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Columbus Blue Jackets
Overall: 63
Title track: 110
Ownership: 69
Coaching: 56
Players: 102
Fan relations: 52
Affordability: 53
Stadium experience: 8
Bang for the buck: 55
Change from last year: -44
Just a year ago, even despite never having won a playoff series, the Blue Jackets were a top-20 franchise in these rankings. This time around, they took big steps backward in six of the eight categories. Columbus is now the second-lowest-ranked team in Ohio, but, as many an NFL team has proved, pretty much anyone can beat the Cleveland Browns.
What's good
Despite having the fourth-lowest average attendance per game in the NHL, Columbus rose in the stadium experience rankings all the way to the top 10. Attendees are big fans of Nationwide Arena (and its super-cheap concessions and $7 parking, lowest in the league). The Blue Jackets also made a coaching upgrade in 2015 by bringing in John Tortorella after an 0-7-0 start to the season (he ranks 56th now). The team finished the season at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division, but Tortorella's teams have qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs eight times -- that's six more than Columbus has as a franchise.
What's bad
Columbus' massive regression from wild-card team in 2014 to the worst in its group last year can no longer be attributed solely to injuries or youth and inexperience. Fans clearly blame the roster to at least some degree, dropping the players ranking 56 spots, to 102nd. Soon, the Blue Jackets will start the rebuilding process all over again. Columbus will rely on draft picks (Pierre-Luc Dubois) and AHL call-ups (Zach Werenski) as some of its premier players this season. If those two can't produce and the offense regresses, it'll be another bottom-feeding season for a team that's barely touched the postseason in its nearly 20-year history (see: title track, at 110th).
What's new
As the win total fell, so did the bang fans got for their buck from the Blue Jackets. The team still has one of the cheapest tickets in hockey, and it beats the average price of a game across the league by more than $20. Still, prices across many NHL franchises fell this past year, and Columbus slipped from the second-most-affordable game to fourth. The change was relative, but in a tough market already for ticket prices, it dropped the Blue Jackets 30 spots in affordability -- as if a tough-luck team needs to give fans more reasons to stay home.
Next: Winnipeg Jets | Full rankings