Two Quebec head coaches, Pascal Vincent and André Tourigny, live two very different realities despite a context that should nevertheless be similar.
Vincent’s Columbus Blue Jackets finished 31e21e and 28e in the general classification for the last three years. Tourigny’s Arizona Coyotes ranked 27e31e and 22e during the same period.
Columbus and Arizona have the two youngest clubs in the NHL after Buffalo and Montreal, with respective averages of 25.8 years for the Jackets and 26.2 years for the Coyotes.
They have two centers aged 23 or younger in their first three lines, Barrett Hayton and Logan Cooley. The Blue Jackets have five forwards under 23 in their top 9 : Yegor Chinakhov, Dmitri Voronkov, Adam Fantilli, Kirill Marchenko and Cole Sillinger.
And yet, at the start of the season, Columbus Blue Jackets president John Davidson and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen insisted on the importance of making a significant jump in the standings. The CEO of the Coyotes, Bill Armstrong, gave a more sober speech, contenting himself with hoping for progress in the development of his young group.
Columbus also gave up first-round picks in 2023 this summer (22e in total) and second round in 2024 or 2025 to obtain Ivan Provorov and granted 50 million for eight years to Damon Severson, relegated to the third pair in New Jersey, in order to improve the team’s defense.
The Coyotes were wiser. They gave up a second-round pick to the Kings for 24-year-old defenseman Sean Durzi and hired 29-year-old Matt Dumba for just one year for $3.9 million.
The Coyotes beat the Blue Jackets 3-2 on Thursday night. It was a seventh consecutive loss for Columbus, an eleventh defeat in twelve games. The Blue Jackets languish in last place in the Eastern Conference, at 28e overall ranking with a record of 4-9-4.
André Tourigny’s team improved its record to 8-6-2, for the 14the rank in the general classification, the last team qualified for the playoffs in the West ahead of the St. Louis Blues, six points more than their opponents on Thursday, with one more game to play.
Poor Pascal Vincent is doing his best to get the best out of his players. Johnny Gaudreau, 30, six points, including one goal, in 17 games, with an annual salary of 9.7 million until 2029, was benched with a little more than six minutes to go Thursday. The other star, Patrik Laine, three points in eight games, did not touch the ice from the 11e minute in third. It affects 8.7 million per year.
It still took audacity to to punish thus Gaudreau since it was an evening where spectators were given a figurine bearing his likeness.
The two best scorers for the Blue Jackets play defense. Zach Werenski and Ivan Provorov each have ten points. Columbus is the only NHL team without a forward to have reached the ten-point mark. The Coyotes have six.
If the trend continues, the Blue Jackets may draft in the top 6 for the fourth year in a row. But senior management may no longer be there in June…
Quote of the day
PHOTO JAMES GUILLORY, USA TODAY SPORTS VIA REUTERS CON
Jesperi Kotkaniemi
He has acquired a lot of maturity. He was still a child when he arrived. The growth is incredible between the ages of 19 and 22. Young people become stronger naturally, no longer feeling the effects of rigorous training. This is what you see. Additionally, their understanding of the game improves. You don’t understand when you first start. It takes a lot of repetition to understand. He’s still going through this process, but he’s getting better at it and he wants to progress.
Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour on Jesperi Kotkaniemi, 13 points in 16 games this season, the Hurricanes’ leading scorer on par with Sebastian Aho, in three more games though. Another proof that patience remains a great virtue in the world of sport.