Columbus Blue Jackets’ 3 Dark Horse Award Candidates in 2026-27 – The Hockey Writers – Columbus Blue Jackets

If the Columbus Blue Jackets are going to truly compete in 2026-27, they are going to need some unexpected performances from some prominent players. They are going to need an absolute breakout season from a few of their players this season, including their stars.

To understand the difference in compete level, you have to first understand the difference between truly competing for a Stanley Cup and just competing to make the playoffs. Mark Scheig wrote a great article about the differences in competing just to get in versus being a perennial contender to win a Cup. The latter is the goal for every organization, including the Blue Jackets.

I also wrote an article about three award candidates this season, and all three are not reaches to win their respective awards. However, as we both have stated, for this team to have any chance to truly compete, they will need some massive overachievers.

So, we will unpack together three dark horse candidates to win an award this season for the Blue Jackets.

Coyle Wins the Selke

This might be the most reasonable of the three we cover, just simply because he has garnered votes in the past for the Frank J. Selke Award, given to the league’s best defensive forward. Charlie Coyle has been a great defensive forward for quite some time in the league, but the 34-year-old has never won the award.

Last season wouldn’t have been the best year to award a third-line center on a team that missed the playoffs, but when you look into his metrics, it backs it up: he was a shutdown two-way center, and he played a little over 18 minutes a game.

Following his massive six-year extension, general manager (GM) Don Waddell clearly has his sights set on Coyle taking things to another level, and hopefully being well worth the contract. He has to be in consideration for a Selke for that to be the case.

He has to get closer to the trophy than 23rd place, where he finished in voting this past season, after receiving two third-place votes and three fourth-place votes. His now-teammate and former teammate with the Colorado Avalanche, Valeri Nichushkin, finished just behind him in 25th place, receiving two third-place votes and two fourth-place votes.

Coyle will need to have another great season, but based solely upon metrics, he can be labeled as one of the guys who should certainly be in the mix for this award. However, given his age and compete level of his team, it may be a challenge to get votes.

If they make a strong push this season, it will likely be due to Coyle’s excellent play, and he will likely have a shot at a Selke Trophy because of it.

Werenski Wins the Hart

Again, this is a dark horse candidacy, and if Zach Werenski can win a Norris Trophy, like he did last season, he is on the doorstep of winning a Hart Memorial Trophy for league MVP as well.

Last season, Werenski finished seventh in voting for the Hart, and with a full, healthy season and even more success on the ice, he could find himself in the thick of the MVP discussion. However, back to the original point, in order for this to be a reality, the Blue Jackets have to be competing.

Werenski finished with 10 fourth-place votes and 23 fifth-place votes. He was an absolute star last season and finally broke out and captured a Norris Trophy. However, now he needs to take that next step and separate himself from the pack.

If he were able to pull off this crazy feat, he would be the first defenseman since Chris Pronger beat out Jaromir Jagr by a single voting point back in 1999-00. This would be a difficult task to pull off.

Behind the MacKinnon and McDavid of it all, there are other names emerging in the Hart Trophy race — players who are the driving force on their respective teams.

How Celebrini, Seider, Sorokin, and Werenski are building their MVP cases this season. https://t.co/7K4kCnjd4J

— Shayna (@shaynagoldman_) January 8, 2026

As much as people may not like to admit it, the trophy is ideally given to the league MVP, and in just about any case in which the Blue Jackets would be competing for real, Werenski would have to be having a stellar season.

Werenski is going to be a popular dark horse pick, just simply based on the idea he finally got that Norris Trophy off his back, and he can finally just play and let the chips fall where they may with his future. If they can’t lock him up long-term, someone else will be more than happy to pay that price.

Werenski will be in the mix for a lot of awards, but if he can do what he did last season and be as productive all year, look out, a Hart might be in Columbus for the first time ever.

Marchenko Wins Rocket Richard

The only other award that a skater has won for the Blue Jackets other than last year’s Norris Trophy by Werenski is when Rick Nash won the Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy given to the league leader in goals, in 2003-04 when he shared it with Ilya Kovalchuk and Jarome Iginla. Could Kirill Marchenko be next in line to lead the league in goals?

Now, this is considerably the longest shot on this list, but for the skills he possesses, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing ever. He has a wicked wrist shot, can create from anywhere, and has the ability to get his shot off in a tight window – all the makings of a top goal scorer in the NHL.

Marchenko just hasn’t put everything together yet. If he can take that next step and put all the pieces of his game together, he could take a massive leap in goal scoring. The next step is seeing what that number would be.

OH MY MARCHENKO! 💥

CBJ x @FanaticsBook pic.twitter.com/Kg9g06oJsg

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 12, 2026

Three of the last five winners of the Rocket Richard Trophy have scored more than 60 goals in the season they won it, headlined by Auston Matthews with 69 in 2023-24. However, in each of the last two seasons the leaders had 52 and 53 goals, respectively. Marchenko’s career high was set in 2024-25, when he had 31.

Clearly there is a big leap that has to take place, but we have seen crazier things happen. Cole Caufield went from 28 goals in 2023-24 to 51 goals in 2025-26, which is a massive jump, and would require less of Marchenko.

Marchenko also looks too often to create for his linemates, passing on his own opportunities to score. This was something last season that head coach Rick Bowness made sure to give him the green light to shoot more, and in doing so instill confidence in his best shooter. If he can play a more selfish game and take and create more shots for himself, not in a bad way, but doing what the best shooter needs to do, it will give him a shot of being the second Blue Jacket to ever win the award.

The Blue Jackets need all three of these guys to take another big step in their game if contention for a Stanley Cup truly is the goal. Just under two months away from the start of the season, these are some guys who could be on the NHL Awards stage in June next year.