COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two weeks ago, while tooling around his central Ohio farm, Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella started visualizing his forward lines for next season, the way he’d align the group to find an offensive spark.
“I had (Alexandre Texier) in the middle a couple of weeks ago,” Tortorella told The Athletic. “And now I have Tex on the wing because I think we have solidified the middle of our ice. I still think Tex may be a center, eventually, but right now we can afford to keep playing him on the wing.”
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A portion of the Blue Jackets fan base may be underwhelmed (angry?) with general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen’s offseason moves to this point, but Tortorella — who builds the club’s system and sends forward lines over the boards during games — believes three lineup changes will make a significant difference.
Columbus acquired center Max Domi from Montreal to give them a one-two punch offensively in the top six with Pierre-Luc Dubois. The Blue Jackets signed Mikko Koivu via free agency to center the third line, allowing Boone Jenner to slide back to left wing.
For the first time in three seasons, Tortorella expects the Blue Jackets’ play at center ice to be a strength, not a weakness.
That, coupled with a confidence in goaltenders Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins given the way they played last season, has Tortorella declaring a new offensive approach for the team whenever the 2020-21 seasons starts.
It doesn’t sound quite like the Blue Jackets are going back to the “safe is death” mentality, like when Artemi Panarin led the way at a point-a-game pace. But they won’t be the conservative club Tortorella thought they had to be in 2019-20.
“Our team … we’ve worked so hard to score a goal,” Tortorella said. “We do, and we’ve known that. This group has been willing to put in the work we needed to score a goal. We’re one of the top teams in the league as far as forechecking, creating scoring chances. I’m not going to make any crazy predictions here, but …
“This is the next step for this team, and I think having Domi there in our top six and on the power play can really help us. We believe in our goalies now. We’ve got four top defensemen. We know how to play defense, with our forwards and defensemen. Now we have to open ourselves up more and try to make something more happen offensively, and we can do that.”
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Kekäläinen may not be finished tweaking the roster, of course. There are still free agents available who could help, and there are several teams across the NHL believed to be facing financial restraints such that they’ll be forced to unload good players on the cheap.
But if the Blue Jackets do nothing else, Tortorella said, they’ll still be a more dangerous club offensively. They finished 27th in the NHL in goals scored per game (2.57), a precipitous drop from their 12th-place finish (3.12) in 2018-19.
So how does Tortorella see his forwards aligning? We’ll remind you that forward lines get stale quicker than fast-food french fries, so enjoy these while they’re hot.
Tortorella intends on playing Texier with Dubois and Oliver Bjorkstrand on the No. 1 line, he said, which means Domi likely will be centering Gustav Nyquist or Nick Foligno at left wing and Cam Atkinson on the right.
The third line would have Koivu in the middle of a line with Boone Jenner and Nyquist or Foligno on the wings.
“We feel good about ourselves with hard forechecking and grinding away, finding a way to score goals,” Tortorella said. “That’s a big part of who we are, and so we don’t want to lose that. But now with Domi in the mix, and with Luc and some of our offensively gifted players, we want to make plays with the puck and bang! It’s in the net.
“Goals like that help your confidence on that end of the ice. I want to see us loosen up offensively in our minds, that’s the most important thing. We have to stay with our foundation, but open ourselves up mentally, too, especially with the puck.”
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Tortorella has been thrilled by his initial conversations with Domi, he said. In addition to a big five-on-five role, Domi is expected to have a prominent role on the power play, where he has totaled 5-17-22 the past two seasons in Montreal.
But Domi, a feisty, combative player, should also be an energy source for the Blue Jackets. He led the Canadiens with 80 penalty minutes in 2018-19 but dialed it way back last season with only 35 PIMs.
Columbus had a seven-year, $35 million offer on the table for free agent and longtime Blue Jacket Josh Anderson but couldn’t go any further into the offseason with the uncertainty regarding his future. Domi is one of the few top-six centers believed to be available, so Kekäläinen had to act quickly.
One day after the Jackets acquired Domi, they signed him to a two-year, $10.6 million contract.
“I love his personality,” Tortorella said. “He shows his personality on the ice. … I just want to make sure we refine that without getting in his way with his personality because there’s a discipline that comes with it also.
