2016–17 Columbus Blue Jackets season

2016–17 Columbus Blue Jackets
Division	3rd Metropolitan
Conference	3rd Eastern
2016–17 record	50–24–8
Home record	28–12–1
Road record	22–12–7
Goals for	249
Goals against	195
Team information
General manager	Jarmo Kekalainen
Coach	John Tortorella
Captain	Nick Foligno
Alternate captains	Brandon Dubinsky Boone Jenner
Arena	Nationwide Arena
Minor league affiliate(s)	Cleveland Monsters (AHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Cam Atkinson (35)
Assists	Alexander Wennberg (46)
Points	Cam Atkinson (62)
Penalty minutes	Brandon Dubinsky (91)
Plus/minus	David Savard (+33)
Wins	Sergei Bobrovsky (41)
Goals against average	Sergei Bobrovsky (2.06)

The 2016–17 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the 17th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997. This season marked the first time the Blue Jackets were in the Stanley Cup playoffs since the 2013–14 season.

Regular season

The Blue Jackets finished October with a record of 3 wins, 3 regulation losses and an overtime loss, but in November they won 9, lost 2 in regulation and 3 in overtime. On November 29, 2016, the team began a winning streak that ran to 16 consecutive games, including a perfect 14-0-0 record in December, but ended on January 5, 2017 with a loss to the Washington Capitals. The 16 game winning streak was one short of the NHL record 17 games, set by the 1992–93 Pittsburgh Penguins.

Standings

Metropolitan Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	p – Washington Capitals	82	55	19	8	53	263	182	+81	118
2	x – Pittsburgh Penguins	82	50	21	11	46	282	234	+48	111
3	x – Columbus Blue Jackets	82	50	24	8	47	249	195	+54	108
4	x – New York Rangers	82	48	28	6	45	256	220	+36	102
5	New York Islanders	82	41	29	12	39	241	242	−1	94
6	Philadelphia Flyers	82	39	33	10	32	219	236	−17	88
7	Carolina Hurricanes	82	36	31	15	33	215	236	−21	87
8	New Jersey Devils	82	28	40	14	25	183	244	−61	70

Source: National Hockey League
p – Clinched Presidents' Trophy; x – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

Pre-season

2016 Pre-season Game Log: 4–4–0 (Home: 1–3–0 ; Road: 3–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 25[A]	St. Louis	5–0	Columbus		Forsberg	8,574	0–1–0	Recap
2	September 25[A]	Columbus	3–7	St. Louis		Korpisalo	10,394	0–2–0	Recap
3	September 26	Columbus	3–2	Boston	SO	McElhinney	16,285	1–2–0	Recap
4	September 29	Nashville	2–3	Columbus	OT	McElhinney	8,644	2–2–0	Recap
5	October 2	Pittsburgh	0–2	Columbus		Bobrovsky	11,966	2–3–0	Recap
6	October 4	Columbus	3–2	Nashville	OT	Korpisalo	16,432	3–3–0	Recap
7	October 6	Boston	2–1	Columbus		Bobrovsky	8,851	3–4–0	Recap
8	October 8	Columbus	5–3	Pittsburgh		Bobrovsky	18,258	4–4–0	Recap
A – indicates split-squad game.

