A total of 7 players have worn jersey #9 since the start of the franchise.
We're down to single digits.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have had many players don the Union Blue in its history. The #9 has only been worn a handful of times though.
Let's look at the players that have worn the number.
Who Wore It First?
- David Výborný - Výborný played 543 NHL games, all with the Blue Jackets. After leaving North America in 2008, he captained HC Sparta Praha and BK Mladá Boleslav until 2016 when he retired.
Who Wore It Last?
- Ivan Provorov - Provorov played 82 games in his first year as a Jacket, scoring 5 goals and totaling 32 points. He's going into the final year of his contract and is expected to be traded at some point during the season. Provorov had a fine first year as a Blue Jacket.
Who Wore It Best?
- David Výborný - When I judge who wore it best, it goes to the player who had the most points during his time in Columbus. So with that being said, Výborný had 113 goals and 317 points, averaging 48 points per 82 games. Had Výborný stayed with the Jackets, he may have been the best player, points-wise to ever play at Nationwide Arena.
Others That Have Worn #9
- Colton Gillies - Gillies played 65 games as a Jacket and had 8 points. He never played another NHL game after Columbus and left for Europe in 2015, where he retired in 2020 after spending four years in the KHL.
- Jeremy Morin - Morin played 28 games for Columbus and totaled six points. He retired in 2019.
- Gregory Campbell - Campbell played 82 for the Jackets and had 11 points. He went into coaching after retiring in 2016. He spent three years coaching in the Columbus organization before leaving for the Florida Panthers. He's currently the GM for the Charlotte Checkers and AGM of the Florida Panthers.
- Artemi Panarin - Panarin played 160 games for the CBJ before bolting for the bright lights of NYC. He scored 55 goals and totaled 169 points in two seasons. He would've been the greatest player to ever wear a CBJ uniform had he stayed in Columbus. He had no designs on signing with Columbus in 2019.
- Mikko Koivu - Koivu only played 7 games for Columbus at 37 years of age. He had two total points in those seven games. He would choose to retire during his season with the Jackets after playing 1,035 NHL games.
There are 9 days left until opening night at Nationwide Arena.
Who is your favorite #9? Please share your thoughts on our forum.
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