“I’m excited to work with him. In my talks with him, he’s very enthusiastic. I’ve talked to some players who know him, and they’re really excited about the addition. He can drive some offense from the middle of the ice. He’s going to help our power play. We’ve added some offense here, and I hope it transforms and frees us up in that part of the game.”
Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella speaks to his players during their August playoff series against the Lightning. (Dan Hamilton / USA Today)
The Koivu signing likely won’t stoke the offense much — although Jenner’s move to the wing will help — but Tortorella was over the moon regarding his addition. (So is Blue Jackets captain Nick Foligno, who knows Koivu a bit through his brother, Wild forward Marcus Foligno.)
Tortorella said he has been watching Koivu from the opposing bench for years, and he explains it with a bit of reverence.
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“I had never spoken to him until the other day, but I’ve watched him,” Tortorella said. “To me, that’s the epitome …. You know how much I talk to you about what it means to be a pro in this league? He’s the epitome of how you carry yourself as a pro.
“He wouldn’t say shit with a mouthful on the ice. He just lines up and plays against you as stiff and as hard against you as he can each and every shift. I have nothing but respect for how he handles himself. Frankly, I’ve marveled at it. He’s been a great player in this league for a long time, but there’s a humility to his game in the way he works and competes.
“This is what I told him in our conversation: ‘You play this game just like we have our team playing right now.’ It’s such great timing, and I’m really excited about it. It’s a level of leadership that adds to our guys, just a crusty old pro who understands the intangibles of what it takes to win in this league.”
Let’s be realistic, though. Only eight players in the NHL last season were older than Koivu, who will turn 38 in March. His 2018-19 season was interrupted by knee surgery, and last season in Minnesota was a struggle.
He had 4-17-21 in 55 games, matching his lowest output since he was a rookie in 2005-06. Wild GM Bill Guerin made the difficult decision to let Koivu walk this offseason after a decade as the club’s captain.
If 32 years old is the new 36 in the NHL, what do you make of a 37-year-old?
“I know that Mikko has some inner motivation here as he gets ready for next season,” Tortorella said. “He has some doubters. He was just kinda let go (by Minnesota). It’s amazing what that kind of motivation can do. He has a chip on his shoulder. He wants to show people that he can still play.”
Tortorella had parting words for the four players who left the organization over the last week: Anderson, Ryan Murray, Markus Nutivaara and Alexander Wennberg.
On Anderson …
“Josh loved it here, and the guys loved him, too. There was a nice thing going on with him. This happens with all teams. But losing him … I’m not going to say it’s going to bury this hockey team. I’m not going to say that. You know how I feel about Josh. I wish that kid nothing but the best. He can be one hell of a hockey player.”
On Murray …
“Murr is one hell of a player. We were a different team with him in the lineup. He gets us out of our end zone. He sees the ice so well. We haven’t seen eye-to-eye in some situations. Like with most of the players, we go through that. But Murr was very candid with me when we talked after the trade, and he’s another guy I really root for to go on and do great things. If he can stay healthy, he’s going to help a team. There are no grudges here.”
On Nutivaara …
“I think a change of scenery for Nuti is very important. He’s another one that fell down that injury road … he had so many problems going on. A change of scenery is going to help him get back to that player that defended really well with body position and stick, and he can make a good outlet play. I want him to take this opportunity he’s going to get. This is the National Hockey League. You’re not there forever, so get about your business.”
On Wennberg …
“Wenny and I have been upside down, backward and forward and over the hill with all the things we’ve gone through. But I still think that he is just a tremendous kid. He’s handled a lot of things with me. He’s gone through a lot with me, but he’s stood in there as a pro. I do think a change of scenery will help him, I readily admit that. I tried so many different things and I am part of the inconsistency with his play. That’s part of the coach’s responsibility, too. I thought he played much better in the playoffs, in the bubble. I hope he keeps on growing from there, I really do. I wish him nothing but the best. I hope he doesn’t hurt us, but I want to see him get back to the play that he had when he first started with us.”
(Top photo of Max Domi: Minas Panagiotakis / Getty Images)
