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Boone Jenner will start on the left wing as Training Camp begins. (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

2025 Blue Jackets’ Summer Q&A: Boone Jenner

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Mark Scheig | Last updated Aug 28, 2025 12:15 PM ET

Columbus Blue Jackets’ captain Boone Jenner has literally seen it all. As he enters his 13th season with the team that originally drafted him, he has enjoyed some of the highest of highs and some of the very lowest of lows during his time.

Each game Jenner plays now will extend his own record of games played with the franchise. He will start the 2025-26 season just 59 games away from 800 in his NHL career. His next goal will be his 200th in his career.

It is quite possible assuming Jenner plays for a few more seasons that he could become the first Blue Jacket to play in 1,000 games for the franchise. He just needs 259 games to reach that mark. As of this writing, only 34 players in NHL history have played at least 1,000 games in their career while playing for only one franchise.

As much as things have changed in Columbus over the years, Jenner has been the constant. His presence and leadership has been a steadying force inside the locker room. It’s no wonder he has the ultimate respect of his teammates, coaches and management.

Jenner was kind enough to spend 25 minutes in a Q&A with the Hockey Writers on Wednesday to discuss a wide variety of topics. We discussed everything from how he spent his summer to how he and his teammates are getting ready for the season. He also opened up about his future with the team entering the last year of his contract, spoke about the impact of the Gaudreau’s one year after the tragedy and then looked ahead to why they’re excited for this new season to start.

As with the conversation with GM Don Waddell, our conversation with Jenner has been cleaned up for clarity and conversation.

Boone Jenner Q&A

THW: Boone, thanks for doing this. How have you been able to enjoy your summer? Have you been able to do anything fun before having to really pick things up getting ready for the season?

Jenner: “Yeah. The last few summers have been busy with weddings and stuff. So we really just wanted to enjoy our time at home. We didn’t do too many trips or anything. We’ve kind of done that in the last couple years. This summer, we wanted to hang out more and chill and see family and friends back home. And now we’ve been in Columbus for the past month. So just getting ready to go and enjoying summer here as well. A couple concerts here. I think probably the highlight was the Coldplay concert my wife and I went to. And we had Zach’s wedding. That was a fun weekend. But otherwise, just been hanging out. Since then, we’ve been here. Nothing crazy this summer.”

THW: Now that you’re getting ready for the season, what does a typical day look like for you in terms of going on the ice, hitting the gym etc.? What is your current routine at this point in the summer?

Jenner: “At this point in the summer for me and other guys, the focus starts becoming the ice and feeling good out there. This summer just with myself, I got on the ice very early with not playing a ton of games last year. I thought it was a good time to get on the ice early, but we focused more on the gym and strength early in the summer. At this point, a lot of the gym work’s been done and it’s staying sharp in there and staying fresh. But focusing on the ice, ramping up the battles, the up and down, getting the skating legs as they say back, and ramping up battles in small area game through two on two’s or more game-like situations just to get yourself prepared for camp. Then mixing in some tough skates just to get the lungs and the legs back to where they need to be on the ice.

As much as you do in the gym, you have to skate to get that feeling in your legs. We’ve been here working with guys that are in town already and skating four days a week. So a typical day, either going down or working out before or after a skate and then working out after and trying to stay as fresh as you can. You want to hit your peak come September in training camp and feel good for that heading into the season.”

THW: How many guys are in town right now?

Jenner: “Right now, (Ivan) Provorov, Elvis (Merzlikins), (Mathieu) Olivier, Brendan Smith just got here. That’s pretty much it. I’m sure guys will start coming in either this weekend or I think by the end of this weekend, a lot more guys will be here.”

THW: Do you get to stay in contact with a lot of the guys throughout the offseason?

Jenner: “For sure. I’ve talked to a lot of guys in the summer whether it’s a phone call here or there, text messages or group chats too. But we always stay in touch. And with Werenski’s wedding, it was a great week to have everyone back in town. That doesn’t happen every summer for all the guys to come back mid-summer. You can see everybody again, do some workouts and then have the wedding. It was great to see everybody. And then before you know it, everyone will be back for good and we’re getting ready to go. I always like keeping up and seeing what everyone’s doing. And on social media, you can see where guys are on trips and what they’re up to a little bit more. It’s been good that way.”

