Gudbranson: Blue Jackets ‘still bitter’ about missing playoffs
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It’s been three months since the end of the 2024-25 regular season and the Columbus Blue Jackets are still thinking about what could’ve been.
After finishing last in the Metropolitan Division the previous two seasons, the Blue Jackets were firmly in the playoff hunt last year.
They were in it until the final games of the season, but the Montreal Canadiens edged them out by two points for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. '
Blue Jackets defenceman Erik Gudbranson missed all but 16 games last season with a shoulder injury after getting hurt in Columbus’ third game against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 15 and did not return to the lineup until March 24. He made it back in time for the last push for a playoff spot but it wasn't enough.
“We’re still bitter about how our season ended,” Gudbranson told NHL.com on Monday. “We felt like we should have got in. We left some doors open we should have closed. From an honest way, we were looking at that as we kind of shot ourselves in the foot here and there, but that still very much burns throughout the summer. Guys are attacking their summers very purposefully this year.”
Playing with heavy hearts after the tragic deaths of star forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew on Aug. 29, Gudbranson said it changed how the team treated one another.
“Within the dressing room, with everything that happened with the Gaudreaus, we were just flat-out better people to each other,” Gudbranson said. “Not to say we were bad previously, but that brought in a culture of caring and just being better teammates. That obviously translated on the ice. We were just better people all around.”
Centre Sean Monahan, a close friend of Gaudreau, took home the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy this season and was surprised with the award by Gaudreau’s widow, Meredith.
"Winning that Bill Masterton Trophy means a lot to me," Monahan said on June 5. "It's a real big honour. It's a lot of special names on that trophy and the meaning behind it is something I take great pride in in day-to-day life being on a team, being a father, a husband. It's a special thing and obviously fresh right now, but something I'm definitely going to be reflecting on a lot."
On the ice, several Blue Jackets players took steps forward under head coach Dean Evason, who was hired last off-season.
Defenceman Zach Werenski had a career season with 23 goals and 82 points in 81 games and finished second in Norris Trophy voting while winger Kirill Marchenko finished second in team scoring with 31 goals and 74 points.
Forward Kent Johnson, the No. 5 pick in 2021, broke out with 24 goals and 57 points while centre Adam Fantilli, the No. 3 pick in the 2023 draft, had 31 goals and 54 points in 82 games.
“We played a lot better than we had in previous years and that goes to our attention to detail and just the growth of the group,” Gudbranson said. “Our new coaching staff led by Dean were not hard on us, but very direct and we were purposeful in how we attacked every single day and that made a difference. We got something out of every day this year. Me and Boone weren’t [on the ice] for a long portion of it but we were seeing it.”