# 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.
In the off-season, on July 1, 2023, the Blue Jackets hired Mike Babcock as head coach. However, Babcock resigned after the conclusion of an investigation about improper behavior with players on September 17, and was replaced by Pascal Vincent.
On March 24, 2024, the Blue Jackets were eliminated from playoff contention following the Washington Capitals' 3–0 win against the Winnipeg Jets.

## 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 | e – Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 38 | 32 | 12 | 32 | 255 | 251 | +4 | 88 |
| 6 | e – Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 38 | 33 | 11 | 30 | 235 | 261 | −26 | 87 |
| 7 | e – New Jersey Devils | 82 | 38 | 39 | 5 | 33 | 264 | 283 | −19 | 81 |
| 8 | e – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 27 | 43 | 12 | 21 | 237 | 300 | −63 | 66 |

### 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 | e – Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 41 | 32 | 9 | 27 | 278 | 274 | +4 | 91 |
| 4 | ME | e – Pittsburgh Penguins | 82 | 38 | 32 | 12 | 32 | 255 | 251 | +4 | 88 |
| 5 | ME | e – Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 38 | 33 | 11 | 30 | 235 | 261 | −26 | 87 |
| 6 | AT | e – Buffalo Sabres | 82 | 39 | 37 | 6 | 33 | 246 | 244 | +2 | 84 |
| 7 | ME | e – New Jersey Devils | 82 | 38 | 39 | 5 | 33 | 264 | 283 | −19 | 81 |
| 8 | AT | e – Ottawa Senators | 82 | 37 | 41 | 4 | 25 | 255 | 281 | −26 | 78 |
| 9 | AT | e – Montreal Canadiens | 82 | 30 | 36 | 16 | 20 | 236 | 289 | −53 | 76 |
| 10 | ME | e – Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 27 | 43 | 12 | 21 | 237 | 300 | −63 | 66 |

## Schedule and results
### Preseason

The Columbus Blue Jackets preseason schedule was released on June 22, 2023.

### Regular season

The Columbus Blue Jackets regular season schedule was released on June 27, 2023.
2023–24 game log :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout loss (1 point) :

## Players Statistics

As of April 16, 2024

### Skaters

Regular season :
| 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 :
| 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 | Details |
| June 29, 2023 (2023-06-29) | To Vegas Golden Knights7th-round pick in 2023 | To Columbus Blue Jackets7th-round pick in 2024 |
| December 6, 2023 (2023-12-06) | To Buffalo SabresEric Robinson | To Columbus Blue Jacketsconditional NSH 7th-round pick in 2025 |
| February 22, 2024 (2024-02-22) | To Pittsburgh PenguinsEmil Bemstrom | To Columbus Blue JacketsAlexander Nylander conditional 6th-round pick in 2026 |
| March 8, 2024 (2024-03-08) | To New York RangersJack Roslovic (50% retained) | To Columbus Blue JacketsConditional 4th-round pick in 2026 |
| March 8, 2024 (2024-03-08) | To Boston BruinsAndrew Peeke | To Columbus Blue JacketsJakub Zboril 3rd-round pick in 2027 |
| March 8, 2024 (2024-03-08) | To St. Louis BluesFuture considerations | To Columbus Blue JacketsMalcolm Subban |

### Players acquired

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

### Players lost

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

### Signings

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

## 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) |
| 4 | 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) |
| 7 | 224 | Tyler Peddle | LW | Canada | Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL) |