Blue Jackets frustrated by season's end but encouraged by growth

Meeting with the media Friday for exit day interviews, players and coaches wished they were getting ready for playoff hockey but see brighter days ahead

Dean Evason made his usual walk to Nationwide Arena this morning, but things certainly felt different.

First off, it was warm enough in Columbus for the Blue Jackets head coach to wear shorts, a sign that spring is on the way in the capital city.

It also meant, though, that Evason wouldn’t have a practice to run or a game to coach. The Blue Jackets’ inspiring run to try to grab the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference fell two points short, one more victory being the difference between vying for the greatest trophy in all of sports and starting summer vacation.

So instead of preparing for the Washington Capitals on Friday, Evason, his coaching staff and the front office spent today conducting exit interviews with players.

“I walked through the door and it sucked, to be honest with you,” Evason said. “We were here pretty early and the coaches are still grinding in the gym, but yeah, it sucks that I’m not wearing my tracksuit right now.”

Among players, the feeling was mutual. The Blue Jackets made tremendous strides during this campaign, adding 13 wins and 23 points to their total from a season ago, rising from consecutive last-place finishes in the Metropolitan Division to fourth, and staying in the playoff race until the very last game despite preseason prognostications that they would be vying for the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

By any measure, it was major progress, and in the weeks and months ahead, the Blue Jackets will likely be able to take some solace in the fact they have set themselves up for good things in the years ahead.

On this day, though, the emotions of falling just short of their goal remained very real.

“It hurts after all the time we put in this year with this group and how we grew together and the adversity we went through,” captain Boone Jenner said. “It stings not to be able to get a chance to play in the playoffs and go for our ultimate goal.”

“It’s hard as a competitor to say it was successful when you’re not playing in the playoffs,” Zach Werenski added. “We’re just short, but it’s still short of it. In a sense, we made huge progress this year and took steps in the right direction, but I don’t know if I’d use the word successful. It’s still a process and still a long way to get to where we ultimately want to be.”

Perhaps the hardest part was having to go their separate ways much earlier than the players and coaches had hoped. Throughout the season, members of the team spoke about how this was one of the most tight-knit groups they had ever been a part of, a bond that’s been built through the growing pains of the previous seasons as well as the August passing of Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew.

It was a tragedy that shocked the sports world and devastated the Blue Jackets, and the story of the 2024-25 team can’t be told without mentioning both the heartbreak and inspiration that came from the brothers’ deaths. As difficult a situation as it was to go through, there was also a bond that built between team members, who spent the entire season honoring and playing for their teammate.

“The one thing that really stood out for me is the character in that locker room,” president of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell said. “I’m so proud of these guys with what we faced at the beginning of the year and throughout the year. There was no quit in these guys. I’ve been around teams for a long time, and this is one of the strongest locker rooms I’ve ever been involved in.”

The Blue Jackets will hope to continue to build on that closeness going forward, and much of the core group will remain. Maybe the most exciting thing for the franchise is the fact many of the team’s young players took major steps this season, with Kirill Marchenko (age 24; 31-43-74), Kent Johnson (22; 24-33-57), Adam Fantilli (20; 31-23-54) and Dmitri Voronkov (24; 23-24-47) all posting career highs in both goals and points.

Add in such pieces as 21-year-old center Cole Sillinger and 20-year-old defenseman Denton Mateychuk and the Blue Jackets feel like the future is bright as those players continue to mature and improve.

“You could see the maturity in their game rise quickly,” center Sean Monahan said. “At times, they carried the load. It’s a credit to the work that they put in. You look at the younger group on the team, they care so much about winning and getting better and care about their game and do everything they can to help the team win. It’s a real good sign to see.”

But as much as the progress made this year seems to suggest more is on the way, the stark reality of this season is that the Blue Jackets didn’t make enough in their own mind. The 16-team race to the Stanley Cup begins tomorrow, and the Blue Jackets won’t be a part of it for a fifth straight season.

“We’re not far enough because we’re not playing,” Evason said. “We’re not preparing to play. I want to make that clear. I know we’re going to get some accolades and all that kind of stuff, but at the end of the day, we’re not in the playoffs. That was our first step was to get in the playoffs. We didn’t get there.”