The Columbus Blue Jackets are the 4th youngest team in the NHL

jason newland

Fri, Aug 23, 2024, 10:03 a.m.·4 min read

The announcement on Wednesday that Cole Sillinger was signed to a two-year contract all but solidifies the 2024-25 Columbus Blue Jackets roster. Obviously, Don Waddell can still make changes, but who you see today is pretty much who you could see on opening night.

The CBJ are young, but for a rebuilding franchise, it's no surprise. But just how young are they, and where do they rank?

Let's look at the Top 5 youngest teams in the league by age.

Buffalo Sabres - Avg Age - 25.38 - Game Exp; 5,912 games - Haven't made the playoffs since 2011.
Montréal Canadiens - Avg Age - 25.50 - Game Exp; 6,357 games - Last made the playoffs in 2021 where they lost the Stanley Cup Final.
Utah Hockey Club - Avg Age - 26.17 - Game Exp; 6,367 games - Last made the playoffs in 2020. Have missed the playoffs in 11 of the last 12 seasons.
Columbus Blue Jackets - Avg Age - 26.45 - Game Exp; 7,973 games - Haven't made the playoffs since 2020. Missed 4 of the last 8 playoff seasons.
Anaheim Ducks - Avg Age - 26.48 - Game Exp; 7,897 games - Missed the last 6 playoff seasons.

Here are the Top 5 oldest teams in the league by age.

Edmonton Oilers - Avg Age - 30.27 - Game Exp; 12,611 games - Made playoffs 6 out of the last 8 years.
Nashville Predators - Avg Age - 29.60 - Game Exp; 9,722 games - Made playoffs 9 out of the last 10 years.
Pittsburgh Penguins - Avg Age - 29.38 - Game Exp; 12,684 games - Made playoffs 16 of the last 18 years and won 3 Stanley Cups.
Detroit Red Wings - Avg Age - 29.24 - Game Exp; 9,599 games - Missed the playoffs the last 8 years.
Carolina Hurricanes - Avg Age - 29.17 - Game Exp; 11,155 - Made playoffs the last 6 years.

As you can see from the above numbers, there is a large gap between the top five and bottom five teams in terms of age and experience. Detroit is a bit of a weird one considering they're still trying to rebuild but are one of the oldest teams.

The youngest team(s) to win a Stanley Cup are the 2008-09 Pittsburgh Penguins, who tied with the 2009-10 Chicago Blackhawks with an average age of 26.6. Both teams had generational talents in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Patrick Kane, and Jonathan Toews, which makes a huge difference. Last season's Florida Panthers were the 4th oldest team to win a title, at 29.5. The oldest team to ever win a cup was the 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings with an average age of 32.1.

So as you can tell, it usually takes experience and/or generational talent to win in this league. The 2011-12 LA Kings didn't have either that season, but got hot and found a way to win it all with an average age of 26.7. Their highest scoring player was Anže Kopitar with 76 points.

Let's take a look at the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Oldest Player (on active roster) - Jack Johnson - 19 Yrs - 1187 Games Played

Youngest Player (on active roster) - Adam Fantilli - 1 yr - 49 Games Played

The Jackets have 9 players that have played 9 or more seasons.
They have 13 players that have played 6 seasons or less.

Is Don Waddell's plan to grow this team naturally over the next few years? Or is he going to make some moves this season and next summer to age this team into a contender?

He currently has $15,948,334 to spend. Will he save that money for next summer and make a huge splash? Will he make a move or two at this year's trade deadline to add some pieces? He can shed another $7+ million at this year's trade deadline as well.

He has a few players on this roster who would like to win before their time runs out. It's anyone's guess what he'll do, but it sure feels like the summer of 2025 is going to be massive for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts on our forum.

More From THN Columbus