Jenner Addresses His Future

THW: You’re just 59 games away from 800 in your NHL career. You are entering the final year of your contract. Your desire to stay with the Blue Jackets and potentially finish your career as a Blue Jacket. Is that something that you’ve put a lot of thought into?

Jenner: “Yeah. I’ve been a Blue Jacket my whole career. It means so much to me. I love being a Blue Jacket. I love playing in front of our fans and being a part of what we’re building here. (I’ve thought) a lot to stay here and be here my whole career. I’ve been fortunate thus far. (I) want to keep building. At the end of the day, I want to win here. I don’t think I want to stop being here until we can win here and bring a championship to Columbus because through everything I look back on, I think our fans and the city definitely deserves that and that’s what we’re working towards. I think it’s something special we got going here. It’s about the group and being with the fans and the community here. It’s a great place to play and (I) want to have that success here.”

THW: You’ve been through a lot here and seen a lot with the team. Have you had any time to reflect on everything you’ve been through with the Blue Jackets and just how impactful the rise of the Blue Jackets has been from the time they drafted you until now?

Jenner: “Yeah. Definitely. It goes by pretty quickly. Going into my thirteenth year here, but you’re always focusing on the season coming up and I think coming off last year, the hunger is at an all-time high of where this group can get to. That’s the focus right now. I think as much as the past is the past, it’s the ups and downs. I think if you don’t learn from them, it’s your mistake. You have to learn from those hardships.

But looking ahead for our group, it’s about this year and what we can do as a team. After the steps we took last year, it was awesome, but obviously not where we want to be. That’s the hunger that I think all of us had going into the offseason with. I’m excited to get going right on day one of training camp. And I know we’re champing at the bit here. When you look back over the years and so many teammates and really good teams and playoff runs and different things like that. But right now, I’d say my focus is on this year and what’s at hand coming up here September 17.”

THW: If the contract isn’t done by the start of the season, how do you make sure it doesn’t become a distraction?

Jenner: “I don’t think it’s a distraction either way. This happens a lot with guys going into their last year of their contracts. It is what it is. It’s part of the game. I’m not really focused on that as much as I am of getting out there at training camp and helping this group. I think at the end of the day, I love being a Blue Jacket. I want to be a Blue Jacket. I think whatever happens, happens. I’m going to do my best for this team. That’s what I’ve always done and what I will always continue to do. As far as a distraction, I don’t think it’ll be distraction at all.

Changes on the Team

THW: The team was able to add Charlie Coyle, Miles Wood and Isac Lundestrom among others. How excited are you to have them in the fold now?

Jenner: “Yeah. Very, very excited. Those are huge pickups for us. I don’t know any of them on a personal level, but the hockey world’s small and everything I’ve heard from guys who have played with them or crossed paths with them are just tremendous things. First and foremost, tremendous teammates and guys in the locker room that care about team first. That’s exactly what we want and take pride in in our locker room. So there’s no doubt they’re just going to fit in well there.

But what they bring on the ice playing against them for years now. You know how tough of an opponent they can be and what they brought to their teams. To add those three guys I think that’s huge for us up front. They’re experienced guys. Coyle’s almost up to a thousand games and had a great career in what he’s done on every team he’s gone to and the impact he has there. I think all three of them will come in and have that impact with us. Knowing they’re great teammates, they’re going to fit in no problem.”

THW: The team elected to move on from long-time strength and conditioning coach Kevin Collins. Just from a player’s perspective when you see a change like that, there’s now a new voice in that role. What changes can you expect, and what adjustments, if any, do you make when you know that someone else is leading a very important area of your team?

Jenner: “Yeah. It’s obviously a big change. For me, I’ve had “killer” my whole career. So it’s a change that I haven’t been through. But speaking with Barry (Brennan) and speaking with people who have crossed paths with him in the hockey world, we’re very excited to have him join us and his knowledge. He’s been around the game for so long. I’ve had many conversations with him already, and he’s excited to get down there and get going. We’re excited to see what he has to offer in that department. He’ll come up with different things that he knows and how he’s operates in the gym or nutrition or whatever it may be that is just going to help us.

