“I’m starting to think the Blue Jackets will be the next Coyotes.”

Marc-Olivier Cook
“I’m starting to think the Blue Jackets will be the next Coyotes.”
Credit: Capture d'écran / X

Since joining the NHL in 2000, the Blue Jackets have won only one playoff series.

Meanwhile, there have been numerous changes in leadership, many rebuilds, and several stars have left the organization without the team ever managing to take it to the next level.

Jimmy Murphy is starting to think the Jackets will be the next Coyotes… and that's not such a crazy idea.

Artemi Panarin is gone. So is Sergei Bobrovsky. Pierre-Luc Dubois has asked to be traded.

Now… Kirill Marchenko seems to want to jump ship as well. And there are plenty of rumors swirling about Zach Werenski's future as well at the time of this writing.

It's hard to be excited about the future with the Jackets…

What I'm trying to say is that every time the Blue Jackets seemed to have finally found an identity, they had to start all over again. Add to that the tragic death of Johnny Gaudreau…

But it goes deeper than that, too.

Because on paper, it's true that the Blue Jackets' profile looks a bit like the Coyotes' used to.

Both organizations have had little success in the playoffs; both teams have had to rebuild more often than not; they struggle to attract (and retain) the NHL's top stars; and the market isn't exactly brimming with enthusiasm when viewed across the entire National Hockey League…

The Blue Jackets play in an arena that's filled much more regularly than the Coyotes were toward the end of their run in Arizona, and their financial situation is more stable as well.

But as for the rest… Jimmy Murphy doesn't seem to be far off the mark when he says that.


In a nutshell

– Well…

– Oh, really?

– Ark.

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