	11	2	1	3	0	2
Carson Meyer	14	1	1	2	−2	2
Mikael Pyyhtia	17	0	2	2	−5	0
Jake Christiansen	12	0	2	2	−5	2
Nick Blankenburg	12	1	0	1	+1	4
Luca Del Bel Belluz	1	1	0	1	+1	0
Eric Robinson‡	7	1	0	1	−3	0
Gavin Brindley	1	0	0	0	0	0
Cameron Butler	1	0	0	0	0	0
Tyler Angle	2	0	0	0	−1	0
Liam Foudy‡	1	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltenders

Regular season^[93]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Elvis Merzlikins	41	40	2,258:40	13	17	8	121	3.45	1,266	.897	1	0	0	4
Daniil Tarasov	24	23	1,376:28	8	11	3	63	3.18	796	.908	0	0	0	0
Jet Greaves	9	8	515:52	3	6	0	30	3.49	327	.908	0	0	0	0
Spencer Martin‡	13	10	707:13	3	8	1	43	3.65	379	.887	0	0	0	0
Malcolm Subban	1	1	60:00	0	1	0	3	3.00	35	.914	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Blue Jackets. Stats reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Transactions

The Blue Jackets have been involved in the following transactions during the 2023–24 season.

Key

 †  Contract is entry-level.
 ‡  Contract initially takes effect in the 2024–25 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 29, 2023 (2023-06-29)	To Vegas Golden Knights 7th-round pick in 2023	To Columbus Blue Jackets 7th-round pick in 2024	[94]
December 6, 2023 (2023-12-06)	To Buffalo Sabres Eric Robinson	To Columbus Blue Jackets conditional NSH 7th-round pick in 2025	[95]
February 22, 2024 (2024-02-22)	To Pittsburgh Penguins Emil Bemstrom	To Columbus Blue Jackets Alexander Nylander conditional 6th-round pick in 2026	[96]
March 8, 2024 (2024-03-08)	To New York Rangers Jack Roslovic (50% retained)	To Columbus Blue Jackets Conditional 4th-round pick in 2026	[97]
	To Boston Bruins Andrew Peeke	To Columbus Blue Jackets Jakub Zboril 3rd-round pick in 2027	[98]
	To St. Louis Blues Future considerations	To Columbus Blue Jackets Malcolm Subban	[99]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
September 29, 2023 (2023-09-29)	Spencer Martin	Vancouver Canucks		Waivers	[100]
March 1, 2024 (2024-03-01)	Max McCue	London Knights (OHL)	3-year†‡	Free agency	[101]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Term	Via	Ref
July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01)	Lane Pederson	Edmonton Oilers	2-year	Free agency	[102]
	Justin Richards	Buffalo Sabres	1-year	Free agency	[103]
July 2, 2023 (2023-07-02)	Gavin Bayreuther	Dallas Stars	1-year	Free agency	[104]
September 12, 2023 (2023-09-12)	Joona Luoto	SC Bern (NL)	1-year	Free agency	[105]
October 6, 2023 (2023-10-06)	Michael Hutchinson	Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL)	1-year	Free agency	[106]
October 11, 2023 (2023-10-11)	Tim Berni	Genève-Servette HC (NL)	4-year	Free agency	[107]
October 21, 2023 (2023-10-21)	Liam Foudy	Nashville Predators		Waivers	[108]
January 19, 2024 (2024-01-19)	Spencer Martin	Carolina Hurricanes		Waivers	[109]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Ref
June 30, 2023 (2023-06-30)	Marcus Bjork	1-year	[110]
July 1, 2023 (2023-07-01)	Adam Fantilli	3-year†	[111]
October 11, 2023 (2023-10-11)	Justin Danforth	1-year‡	[112]
April 15, 2024 (2024-04-15)	Gavin Brindley	3-year†	[113]

Draft picks

See also: List of Columbus Blue Jackets draft picks

Below are the Columbus Blue Jackets' selections at the 2023 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 28 to 29, 2023, at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.

Round	#	Player	Pos.	Nationality	Team (League)
1	3	Adam Fantilli	C	Canada	Michigan Wolverines (B1G)
2	34	Gavin Brindley	C	United States	Michigan Wolverines (B1G)
3	66	William Whitelaw	RW	United States	Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)
4	98	Andrew Strathmann	D	United States	Youngstown Phantoms (USHL)
	114	Luca Pinelli	C	Canada	Ottawa 67's (OHL)
5	156	Melvin Strahl	G	Sweden	Modo Hockey (J20 Nationell)
7	194	Oiva Keskinen	C	Finland	Tappara (U20 SM-sarja)
	224	Tyler Peddle	LW	Canada	Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)