Regular season

2016–17 Game Log
October: 3–3–1 (Home: 1–2–0 ; Road: 2–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 13 Boston 6–3 Columbus Bobrovsky 18,144 0–1–0 0 Recap 2 October 15 San Jose 3–2 Columbus Bobrovsky 16,546 0–2–0 0 Recap 3 October 21 Chicago 2–3 Columbus Bobrovsky 15,789 1–2–0 2 Recap 4 October 22 Columbus 3–0 Dallas Bobrovsky 18,532 2–2–0 4 Recap 5 October 25 Columbus 2–3 Los Angeles OT Bobrovsky 18,230 2–2–1 5 Recap 6 October 27 Columbus 1–3 San Jose Bobrovsky 17,229 2–3–1 5 Recap 7 October 28 Columbus 4–0 Anaheim Bobrovsky 15,841 3–3–1 7 Recap
November: 9–2–3 (Home: 7–1–1 ; Road: 2–1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 8 November 1 Dallas 2–3 Columbus OT Bobrovsky 10,141 4–3–1 9 Recap 9 November 4 Montreal 0–10 Columbus Bobrovsky 14,436 5–3–1 11 Recap 10 November 5 Columbus 1–2 St. Louis OT McElhinney 18,245 5–3–2 12 Recap 11 November 9 Anaheim 2–3 Columbus OT Bobrovsky 10,250 6–3–2 14 Recap 12 November 10 Columbus 2–5 Boston Bobrovsky 17,565 6–4–2 14 Recap 13 November 12 St. Louis 4–8 Columbus Bobrovsky 15,788 7–4–2 16 Recap 14 November 15 Washington 1–2 Columbus OT Bobrovsky 11,738 8–4–2 18 Recap 15 November 18 NY Rangers 2–4 Columbus Bobrovsky 14,541 9–4–2 20 Recap 16 November 20 Columbus 3–2 Washington Bobrovsky 18,506 10–4–2 22 Recap 17 November 21 Colorado 3–2 Columbus OT McElhinney 10,063 10–4–3 23 Recap 18 November 23 Calgary 2–0 Columbus Bobrovsky 13,140 10–5–3 23 Recap 19 November 25 Columbus 5–3 Tampa Bay Bobrovsky 19,092 11–5–3 25 Recap 20 November 26 Columbus 1–2 Florida SO Bobrovsky 13,573 11–5–4 26 Recap 21 November 29 Tampa Bay 1–5 Columbus Bobrovsky 10,366 12–5–4 28 Recap
December: 14–0–0 (Home: 6–0–0 ; Road: 8–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 22 December 1 Columbus 3–2 Colorado Bobrovsky 12,141 13–5–4 30 Recap 23 December 3 Columbus 3–2 Arizona SO McElhinney 11,287 14–5–4 32 Recap 24 December 5 Arizona 1–4 Columbus Bobrovsky 11,091 15–5–4 34 Recap 25 December 9 Columbus 4–1 Detroit Bobrovsky 20,027 16–5–4 36 Recap 26 December 10 NY Islanders 2–6 Columbus Bobrovsky 16,928 17–5–4 38 Recap 27 December 13 Columbus 3–1 Edmonton Bobrovsky 18,347 18–5–4 40 Recap 28 December 16 Columbus 4–1 Calgary Bobrovsky 18,045 19–5–4 42 Recap 29 December 18 Columbus 4–3 Vancouver OT Bobrovsky 18,113 20–5–4 44 Recap 30 December 20 Los Angeles 2–3 Columbus SO McElhinney 16,568 21–5–4 46 Recap 31 December 22 Pittsburgh 1–7 Columbus Bobrovsky 19,115 22–5–4 48 Recap 32 December 23 Montreal 1–2 Columbus Bobrovsky 18,147 23–5–4 50 Recap 33 December 27 Boston 3–4 Columbus Bobrovsky 19,005 24–5–4 52 Recap 34 December 29 Columbus 5–3 Winnipeg Bobrovsky 15,294 25–5–4 54 Recap 35 December 31 Columbus 4–2 Minnesota Bobrovsky 19,307 26–5–4 56 Recap
January: 7–7–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 3–5–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 36 January 3 Edmonton 1–3 Columbus Bobrovsky 17,169 27–5–4 58 Recap 37 January 5 Columbus 0–5 Washington Bobrovsky 18,506 27–6–4 58 Recap 38 January 7 NY Rangers 5–4 Columbus McElhinney 19,001 27–7–4 58 Recap 39 January 8 Philadelphia 1–2 Columbus OT Bobrovsky 17,962 28–7–4 60 Recap 40 January 10 Columbus 3–5 Carolina Forsberg 9,351 28–8–4 60 Recap 41 January 13 Columbus 3–1 Tampa Bay Korpisalo 19,092 29–8–4 62 Recap 42 January 14 Columbus 3–4 Florida Korpisalo 14,795 29–9–4 62 Recap 43 January 17 Carolina 1–4 Columbus Bobrovsky 14,724 30–9–4 64 Recap 44 January 19 Ottawa 2–0 Columbus Bobrovsky 15,823 30–10–4 64 Recap 45 January 21 Carolina 2–3 Columbus Bobrovsky 19,033 31–10–4 66 Recap 46 January 22 Columbus 7–6 Ottawa OT Korpisalo 16,702 32–10–4 68 Recap 47 January 24 Columbus 2–4 NY Islanders Bobrovsky 11,419 32–11–4 68 Recap 48 January 26 Columbus 3–4 Nashville Bobrovsky 17,113 32–12–4 68 Recap January 27–29 All-Star Break in Los Angeles 49 January 31 Columbus 6–4 NY Rangers Korpisalo 18,006 33–12–4 70 Recap
