Conor Garland Proves the “Change of Scenery” Theory True
Sometimes a player just needs a change of scenery. That might be what’s happening with Conor Garland right now.
Since the Columbus Blue Jackets picked him up from the Vancouver Canucks on March 5, Garland has jumped right into the lineup and started producing almost immediately.In just three games with Columbus, the 29-year-old winger has four goals, including one on the power play, and he’s already put 10 shots on net.
Not bad for a first impression.
Garland is scoring like gangbusters for the Blue Jackets.
What really stands out, though, is what he’s done the last two nights. Garland scored twice in Columbus’s 5–2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. The night before that, he also scored two goals in a 5–4 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
Believe it or not, that’s the first time in his NHL career that Garland has put together back-to-back multi-goal games. For a guy who’s been around the league a while and produced solid offence wherever he’s played, that’s a little surprising.
Right now, Garland is skating on Columbus’s second line with Sean Monahan and Kent Johnson, and he’s also getting some work on the second power-play unit. So far, it looks like a nice fit. He’s shooting the puck a lot, he’s around the play, and he looks like a player who suddenly has a bit of jump in his game again.
And this isn’t a player who’s never scored before.
Garland's résumé shows that he can score.
Garland has hit the 20-goal mark twice in his career. He scored 22 with the Arizona Coyotes back in 2019-20, and he reached 20 again with Vancouver just last season.
Even this year, before the trade, he wasn’t exactly struggling. In 50 games with the Canucks, Garland had seven goals and 19 assists while putting more than 100 shots on goal. The effort was there, even if the puck wasn’t always going in.
Some of the tracking numbers back that up, too. Garland tends to generate a lot of mid-range chances and isn’t shy about letting the puck go from distance. Players who shoot that much usually find offence sooner or later. Maybe that’s what we’re seeing now.
Have the Blue Jackets caught Garland’s lightning in a bottle?
Maybe Columbus just caught him at exactly the right moment. Either way, the early return for the Blue Jackets looks pretty good. Garland has arrived, he’s firing the puck, and suddenly the goals are showing up. And sometimes, honestly, that’s all a player needs—a new team, a new room, and a fresh start in a different sweater.