The Blue Jackets have only had two players wear No. 54, and neither has been on the roster since 2019.
One of them was Scott Harrington, whose Columbus run stretched across 185 games after the Jackets acquired him from Toronto with a conditional pick in the 2017 NHL Draft for Kerby Rychel on June 25, 2016. His time with the club was spread over six seasons, and 2018-19 was his busiest year with 73 games. Harrington scored 7 goals and finished with 37 points in his Blue Jackets career, including a personal best of 17 points in 2018-19.
He also spent time with the Cleveland Monsters during his Columbus years, appearing in 52 games and recording 7 points.
After Columbus, Harrington’s path kept moving. He signed with San Jose in 2022, was traded to New Jersey in February of 2023, and then hit waivers a few days later before Anaheim claimed him.
He played 17 games there. In 2023, Harrington headed to Europe and joined the ZSC Lions of the Swiss League, where he played just 14 games in 23-24.
He then returned to North America for the 24-25 season with the Springfield Thunderbirds of the AHL. Last season, he played for the Belleville Senators, posted 19 points in 69 games, and is signed to play for Belleville again this year.
The other Blue Jackets player to wear the number was Adam McQuaid, though Columbus drafted him in the second round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft without him ever playing for the club at the time. While he was still in the OHL, the Jackets traded him to Boston on May 16, 2007 for Boston’s 5th-round pick in the 2007 NHL Draft. That pick eventually became Jamie Benn.
McQuaid spent nine seasons in Boston before going to the Rangers in 2018. Then, in 2019, New York dealt him to Columbus as the Jackets chased a playoff push.
He appeared in 14 games before an injury brought his career to a close. On March 28, 2019, Montreal’s Andrew Shaw delivered a blindside shot that ended McQuaid’s season and, ultimately, his playing days.
Speaking to The Athletic, McQuaid said, “I definitely wasn’t in a good place physically. Then it weighed on me mentally.
I wasn’t feeling like myself. I had many injuries throughout my career, unfortunately.
That became part of my story. I look at it more as having overcome different injuries, come back, try to play the same way, and not have it affect my outlook on playing.
But I was probably at a point where I had the most going on. I had so many different things that were really nagging me.
I felt like I wanted to give more. But you hear guys say that they’re asking their bodies to do things and just not getting the response they want.”
McQuaid finished with 73 points and one Stanley Cup.
So with 54 days left until opening night at NWA, the Blue Jackets’ No. 54 history comes down to Harrington and McQuaid. Who was your favorite #54?
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