The NHL’s national TV schedule is out, and the Blue Jackets got the kind of result that’s become familiar in Columbus: barely a footprint.
For the 2026/27 season, Columbus will appear just twice across TNT and ESPN combined. That puts the Blue Jackets among only two U.S.-based teams with fewer than seven national TV games.
Nashville is the only other one in that group, with three. Every other Eastern Conference team is scheduled for at least nine.
That’s the part that will hit Blue Jackets fans first. The 5th Line is going to look at that and see disrespect, and there’s a case for it. Columbus has spent the last two seasons right on the edge of the playoffs, close enough to matter but not close enough to force the league’s hand.
And that’s really the crux of it. In a small market, being interesting isn’t enough. You have to be winning.
The comparison points are right there in the Eastern Conference. Carolina, the reigning Stanley Cup champion, is set for 12 national TV appearances.
Florida, which won the two Cups before that, gets 15. Those teams didn’t get that kind of attention by accident.
They changed the way people viewed them by becoming consistent threats.
That’s the blueprint Columbus still has to follow. Fans can complain about the treatment, but the league isn’t going to rewrite the narrative just because people in Columbus are frustrated. The team has to do that itself.
If the McConnell family wants more national attention, the expectation is simple: build a better product and run it well enough to change how the franchise is seen.
Until that happens, the Blue Jackets will keep getting the same answer. And ESPN isn’t about to hand them extra airtime simply because one of its broadcasters likes the team.
That’s the hard truth. And, as the source put it, “does anyone outside of Columbus really want to watch this team play?”
Heck, some nights even a die-hard 5th Liner doesn’t.
In Other News...
Blue Jackets Suddenly Face A Marchenko Question Fans Wont Ignore
Kirill Marchenko has spent the last three seasons at the center of Columbuss scoring picture, giving the Blue Jackets a reliable offensive presence even as the roster around him has continued to evolve. Any discussion about the leagues next wave of trade chatter tends to start with players who can still move the needle, and Marchenkos name belongs in that conversation for the simple reason that he has been one of the most consistent finishers on the team.
What makes the situation worth watching is that the speculation is not limited to Columbus alone. Around the league, several notable names are being floated as possible trade candidates for the 2026-27 season, and Marchenko is part of that broader list alongside players such as Dylan Larkin, Elias Pettersson, Ryan ORielly and Connor Hellebuyck. Nothing is confirmed, but for a club trying to keep its long-term picture clear, the mere fact that a player of Marchenkos profile is drawing that kind of attention is the sort of wrinkle fans will keep circling. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets No. 36 Brings Back One Player Fans Still Lament
Jersey No. 36 has had a familiar kind of churn for the Blue Jackets, a number that has passed through several short tenures and a few different career paths since the franchises early years. The history includes players whose Columbus stays were brief, then followed by moves elsewhere in North America or stints overseas, which is part of why the number has become more of a memory bank than a permanent home.
Among the more notable names in that line is Jonathan Marchessault, whose time in the sweater still draws a reaction from fans who remember what might have been. His Columbus stop was short, but it tied the number to a player whose later rise made the early exit linger even more, and it fits the broader pattern around No. 36: a jersey that keeps resurfacing with another new chapter before the last one ever quite fades. [Read more 🡒]