The Blue Jackets finished with a 27-43-12 record (66 points), 18 points behind Buffalo.
The Buffalo Sabres took a step back after barely missing the playoffs in 2023, finishing seven points out of the final Eastern Conference wildcard spot with a 39-37-6 record (84 points). The regression cost head coach Don Granato his job and put more pressure on GM Kevyn Adams to snap the league’s longest playoff drought of 13 seasons.
Adams brought back veteran head coach Lindy Ruff to stress accountability and has made trades and free agent signings to remedy the Sabres depth and defensive issues, but the question now is whether they are as good or better than their competition in the Eastern Conference.
The Columbus Blue Jackets were a disaster last season, beginning with the debacle of the hiring and quick dismissal of Mike Babcock, and the struggles that eventually cost longtime GM Jarmo Kekalainen and interim head coach Pascal Vincent their jobs. In spite of some young emerging talent in Russian winger Dmitry Voronkov, Yegor Chinakov, and last year’s third overall pick Adam Fantilli, the Blue Jackets finished 25 points out of the last Eastern Conference playoff spot.
New GM Don Waddell fired Vincent soon after taking control, and Columbus has yet to hire a new bench boss.
While the Blue Jackets have some quality veterans in Johnny Gaudreau, Zach Werenski, Boone Jenner, Ivan Provorov, and Kirill Marchenko, the semblance of a club that could contend for a playoff spot simply is not there. In a side-by-side comparison with the Sabres, Buffalo is superior in goal with Luukkonen and Levi over the likely Columbus combo of Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov, defensively only one of the Blue Jackets blueline (Werenski) could break into Buffalo’s top-four, and with the Sabres bottom-six upgrade, they are deeper and more talented up front.
Columbus reportedly attempted to make a trade to acquire restricted free agent Martin Necas from Carolina, but like Atlantic Division bottom-dweller Montreal, they made no significant trades or free agent signings during or after the NHL Draft. The Sabres are likely to be one of five or six clubs in the mix for a wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference, and it is highly unlikely that Columbus will be one of those teams.
