2015–16 Columbus Blue Jackets season
The 2015–16 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the 16th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997. Columbus hired head coach John Tortorella following the firing of Todd Richards, who started the season 0–8–0. The team began its regular season games on October 9, 2015 against the New York Rangers.
Regular season
After a seven game losing streak to start the season, the Blue Jackets fired head coach Todd Richards and hired John Tortorella on October 21.Standings
Schedule and results
Pre-season
Regular season
Player statistics
Final stats;Skaters
| Player | ||||||
| 78 | 31 | 22 | 53 | 1 | 14 | |
| 81 | 27 | 26 | 53 | −8 | 22 | |
| 82 | 30 | 19 | 49 | −15 | 77 | |
| 79 | 23 | 26 | 49 | −11 | 112 | |
| 75 | 17 | 31 | 48 | −16 | 71 | |
| 69 | 8 | 32 | 40 | −1 | 2 | |
| 72 | 12 | 25 | 37 | −14 | 53 | |
| ‡ | 38 | 6 | 20 | 26 | −4 | 25 |
| 65 | 4 | 21 | 25 | −7 | 45 | |
| 82 | 4 | 21 | 25 | −10 | 40 | |
| 73 | 11 | 13 | 24 | 1 | 51 | |
| 81 | 9 | 11 | 20 | −9 | 6 | |
| † | 41 | 2 | 18 | 20 | −9 | 12 |
| 60 | 6 | 8 | 14 | −16 | 25 | |
| 82 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −6 | 78 | |
| 64 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −6 | 102 | |
| 32 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 5 | 15 | |
| 12 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 0 | |
| 49 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −9 | 38 | |
| 43 | 1 | 7 | 8 | −3 | 20 | |
| ‡ | 27 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 21 |
| 23 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −8 | 23 | |
| 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 2 | |
| 24 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 17 | |
| 61 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −6 | 28 | |
| 30 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −3 | 61 | |
| 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| ‡ | 16 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −6 | 8 |
| 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 | |
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | |
| 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 | |
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
;Goaltenders
| Player | ||||||||||||||
| 37 | 37 | 2,116 | 15 | 19 | 1 | 97 | 2.75 | 1049 | .908 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | |
| 31 | 30 | 1,803 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 78 | 2.60 | 969 | .920 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| 18 | 12 | 835 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 46 | 3.31 | 417 | .890 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 3 | 178 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 3.03 | 97 | .907 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Blue Jackets. Statistics reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.
‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Statistics reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.
Roster
Suspensions/fines
Awards and honours
Awards
| Player | Award | Awarded |
| NHL All-Star game selection | January 6, 2016 | |
| NHL Second Star of the Week | February 1, 2016 |
Milestones
| Player | Milestone | Reached |
| 600th career NHL point | October 16, 2015 | |
| 200th career NHL game | November 3, 2015 | |
| 100th career NHL assist | November 3, 2015 | |
| 500th career NHL game | November 17, 2015 | |
| 100th career NHL game | November 22, 2015 | |
| 1st career NHL game | November 28, 2015 | |
| R. Johansen | 300th career NHL game | December 12, 2015 |
| 600th career NHL game | December 12, 2015 | |
| 1st career NHL game | December 14, 2015 | |
| J. Korpisalo | 1st career NHL win | December 19, 2015 |
Transactions
The Blue Jackets have been involved in the following transactions during the 2015–16 season.Trades
Free agents acquired
Free agents lost
Claimed via waivers
Lost via waivers
Player signings
Draft picks
Below are the Columbus Blue Jackets' selections at the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, to be held on June 26–27, 2015 at the BB&T Center in Sunrise, Florida.| Round | # | Player | Pos | Nationality | College/junior/club team |
| 1 | 8 | Zach Werenski | D | United States | University of Michigan |
| 1 | 29 | Gabriel Carlsson | D | Sweden | Linkopings HC |
| 2 | 38 | Paul Bittner | LW | United States | Portland Winterhawks |
| 2 | 58 | Kevin Stenlund | C | Sweden | HV71 J20 |
| 3 | 69 | Keegan Kolesar | RW | Canada | Seattle Thunderbirds |
| 5 | 129 | Sam Ruopp | D | Canada | Prince George Cougars |
| 5 | 141 | Veeti Vainio | D | Finland | Espoo Blues Jr. |
| 6 | 159 | Vladislav Gavrikov | D | Russia | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl |
| 7 | 189 | Markus Nutivaara | D | Finland | Oulun Kärpät |
;Draft notes
- The Tampa Bay Lightning's first-round pick went to the Columbus Blue Jackets as the result of a trade on June 26, 2015 that sent Toronto's second-round pick in 2015 and Philadelphia's third-round pick in 2015 to Toronto in exchange for this pick.
- :Toronto previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 26, 2015 that sent Nashville's first-round pick in 2015 to Philadelphia in exchange for Chicago's second-round pick in 2015 and this pick.
- :Philadelphia previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on March 2, 2015 that sent Braydon Coburn to Tampa Bay in exchange for Radko Gudas, a third-round pick in 2015 and this pick. The condition – Philadelphia will receive the Lightning's first-round draft pick in 2015 if it is not the first overall selection – was converted on March 30, 2015 when Tampa Bay qualified for the 2015 Stanley Cup playoffs ensuring that this pick could not be a lottery selection.
- The Anaheim Ducks' second-round pick went to the Columbus Blue Jackets as the result of a trade on March 2, 2015 that sent James Wisniewski and Detroit's third-round pick in 2015 to Anaheim in exchange for Rene Bourque, William Karlsson and this pick.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets' fourth-round pick went to the Los Angeles Kings as the result of a trade on June 27, 2015 that sent a fourth-round pick in 2015 and a sixth-round pick in 2016 to Philadelphia in exchange for this pick.
- :Philadelphia previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 23, 2014 that sent Scott Hartnell to Columbus in exchange for R.J. Umberger and this pick.
- The Minnesota Wild's fifth-round pick went to the Columbus Blue Jackets as the result of a trade on March 2, 2015 that sent Jordan Leopold to Minnesota in exchange for Justin Falk and this pick.