February: 6–4–2 (Home: 4–4–0 ; Road: 2–0–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 50 February 3 Columbus 3–4 Pittsburgh OT Bobrovsky 18,649 33–12–5 71 Recap 51 February 4 New Jersey 5–1 Columbus Bobrovsky 18,566 33–13–5 71 Recap 52 February 7 Columbus 3–2 Detroit OT Bobrovsky 20,027 34–13–5 73 Recap 53 February 9 Vancouver 3–0 Columbus Bobrovsky 13,979 34–14–5 73 Recap 54 February 11 Detroit 1–2 Columbus Bobrovsky 19,143 35–14–5 75 Recap 55 February 13 NY Rangers 3–2 Columbus Bobrovsky 14,378 35–15–5 75 Recap 56 February 15 Toronto 2–5 Columbus Korpisalo 14,548 36–15–5 77 Recap 57 February 17 Pittsburgh 1–2 Columbus OT Bobrovsky 19,188 37–15–5 79 Recap 58 February 19 Nashville 4–3 Columbus Bobrovsky 17,894 37–16–5 79 Recap 59 February 25 NY Islanders 0–7 Columbus Korpisalo 18,183 38–16–5 81 Recap 60 February 26 Columbus 5–2 NY Rangers Bobrovsky 18,006 39–16–5 83 Recap 61 February 28 Columbus 0–1 Montreal OT Bobrovsky 21,288 39–16–6 84 Recap
March: 10–4–2 (Home: 6–1–0 ; Road: 4–3–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 62 March 2 Minnesota 0–1 Columbus Bobrovsky 15,987 40–16–6 86 Recap 63 March 4 Columbus 2–3 Ottawa Korpisalo 17,516 40–17–6 86 Recap 64 March 5 Columbus 3–0 New Jersey Bobrovsky 14,054 41–17–6 88 Recap 65 March 7 New Jersey 0–2 Columbus Bobrovsky 15,947 42–17–6 90 Recap 66 March 10 Buffalo 3–4 Columbus Bobrovsky 17,530 43–17–6 92 Recap 67 March 11 Columbus 3–5 Buffalo Korpisalo 18,744 43–18–6 92 Recap 68 March 13 Columbus 5–3 Philadelphia Bobrovsky 19,447 44–18–6 94 Recap 69 March 16 Florida 1–2 Columbus Bobrovsky 14,921 45–18–6 96 Recap 70 March 18 Columbus 3–2 NY Islanders OT Korpisalo 14,007 46–18–6 98 Recap 71 March 19 Columbus 4–1 New Jersey Bobrovsky 14,254 47–18–6 100 Recap 72 March 22 Toronto 5–2 Columbus Korpisalo 16,106 47–19–6 100 Recap 73 March 23 Columbus 1–2 Washington SO Bobrovsky 18,506 47–19–7 101 Recap 74 March 25 Philadelphia 0–1 Columbus Bobrovsky 19,052 48–19–7 103 Recap 75 March 28 Buffalo 1–3 Columbus Bobrovsky 14,533 49–19–7 105 Recap 76 March 30 Columbus 1–2 Carolina OT Korpisalo 11,881 49–19–8 106 Recap 77 March 31 Columbus 1–3 Chicago Bobrovsky 22,112 49–20–8 106 Recap
April: 1–4–0 (Home: 0–2–0 ; Road: 1–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 78 April 2 Washington 3–2 Columbus Bobrovsky 18,247 49–21–8 106 Recap 79 April 4 Columbus 1–4 Pittsburgh Bobrovsky 18,632 49–22–8 106 Recap 80 April 6 Winnipeg 5–4 Columbus Korpisalo 16,477 49–23–8 106 Recap 81 April 8 Columbus 2–4 Philadelphia Bobrovsky 19,789 49–24–8 106 Recap 82 April 9 Columbus 3–2 Toronto Korpisalo 19,369 50–24–8 108 Recap
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 2017 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Blue Jackets clinched the playoffs for the first time since the 2013–14 season. They met the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round and lost the series 4–1.