At the end of the day, we want the same thing. We want the best performance on the ice by each player, and collectively, that’s going to make our team better and win more games and win more in the playoffs. So we’re very excited to get to work with him and have the group together and see how his program is. Obviously, you don’t know until you get going. But we’re very excited though.”

THW: The NHL and the NHLPA (Jenner is the Blue Jackets’ rep) were able to ratify the new CBA. How exciting is that for you to know that there is labor peace? Was there anything in particular that you were pushing for?

Jenner: “Yeah. It doesn’t kick in until next year. But to have that extension is great for both sides knowing that there’s not going to be any lockouts or anything crazy come next hockey season. I think the PA did a tremendous job of getting us players certain things that we wanted. And I think they did a great job negotiating and getting it done early. It’s out of the way. We can focus on hockey. To have that lingering all year could have been stressful. I think we’re in a good spot and hockey continues to grow. We can keep growing it. I’m very happy to see and hear those conversations. All in all, just happy that there’s an agreement.”

The Gaudreau’s One Year Later

THW: Just how tough is Friday going to be as that marks one year since the tragedy that claimed the lives of Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau?

Jenner: “Yeah. It’s going to be very hard, obviously. Thought about it a lot. It’s going to be a day that you remember the rest of your life. Personally, I think about Johnny every day and it’s probably going to be no different on Friday how much I miss him or how much I think about him. So yeah. It’s a tough day. His birthday just passed. But every day, it’s tough without him.

I’ve continued to just honor him and share his legacy. We continue to do that as teammates and friends and support his family. Just the fact that we were able to have the time with them and those memories, (I’m) forever grateful for it. I’m sure Friday, I’ll just be speaking to people or just trying to remember them and those good stories and share those, how great of a guy and father and teammate he was.”

Johnny & Matthew Gaudreau were always family first in everything. (The Hockey Writers)

THW: How proud are you of everybody involved in the sense of just being able to keep the promise and keeping Johnny and Matthew’s legacy alive? I remember when you said last year there’s no playbook for this. But just how proud are you of the response and the fact that Johnny and Matthew’s light still continues to shine brightly today?

Jenner: “I’m extremely proud from all aspects as far the teammates, the staff, management, the Blue Jackets, our fans, incredible. You guys, the media, the way you guys handled it. But the truly inspiring thing is Meredith and Madeline and the Gaudreau family, what they’ve done to help other people and communities. They did the 5k, but Meredith and Madeline and everything that they’ve gone through and how they’ve handled it is just truly inspiring every day. Now they have the John and Matt Foundation. It’s extremely going to be so powerful. And knowing that it’s going to help so many kids and families in Johnny and Mattie’s name, just truly inspiring.

When I look at them and Johnny’s kids, that’s real strength. For us, for myself and my teammates, like I said, there’s not a day goes by that we don’t honor and remember him. We constantly talk about him and his stories and what would Johnny do. We’ll continue to do that. He’ll always be a part of our team. He’ll always be in that locker room with us, away from the rink with us, everywhere with us. So I’m extremely proud looking back on what’s almost been a year of the way everybody’s handled it.”

Confidence This Season

THW: Last one. Going into the team’s 25^th anniversary season. There seems to be a lot of momentum. Given the way last year ended, you guys were close to making the playoffs. What gives you the confidence to know that your team can get over the top this year in 2025-26?

Jenner: “I think we believe in each other in that room where it’s all about the team the way we built that last year. I think we’re going to continue to grow on that and learn from lessons whether it’s a point here or there and how much of a difference that is in November or December and how that impacts what could be a spot in the playoffs. I think you have to learn from that as a group. I love the way we fought right to the end, but we came up short. For us, it was extremely disappointing. We want to get into the playoffs and do some damage. I think that’s where our heads are at.

We took a good step last year, but we’re taking a bigger one this year. We know it’s going to take a lot of work. That’s what I’m excited for come training camp is to get it right after it again. I know the guys have been putting in tremendous work this summer and guys will be ready. We’re going to push each other. We’re going to push ourselves as a group of let’s go, we have to get in. We have to make some make some noise this year.”