Years of irrelevance has given way to more meaningful hockey for the Columbus Blue Jackets. They have not firmly entrenched themselves in the NHL‘s contender circle, but they’ve grabbed three playoff berths over the past five seasons.
This year, the Blue Jackets seem primed for another trip to the postseason. They sit near the top of Metropolitan Division and once again have one of the league’s most potent offensive attacks at their disposal.
Whether this translates to Stanley Cup contention is another matter. Some of the advanced metrics don’t view the Blue Jackets too favorably. But in the NHL, merely reaching the playoffs is half the battle. Get there, and the low-scoring nature of the sport gives you an outside crack at a Cinderella story.
Columbus Blue Jackets Next Game
Stay up to date on the Blue Jackets’ most current betting lines by checking out their next opponent. Even if your due diligence is coming before game odds drop, knowing who they’ll play—and where they’ll play them—allows you to start comparing and contrasting rosters. This should give you an idea of how to bet one the lines become official.
Columbus Blue Jackets Regular Season Schedule
Reviewing the Blue Jackets’ entire regular-season schedule is paramount to planning ahead. Never mind game lines. You won’t have access to those weeks in advance. But you can suss out potential pitfalls and opportunities in their lineup.
Always be on the lookout for long home stands, extend road trips, back-to-backs and a stretch of games that pits them against above-.500 opponents. They impact have a meaningful impact on the outcomes of games.
Back-to-backs and stretches of four games in five nights are particularly dangerous. Players are fatigued. And given that the Blue Jackets run one of the league’s higher-octane offenses, they’re more likely to exhaust themselves during jam-packed spots in their schedule than those who play at slower paces.
Columbus Blue Jackets Standings
By staying on top of the Blue Jackets’ place in the standings, you can get an idea of how close they are to contending for a Stanley Cup title. If their winning percentage is close to that of a known contender like the Tampa Bay Lightning or Toronto Maple Leafs, they might be worth a futures investment.
Since they’re holding their own in the brutal Metropolitan division, you’ll want to consider them at least a quasi-contender. This also means their odds will fluctuate more with each win and loss, making it that much more important to monitor their spot in the standings.
Columbus Blue Jackets Online Betting Tips
If you're looking to get a feel for the Jackets' betting appeal during the 2018-19 season, we have some tips for you keep in mind.
Offense, Offense, Offense
Over the past couple of seasons, the Blue Jackets have cobbled together one of the NHL's most unstoppable scoring machines.
Few teams have the scoring and passing depth they boast on their roster. Right wing Cam Atkinson, left wing Artemi Panarin and center Pierre Luc-Dubois are all on pace to eclipse 75 points for the season. For the record: That's nuts.
Columbus is also eighth in the league in total goals scored and seventh in shooting percentage. They have, time and again, shot their way into many victories. Their 57.6 percent record against the spread is one of the NHL's best and most certainly worth making a part of your nightly specials.
Are The Blue Jackets Stanle Cup Contenders?
For now, the answer to this question is...sort of.
On some level, the Blue Jackets still seem to be a year or two away. They need to shore up some of their defensive tendencies and their point differential falls well short of elite.
At the same time, it's hard not to take them seriously. That they've won so many close games is a harbinger of progress. You want that kind of poise under pressure in a postseason setting.
Winning so many tightly contested games during the regular season, though, can wreak havoc on their stamina. They're going to spend so much time closing out certain tilts and maintaining their ground in the Metropolitan Division that they won't be at full strength or even the top of their game this spring.
If you can get longer-shot odds on them, they're worth an extensive look. Thus far, sportsbooks have put them somewhere between +2500 and +3500—a pretty wild swing. Wait out their lines until they enter the +3000 range before throwing your money into the ring.
Should they reach the playoffs as a higher seed in the Eastern Conference and you haven't yet placed a bet in the Stanley Cup stock, that would also be a good time to do so.
Look below for the top sportsbooks so you can see where you can wager online and figure out which is best for you:
