Foligno, Blue Jackets captain for six seasons, could be headed out
Veteran attractive to contenders as trade deadline approaches.
Rick Nash knew the trade was a good one for the Blue Jackets.
Still the team’s captain July 1, 2012, Nash remembers his thoughts when former general manager Scott Howson acquired Nick Foligno from the Ottawa Senators for defenseman Marc Methot.
“He’d already established himself as a skilled player, a hard-working player and a guy that was a complete player who could play in all situations,” said Nash, who was the Jackets’ fifth captain and had become the face of the franchise after being selected No. 1 overall in 2002. “Coming into Columbus and where we were then, with the unknown of my career at the time, I knew it was a good move, no matter what, to have someone like that on your team. He obviously turned into a great leader, but at the time it seemed like a great move.”
Nash was traded to the New York Rangers 22 days later, but his instincts were spot on.
Nine seasons, 599 games and a number of memories later, Foligno has himself become one of the Blue Jackets’ franchise faces — proverbially etched into the team’s Mount Rushmore.
He’s in his sixth season as the
sixth Blue Jacket to ever wear the “C” on his sweater. He’s the guy who dropped to his knees and pumped both fists April 23, 2014, after sending Nationwide Arena into hysterics with an overtime goal to clinch the first home playoff victory in franchise history.
It was Foligno who scored off a breakaway to help lead the Jackets back from a 3-0 deficit in Game 1 of their historic sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019. His intense confrontation with Steven Stamkos in that series, after being sucker-punched by the frustrated Lightning captain at the end of Game 3, became part of Blue Jackets lore instantly.
And those were just some of the on-ice feats.
Off the ice, Foligno became the franchise’s new face and a father. He and wife Janelle started their family — which includes a daughter and two sons — in Columbus and they’ve become a local bedrock in the community.
It’s been quite a ride these past nine years, and with the NHL trade deadline looming at 3 p.m. Monday, it’s probably a good time to reflect on what Foligno has meant to the Blue Jackets, who sat him out Saturday against the Blackhawks with an upperbody injury that’s considered day-to-day.
“It’s emotional just with the position we’re in,” Foligno said Wednesday, when asked about his name being mentioned as a trade target for playoff-bound teams. “I don’t think I would’ve expected our team to be in this spot, so having it play out the way it has is emotional in that I’m disappointed we’re even having this conversation.”
What he said next is what has fortified Foligno’s legacy in Columbus.
“I don’t think for a second that it’s been a secret about how I feel about this place, about these guys, about this organization,” he said. “I’ve loved it, my family’s loved it from the moment we’ve been here. I feel like I’m a big part of this community, so it’s a weird feeling when you hear your name getting thrown around.”
Nash knows the feeling. Though he requested the trade that took him to New York 22 days after Foligno became a Blue Jacket, the former Columbus captain has also praised the city and his first NHL team throughout his career. He and his wife, Jessica, also made the Columbus area their permanent residence — even during his stint with the Rangers — and that allowed him to watch Foligno’s career with the Blue Jackets unfold.
“It was cool to see the team had success,” Nash said. “I’ve always said these fans here deserve a winning product on the ice, and Nick was obviously a big part of that. Watching from afar, it was always one of those things, like, you kind of wish that stuff happened when you were here and you could’ve had that success. But I was always happy for them and thought they deserved this.”
As for Foligno’s legacy with the Jackets?
“He’s been a huge part of the organization becoming a winning franchise,” Nash said. “You kind of know what you’re going to get with the Blue Jackets when you play against them, and I truly believe that Nick’s the face of that. He’s one of the best captains that we’ve had in franchise history.”
That’s why, if Foligno is dealt before the deadline, it will feel like end of an era despite a chance he might re-sign with the Jackets in the offseason.
“(When) you think about the stuff he’s done off the ice in the community, I think that’s the real important part — when a leader can really put a stamp on not only an organization, but a city,” Nash said. “For me, being a younger captain, that wasn’t always at the forefront. I was so worried about establishing a winning team, making the playoffs and a winning culture. And looking back, as my career went on, that meant so much more to me. Watching Nick do it, through a backseat view of what he’s done, I’ve been so impressed