With the hypothesis circling that the Columbus Blue Jackets will identify the polarizing Mike Babcock as their subsequent head coach, there are questions relating to how the workforce will carry out with him behind the bench. The celebs akin to Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine don’t look like typical Babcock gamers, nonetheless, there are some within the group who can thrive underneath his fashion of teaching.
Whether or not it’s the veterans or younger, old-school fashion gamers, there’s plenty of alternative for some and query marks for others. Whereas we’ll take a look at a few of the query marks in a while, immediately we’ll deal with those that ought to carry out at a excessive stage underneath the rumored new coach.
Boone Jenner
Boone Jenner is an old-school hockey participant. There’s a purpose John Tortorella relied on him so closely throughout his tenure, and contemplating Babcock’s fashion of grit and grind hockey is pretty just like Tortorella’s, I’d anticipate him to do extra of the identical.
Whereas he’s not a great first-line middle, Jenner can play that position in a pinch and has achieved so fairly a number of occasions in current reminiscence. Underneath Brad Larsen, he additionally had a few of the greatest offensive performances of his profession however struggled to stay wholesome sufficient for it to be massively helpful for the group. Babcock will likely be the kind of coach who will get probably the most out of a gritty, veteran middle like Jenner.
Dmitri Voronkov
We’ve got but to see Dmitri Voronkov in a Blue Jackets uniform, nonetheless, as a bodily and aggressive middle he’ll undoubtedly profit from a gritty teaching system. Whereas formally listed as a winger, he has confirmed previously that he’s snug taking part in middle, and contemplating the organizational construction proper now, it’s probably that’s the place he’ll spend most of his time within the close to future.
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Much like Jenner, Voronkov is a prototypical Babcock-style of participant. Whereas one in all Babcock’s important weaknesses traditionally has been coping with youthful gamers, Voronkov’s fashion suits so completely that will probably be tough for him to not work properly in Babcock’s system. On the ice, he’s paying homage to the aforementioned Jenner with a barely bigger body. Though he’s younger, he’ll slot into the underside six of the lineup with no points and sure transfer his approach up as time goes on.
Nick Blankenburg
On the defensive aspect of the lineup, there are plenty of query marks that also have to be addressed resulting from a logjam of NHL-caliber expertise that’s seemingly across the identical ability stage. Nick Blankenburg is without doubt one of the latest additions to the combo, and the undrafted former captain of the Michigan Wolverines is definitely the kind of participant who ought to shine underneath Babcock.
He brings grit to the desk regardless of his small stature and his work ethic on the ice may be very spectacular. He performs primarily each shift as if it’s a very powerful one in all his profession and given the way in which he entered the league, it’s necessary that he continues to hold that chip on his shoulder going ahead. Having a coach that calls for arduous work received’t change something for the younger defenseman.
Justin Danforth
Much like Blankenburg, Justin Danforth has had an unusual path to the NHL. He went undrafted out of faculty earlier than bouncing across the ECHL and American Hockey League for a few seasons. When that path stopped displaying promise, he made the tough resolution to maneuver abroad and play within the Finnish Liiga earlier than discovering his strategy to the Kontinental Hockey League. He performed extraordinarily properly at each of these ranges and in consequence, the Blue Jackets rewarded him along with his first NHL contract previous to the 2021-22 season.
Now that he’s already 30 years of age, Danforth is aware of he doesn’t have a lot time to make an influence within the NHL, nonetheless, he’s confirmed time and time once more that he’s not the sort to surrender. He had a powerful begin to the 2022-23 season earlier than a season-ending damage took him out of the lineup simply six video games in.
Many are questioning if he’ll have the ability to earn one other roster spot contemplating the variety of younger gamers shifting up within the lineup and the return of Alexandre Texier to the combo. If Babcock is in reality the coach that the Jackets will go along with for the 2023-24 season, then it’s tough to see Danforth not getting a possibility along with his sturdy work ethic and John Cena-esque never-give-up perspective.
Whereas it stays to be seen how the workforce will carry out underneath the reported new period in Columbus, the roster is about up for a coach like Babcock in some ways. The aforementioned gamers are only a few within the group who will thrive underneath his management, and there are extra coming via the system who might match simply as properly akin to prospect James Malatesta. One factor is definite, Blue Jackets hockey will look a lot totally different within the 2023-24 season than we’ve seen beforehand.