2006–07 Columbus Blue Jackets season

The 2006–07 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the sixth National Hockey League season in Columbus, Ohio.

The offseason was dominated by a contract dispute with top forward Nikolai Zherdev, who had threatened to return to Russia to play if Columbus did not meet his demands. Zherdev remained a hold out for much of the pre-season, however the two parties were able to come to an agreement about a week before the season began.

The Jackets, hoping to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, got off to a disastrous start, falling as low as 6–16–2 into December, briefly holding the worst record in the league. The Jackets poor start led General Manager Doug MacLean to fire head coach Gerard Gallant on November 13. . Gallant would be replaced a week later by veteran coach Ken Hitchcock. . Coincidentally, Hitchcock's first game as Jackets head coach would be against the Philadelphia Flyers, the team that fired him as head coach earlier in the season.

The Blue Jackets once again failed to qualify for the post-season. As the Atlanta Thrashers qualified for the playoffs in the East, the Blue Jackets were, until the 2008-09 season, the only NHL team to have never played a post-season game.

Season standings
Final regular season standings for the 2006–07 NHL season

April

 * Green background indicates win.
 * Red background indicates regulation loss.
 * White background indicates overtime/shootout loss.

Playoffs
The Blue Jackets failed to qualify for the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season. Columbus is the only current NHL team to have yet to qualify, but since they have only been in existence for six seasons, this is not considered anything outstanding.

Regular season

 * Scoring
 * Goaltending

Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = Plus/Minus; PIM = Penalty Minutes; PPG=Power-play goals; SHG=Short-handed goals; GWG=Game-winning goals MIN=Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T/OT = Ties/Overtime Losses; GA = Goals Against; GAA = Goals Against Average; SO = Shutouts; SA=Shots Against; SV=Shots saved; SV% = Save Percentage;

Transactions
The Blue Jackets have been involved in the following transactions during the 2006–07 season.

Draft picks
Columbus' picks at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Blue Jackets picked 6th overall.

Syracuse Crunch
The Syracuse Crunch are the Blue Jackets American Hockey League affiliate for the seventh season. Prior to the start of the 2006–07 season, the two clubs announced they had agreed to extend the affiliation agreement for four more years.

Dayton Bombers
The Dayton Bombers of the ECHL are also entering their seventh season as an affiliate of the Blue Jackets.

Youngstown SteelHounds
The Jackets are also affiliated with the Youngstown SteelHounds of the Central Hockey League.