The Columbus Blue Jackets held a panel a few weeks ago in Cleveland for fans of their AHL team, the Cleveland Monsters.
The Monsters are coming off a Calder Cup championship season, the first in franchise history. It was the first AHL championship in Cleveland since 1964, and Game 4 of the finals sweep was played in front of a sellout crowd of 19,665, the second-largest crowd in the history of the Calder Cup playoffs. So yeah, the fans got into it.
One of the fans asked Columbus assistant general manager Bill Zito, who runs the Monsters for the Blue Jackets, for the one thing Zito did that had the biggest impact on the success of the team.
Zito thought a moment, and then answered.
“I said, ‘I met a guy, and I picked up his luggage and carried it wherever he wanted. His name was Zach Werenski,’” Zito said, laughing. “He might have had something to do with it.”
Then Zito gets serious. The run of the Monsters included everything a normal championship run includes. He credited the veteran leadership on the team for creating a culture in the dressing room in which the Blue Jackets' prospects, including Werenski, could have success.
He credited the goaltenders rising to the occasion at different times during the season and the standout play of playoff MVP Oliver Bjorkstrand, who scored six game-winning goals in the playoffs.
He credited Jared Bednar and his coaching staff for the job they did behind the bench. Bednar parlayed the success into the head coaching job for the Colorado Avalanche.
“Winning the Calder Cup was a combination of the skill along with the lessons learned during the year and having some character,” Zito said when we chatted on Tuesday.
The reason we were chatting was because the parent club of this Monsters team is now turning in a monster season of its own. The Blue Jackets are on a four-game winning streak and have climbed their way to the No. 4 spot overall in the Eastern Conference. Werenski, very much in another Calder race this season (for the Calder Trophy as the NHL's top rookie), is a big reason for that once again.
But the Blue Jackets success also prompts the question: How much of a bump does a team get after its AHL affiliate wins it all?
I posed that question to Zito, who thought a moment.
“I don’t know,” he answered. “I know that it helped the young players a lot. I do believe in the correlation of winners and winning culture and a buy-in and an understanding of the team concept and an understanding of doing your role as well as you can.”
Those are all attributes of a championship team at any level. And while the championship culture is important, the ultimate goal is to get an AHL team that is consistently developing NHL-ready players.
“The most important thing is to have a consistently good team where your organization feeds from the minors to the NHL from a talent standpoint,” Zito said. “You don’t hope we’re going to get Cleveland rocking and that’s [by itself] going to help Columbus. It’s, ‘Can you teach, develop and make guys better and get them to Columbus at the right time?’ Not the fastest time; not the slowest time; at the right time.”
Werenski has been a key contributor to the Blue Jackets' success, but the other key is how much deeper the Blue Jackets have become as their young players drafted under GM Jarmo Kekalainen emerge. It’s reflected in the possession numbers of the top six and bottom six.
In data compiled by analytics executive Tyler Dellow, the possession gap between the Blue Jackets' top- and bottom-six forwards through November was relatively small. The top six controlled 50.3 percent of the even-strength shot attempts, while the bottom six is at 48.8 percent. That bottom-six percentage was better than other playoff contenders like the Montreal Canadiens (48.0 percent), New York Rangers (43.6), Anaheim Ducks (44.9), Ottawa Senators (46.0) and Dallas Stars (44.6), among others.
Presumably during the win streak, those numbers have gotten even better for the Blue Jackets.
So there appears to be a payoff, but it’s early on in the process. The better examination would be of Calder Cup winners in which the contributing players have had more time to make an impact at the NHL level. Here’s a look at the most recent five Calder Cup winners, and the bump (if any) the NHL team received in the following seasons. Points-per-game data comes via SportingCharts.com.
2016: Lake Erie Monsters
NHL affiliate: Columbus Blue Jackets
Previous season point total: 76
Previous season points per game: 0.93
Following season points per game: 1.42 (projects to 116 points)
Note: Big jump so far from the Blue Jackets, but we’re guessing they don’t get to 116 points.
2015: Manchester Monarchs
NHL affiliate: Los Angeles Kings
Previous season point total: 95
Previous season points per game: 1.16
Following season point total: 102
Following season points per game: 1.24
Note: The Kings got a bump, but it was probably more a reflection of a good NHL roster bouncing back from a down season. Still, the experience was good for players like Derek Forbort and Nick Shore. Both players have been regulars for the Kings this season.
2014: Texas Stars
NHL affiliate: Dallas Stars
Previous season point total: 91
Previous season points per game: 1.11
Following season point total: 92
Following season points per game: 1.12
Two seasons later: 109
Two seasons later: 1.33
Note: The Stars seemed to get their Calder bump two seasons later, and the young players continue to help fill out the Stars' lineup as GM Jim Nill’s draft-and-develop philosophy matures in Dallas. This AHL champion team had players like Radek Faksa, Jamie Oleksiak and Patrik Nemeth, all of whom are making NHL contributions this season.
2013: Grand Rapids Griffins
NHL affiliate: Detroit Red Wings
Previous season point total: 56 (lockout-shortened)
Previous season points per game: 1.17
Following season point total: 93
Following season point per game: 1.13
Two seasons later: 100
Two seasons later: 1.22
Note: This Calder Cup team is a big part of the Red Wings' identity right now. It featured current Red Wings regulars like Gustav Nyquist, Tomas Tatar, Riley Sheahan, Tomas Jurco, Luke Glendening and Petr Mrazek. It also produced the Red Wings' current head coach, Jeff Blashill. Again, the bump seemed to come two seasons after the Calder championship.
2012: Norfolk Admirals
NHL affiliate: Tampa Bay Lightning
Previous season point total: 84
Previous season points per game: 1.02
Following season point total: 40 (lockout-shortened)
Following season points per game: 0.83
Two seasons later: 101
Two seasons later: 1.23
Note: This team is now the heart and soul of the Stanley Cup-contending Lightning, from head coach Jon Cooper right on down. Tyler Johnson, Ondrej Palat and Alex Killorn were key contributors, and two seasons after the Lightning won this AHL title, the team had 101 points.