Columbus Blue Jackets 2023 Stanley Cup Championship Odds

Even though they missed the playoffs for the second straight season, the 2021-22 Columbus Blue Jackets outperformed expectations.

The Jackets finished the year at 37-38-7 and earned 81 points, finishing well above the 76.5 points they were pegged at before the season started. Yet their surprising finish last year isn’t enough to warrant serious Cup consideration in 2022-23.

Columbus’ early 2023 Stanley Cup odds are nowhere near where fans want to be. In fact, only one team in the entire league is a bigger longshot to raise next year’s Cup.

Blue Jackets +10000 to win the 2023 Stanley Cup

By the time the regular season concluded, 11 teams had finished with fewer points than the Blue Jackets. However, that means very little for next year’s title odds.

Columbus is listed at +10000 to win the 2023 Stanley Cup. That’s tied for the second-smallest odds with the Montreal Canadiens, who had a league-low 55 points and own the first-overall pick in this year’s NHL draft. Only the Arizona Coyotes, who finished with 57 points and are moving to a college arena in the fall, have worse odds at a whopping +50000. You can check out the rest of the 2023 Stanley Cup betting odds here.

Nine other clubs that Columbus surpassed last season are considered greater Cup contenders next spring. The two with the highest odds are the New Jersey Devils and Philadelphia Flyers, who each sit at +5000 despite having 63 and 61 points, respectively. Even the expansion Seattle Kraken, who totaled 60 points in their debut campaign, enter next year with +6000 odds.

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Blue Jackets Odds: Reasonable or Unfair?

Head coach Brad Larsen did a bang-up job in his first season behind the bench and will return for an encore. As of now, Columbus also returns veterans Jakub Voracek, Gustav Nyquist, and captain Boone Jenner, as well as youngsters like Cole Sillinger, Kent Johnson, and Adam Boqvist. However, there are plenty of questions facing the Blue Jackets.

One issue is the future of star winger Patrik Laine. After completing his second season in Columbus, Laine is a restricted free agent. All signs point to the 24-year-old working out a long-term extension, but the years and AAV could force the Jackets to make some tough roster decisions elsewhere.

Assuming Laine returns, Columbus has a plethora of forwards signed for next season. GM Jarmo Kekalainen may want to consider moving a vet or two to clear some space for a youngster like Johnson or Liam Foudy to earn a full-time spot in the lineup. The Blue Jackets could also dangle a forward to bolster their bottom-five defense.

Columbus also has the draft circled on its schedule. The Blue Jackets have seven picks next month in Montreal, though none more significant than the sixth- and 12th-overall picks they’ll make in the first round.

So what does all of this mean for the Blue Jackets’ Stanley Cup odds? Re-signing Laine may result in a slight boost, but Columbus will likely spend the offseason moving on from a few higher-priced vets in favor of young talent. This means a small decline now in favor of sustained success later on.

All in all, this is a club that was a little fortunate to cross the 80-point threshold in 2021-22. But that doesn’t mean they’re going to one of the league’s cellar-dwellers next season. Assuming the talented youngsters continue to progress and Jarmo finds a way to improve the defense, the Blue Jackets should be much closer to the +6000-7500 range instead.