2017 Stanley Cup playoffs

Eastern Conference First Round vs. (M2) Pittsburgh Penguins: Pittsburgh won 4–1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 12 Columbus 1–3 Pittsburgh Bobrovsky 18,563 0–1 Recap 2 April 14 Columbus 1–4 Pittsburgh Bobrovsky 18,622 0–2 Recap 3 April 16 Pittsburgh 5–4 Columbus OT Bobrovsky 19,092 0–3 Recap 4 April 18 Pittsburgh 4–5 Columbus Bobrovsky 19,093 1–3 Recap 5 April 20 Columbus 2–5 Pittsburgh Bobrovsky 18,585 1–4 Recap Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Final Stats

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Cam Atkinson	82	35	27	62	13	22
Alexander Wennberg	80	13	46	59	9	21
Brandon Saad	82	24	29	53	23	8
Nick Foligno	79	26	25	51	−4	55
Sam Gagner	81	18	32	50	10	22
Zach Werenski	78	11	36	47	17	14
Seth Jones	75	12	30	42	6	24
Brandon Dubinsky	80	12	29	41	16	91
Scott Hartnell	78	13	24	37	14	63
Boone Jenner	82	18	16	34	14	52
Josh Anderson	78	17	12	29	12	89
William Karlsson	81	6	19	25	10	10
David Savard	74	6	17	23	33	44
Jack Johnson	82	5	18	23	23	32
Matt Calvert	65	10	5	15	−4	48
Lukas Sedlak	62	7	6	13	10	25
Oliver Bjorkstrand	26	6	7	13	4	6
Ryan Murray	60	2	9	11	3	24
Markus Nutivaara	66	2	5	7	7	6
Kyle Quincey†	20	2	1	3	0	12
Scott Harrington	22	1	2	3	3	10
Dalton Prout‡	15	0	3	3	4	14
Markus Hannikainen	10	1	1	2	0	6
Gabriel Carlsson	2	0	1	1	−2	0
Lauri Korpikoski†	9	0	0	0	0	0
Sonny Milano	4	0	0	0	−3	0
T. J. Tynan	3	0	0	0	−1	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Cam Atkinson	5	2	1	3	−3	0
Boone Jenner	5	2	1	3	−2	14
William Karlsson	5	2	1	3	4	0
Brandon Saad	5	1	2	3	−5	0
Josh Anderson	5	1	1	2	2	2
Matt Calvert	4	1	1	2	4	4
Brandon Dubinsky	5	1	1	2	−2	6
Jack Johnson	5	1	1	2	−3	0
Markus Nutivaara	2	1	1	2	3	0
Nick Foligno	4	0	2	2	−3	6
Sam Gagner	5	0	2	2	−3	2
Seth Jones	5	0	2	2	−4	0
Zach Werenski	3	1	0	1	−2	0
Oliver Bjorkstrand	5	0	1	1	−2	0
Kyle Quincey	2	0	1	1	−1	2
David Savard	5	0	1	1	−4	4
Alexander Wennberg	5	0	1	1	−3	2
Gabriel Carlsson	5	0	0	0	1	0
Scott Harrington	3	0	0	0	0	10
Scott Hartnell	4	0	0	0	−2	0
Sonny Milano	1	0	0	0	0	0
Lukas Sedlak	2	0	0	0	−1	0

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Sergei Bobrovsky	63	63	3707:04	41	17	5	127	2.06	1,854	.931	7	0	0	8
Joonas Korpisalo	14	13	790:31	7	5	1	38	2.88	401	.905	1	0	0	0
Curtis McElhinney‡	7	5	375:55	2	1	2	15	2.39	198	.924	0	0	0	0
Anton Forsberg	1	1	58:35	0	1	0	4	4.10	27	.852	0	0	0	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Sergei Bobrovsky	5	4	309:15	1	3	1	20	3.88	170	.882	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Blue Jackets. Statistics reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Statistics 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 2016–17 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 25, 2016	To Toronto Maple Leafs Kerby Rychel	To Columbus Blue Jackets Scott Harrington conditional 5th-round pick in 2017
November 28, 2016	To Colorado Avalanche Cody Goloubef	To Columbus Blue Jackets Ryan Stanton
March 1, 2017	To New Jersey Devils Dalton Prout	To Columbus Blue Jackets Kyle Quincey
March 1, 2017	To Dallas Stars Dillon Heatherington	To Columbus Blue Jackets Lauri Korpikoski

