The Columbus Blue Jackets are one of the youngest teams in the NHL, having entered the league as an expansion team for the 2000-01 season. Even in their mid 20s, the Blue Jackets are still feeling growing pains.
Though the Jackets have earned just six playoff berths in their 24 seasons, plenty of fine players have passed through Columbus. BetOhio.com, your home for the best Ohio sportsbook promotions, assembled this list of the best Blue Jackets players since the franchise was founded, with our methodology explained below.
Player | Years With Team | Quarter-Century Point Shares |
Boone Jenner | 2013-Present | 36.7 |
RJ Umberger | 2008-2014 | 24.8 |
Ryan Johansen | 2011-2016 | 21.1 |
Brandon Dubinsky | 2012-2019 | 20.5 |
We put together a roster just as a team would for a typical game – with 12 forwards (four at each position), six defensemen and two goaltenders. The quarter-century point shares are according to the Hockey Reference website.
Among centers, veteran Boone Jenner (on left in photo) tops our list of top Blue Jackets with 36.7 point shares in 12 NHL seasons, all spent in Ohio’s capital city. He was named an All-Star for the first time last season, but a shoulder injury and subsequent surgery limited him to 26 games in 2024-25.
The Blue Jackets barely missed the playoffs this season after entering with +1400 Ohio sports betting odds of making the playoffs and -5000 to miss, according to SportsOddsHistory.com data.
Player | Years With Team | Quarter-Century Point Shares |
Rick Nash | 2002-2012 | 65.9 |
Nick Foligno | 2012-2021 | 34.9 |
Geoff Sanderson | 2000-2006 | 20.1 |
Artemi Panarin | 2015-2019 | 19.1 |
Rick Nash recorded the most point shares among all forwards (in fact, among all skaters) in Blue Jackets history, according to hockey-reference.com. In his Jackets tenure, from 2002-12, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2002 NHL Draft amassed 289 goals and 547 points, both franchise records that still stand. Nash led the league with 41 goals in his second season, 2003-04, at age 19. He joined the New York Rangers after the 2011-12 season and wound up with 437 goals in 1060 career games with three teams.
Nick Foligno (34.9 point shares from 2012 to 2021) was the longest-serving captain is team history, wearing the “C” for six years until he signed with the Boston Bruins as a free agent in 2021.
Player | Years With Team | Quarter-Century Point Shares |
Cam Atkinson | 2011-2021 | 48.8 |
David Vyborny | 2000-2008 | 28.9 |
Oliver Bjorkstrand | 2015-2022 | 24.7 |
Nikolai Zherdev | 2003-2008 | 17.4 |
Shortly after Nash left, Cam Atkinson stepped up and filled the scoring void in Columbus. Atkinson had six consecutive 20-goal seasons for the Jackets from 2013-14 to 2018-19, including a 41-goal campaign in 2018-19. That season, he earned his second All-Star selection, then had two goals and two assists in Columbus’ shocking first-round series sweep of the Presidents’ Trophy winning Tampa Bay Lightning, the first series win in Jackets franchise history. The next time Columbus makes the playoffs, Ohio sportsbook apps should see plenty of NHL wagering action.
Player | Years With Team | Quarter-Century Point Shares |
Zach Werenski | 2016-Present | 61.8 |
Seth Jones | 2016-2021 | 37.9 |
David Savard | 2011-2021 | 35.5 |
Fedor Tyutin | 2008-2016 | 34.0 |
Rostislav Klesla | 2000-2011 | 28.3 |
Jack Johnson | 2012-2018, 2024-2025 | 28.0 |
Aside from Jenner, the only active player on our list is defenseman Zach Werenski, with 61.8 career win shares since his NHL debut in 2016. Jenner has been captain since 2021-22 and Werenski (on right in photo) has been one of the alternate captains that whole time. Werenski, a Michigan native, was on the NHL All-Rookie team in 2016-17 and has been named an All-Star twice. He is the team record holder for career in assists (271) and has the most goals by a defenseman (113) in franchise history.
Seth Jones (Florida Panthers) and David Savard (Montreal Canadiens) are currently in the playoffs. At bet365 Sportsbook Ohio, Florida is one of the Stanley Cup favorites at +600 odds while the Canadiens (+7000) are one of the longest shots.
Player | Years With Team | Quarter-Century Point Shares |
Sergei Bobrovsky | 2012-2019 | 75.3 |
Marc Denis | 2000-2006 | 46.7 |
The franchise’s overall leader in win shares hit his stride during his tenure in Columbus and has gone on to a glittering NHL career. That’s Sergei Bobrovsky, who had 75.3 win shares for the Blue Jackets between 2012 and 2019. He owns franchise records in almost every major goaltending category, including wins (213), save percentage (.921) and goals against average (2.41) and led the team to five playoff berths before leaving to join the Florida Panthers as a free agent in 2019. Bobrovsky won a Stanley Cup with the Panthers last season and is still their No. 1 goalie at age 36.
Check out our list of most forgotten NHL draft picks in Jackets history for more hockey coverage at BetOhio.com.
USA Today photo by Aaron Doster
Author
Ohio native Jim Tomlin has 30 years of experience in journalism, mostly in sports. He lends his expertise to BetOhio.com as a writer and editor after previous experience at the Tampa Bay Times, FanRag, Saturday Down South and Saturday Tradition.
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