Free agents acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)	Dante Salituro	Ottawa 67's	3 years, $2.2 million entry-level contract
July 5, 2016 (2016-07-05)	Jacob Graves	London Knights	3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract
August 1, 2016 (2016-08-01)	Sam Gagner	Philadelphia Flyers	1 year, $650,000
February 28, 2017 (2017-02-28)	Marc-Andre Bergeron	No team	1 year, $575,000
March 16, 2017 (2017-03-16)	Sam Vigneault	Clarkson University	2 years, $1.85 million entry-level contract
May 25, 2017 (2017-05-25)	Matiss Kivlenieks	Sioux City Musketeers	3 years, $3.2 million entry-level

Free agents lost

Date	Player	New team	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)	Michael Chaput	Vancouver Canucks	1 year, $600,000
July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)	Fedor Tyutin	Colorado Avalanche	1 year, $2 million
July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)	Justin Falk	Buffalo Sabres	1 year, $650,000
July 5, 2016 (2016-07-05)	Jared Boll	Anaheim Ducks	2 years, $1.8 million
October 10, 2016 (2016-10-10)	Rene Bourque	Colorado Avalanche	1 year, $650,000
May 7, 2017 (2017-05-07)	Daniel Zaar	Malmö Redhawks	2-year

Claimed via waivers

Player	Old team	Date claimed off waivers	Ref
Zac Dalpe	Minnesota Wild	February 27, 2017 (2017-02-27)

Lost via waivers

Player	New team	Date claimed off waivers	Ref
Curtis McElhinney	Toronto Maple Leafs	January 10, 2017 (2017-01-10)

Player signings

Date	Player	Contract terms (in U.S. dollars)	Ref
June 29, 2016 (2016-06-29)	Seth Jones	6 years, $32.4 million
July 1, 2016 (2016-07-01)	Pierre-Luc Dubois	3 years, $10.275 million entry-level contract
July 25, 2016 (2016-07-25)	Alex Broadhurst	1 year, $600,000
July 25, 2016 (2016-07-25)	T. J. Tynan	1 year, $600,000
July 25, 2016 (2016-07-25)	Scott Harrington	1 year, $632,500
December 23, 2016 (2016-12-23)	Vitaly Abramov	3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract
December 30, 2016 (2016-12-30)	Calvin Thurkauf	3 years, $2.215 million entry-level contract
March 21, 2017 (2017-03-21)	Lukas Sedlak	2 years, $1.65 million contract extension
March 21, 2017 (2017-03-21)	Scott Harrington	2 years, $1.35 million contract extension
March 21, 2017 (2017-03-21)	Markus Hannikainen	2 years, $1.35 million contract extension
April 5, 2017 (2017-04-05)	Ryan Collins	3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract
May 23, 2017 (2017-05-23)	Kevin Stenlund	3 years, $2.775 million entry-level contract
June 9, 2017 (2017-06-09)	Joonas Korpisalo	2 years, $1.8 million contract extension
June 9, 2017 (2017-06-09)	Zac Dalpe	2 years, two-way contract extension
June 9, 2017 (2017-06-09)	Dean Kukan	1 year, two-way contract extension

Draft picks

See also: List of Columbus Blue Jackets draft picks

Below are the Columbus Blue Jackets' selections at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, held June 24–25, 2016 at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, New York.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	3	Pierre-Luc Dubois	LW	Canada	Cape Breton Screaming Eagles (QMJHL)
2	34	Andrew Peeke	D	United States	Green Bay Gamblers (USHL)
3	65	Vitaly Abramov	RW	Russia	Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
6	155	Peter Thome	G	United States	Aberdeen Wings (NAHL)
7	185	Calvin Thurkauf	C	Switzerland	Kelowna Rockets (WHL)

Notes

• The Columbus Blue Jackets' fourth-round pick went to the New York Islanders as the result of a trade on June 25, 2016 that sent a fourth-round pick in 2016 (110th overall) and a sixth-round pick in 2017 to Chicago in exchange for this pick.
  • Chicago previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 30, 2015 that sent Brandon Saad, Michael Paliotta and Alex Broadhurst to Columbus in exchange for Artem Anisimov, Jeremy Morin, Corey Tropp, Marko Dano and this pick.
• The Columbus Blue Jackets' fifth-round pick went to the St. Louis Blues as the result of a trade on November 15, 2014 that sent Jordan Leopold to Columbus in exchange for this pick.