It’s now been over a month since the Columbus Blue Jackets have played a game. They won’t see the ice again for a regular-season game for another 4 1/2 months yet. But that doesn’t mean we can’t start looking ahead to the 2025-26 version of the Blue Jackets.
GM Don Waddell has a lot of business to take care of between now and the start of the season. Besides having to decide on potential moves during this offseason, he has a lot of decisions to make about their free agents.
Waddell told the Hockey Writers recently that many of those free agent decisions would happen after speaking with head coach Dean Evason upon his return from the Men’s World Championships. With 14 players to decide on, not everyone will be back with the team.
While we await the decisions the Blue Jackets make, we will start projecting their roster between now and the start of the new season. In all, there will be six editions of projections, one per month.
Today, we will make version 1.0 the pre-NHL Combine edition. As you will see, the Blue Jackets have some important questions they need to answer. They have needs to fill both up front and on the blue line. They also have important questions to answer in net.
Forwards
Using Puckpedia as a guide, there are 11 players under contract for 2025-26 that are either a lock to make the team or will have a great chance to make it. They are as follows in line format.
The Blue Jackets have a slew of unrestricted free agents to make decisions on. That list includes James van Riemsdyk, Sean Kuraly, Christian Fischer, Kevin Labanc, Luke Kunin and Justin Danforth. We are not listing the UFA’s in the minors but you can see the full list here.
In terms of restricted free agents, Mikael Pyyhtia is one. The other big one up front is Dmitri Voronkov. He has arbitration rights. Coming off a career-high 23 goals last season, he will be due a raise. He could also be the target of an offer sheet. However Waddell told the Hockey Writers he’s not worried about that given how much cap space the team has. PuckPedia lists them having over $40 million in available space for 2025-26 as of this writing.
It’s easy to imagine Voronkov taking one of the spots above once a new contract is signed. But until pen hits paper, nothing is official. van Riemsdyk wants to come back to the Blue Jackets. He’s in a holding pattern until there is more clarity on what the Blue Jackets look like after the offseason goes on.
Depending on what you think about Chinakhov and if he’s going to have a bounce back year, there is a need for a second-line right wing. Johnson could play that side if needed. Chinakhov could too. But with both being lefties, adding someone to the right side who shoots right is not the worst idea in the world.
As for the fourth line spot, we’ll see what they decide with van Riemsdyk and Danforth. There is a chance both do not return for 2025-26. Should there be an opening in the bottom-six, could someone like James Malatesta grab hold of that spot? Jordan Dumais and Gavin Brindley are there too, however another season in the AHL to develop feels like the best situation for them.
Forwards weren’t the issue for the Blue Jackets in 2024-25. They could score goals. They really don’t have to do a lot here with center ice locked in. That’s why the idea of bringing someone in like Mitch Marner doesn’t feel like a fit here given what he could get on a contract.
Could someone like Brock Boeser fit here as a signing? Adding him to a line with Johnson and Fantilli would have major potential and would give the Blue Jackets a needed boost on the right.
Expect at least one move of some sort to bring someone in, maybe more if the opportunity presents itself. The more major questions for the Blue Jackets are on defense.
Defense
Here’s where things get very interesting. The Blue Jackets currently have five players under contract that project to make the roster.
Jordan Harris is an RFA while Jack Johnson, Dante Fabbro and Ivan Provorov are UFA’s. We’ll see what happens with Harris. He could slot in as the 6/7D similar to last season once a deal is agreed to. Jack Johnson likely doesn’t come back. Fabbro and Provorov are the big questions.
Waddell told the Hockey Writers that there is mutual interest on both sides to get a deal done with each player. Waddell is scheduled to meet with Provorov’s agent at the NHL Combine to talk. Talks with Fabbro’s camp have taken place also. It’s a matter of seeing if they can agree on what the new contracts look like.
Provorov’s steadiness and availability was a big asset to the Blue Jackets. He’s due for a raise. Would signing him limit Mateychuk’s development on the left side? There’s a lot Waddell has to consider here.
It’s the same with Fabbro. His emergence was huge to give Werenski a dependable partner on the right. He too is due a raise. Are the Blue Jackets willing to go there to get this deal done knowing they have Severson and Gudbranson who could each play the right side?
Hanging over all of this is the desire for massive improvement. The Blue Jackets’ goals against was a major sore spot and a big reason why they fell short of the playoffs. Re-signing Provorov and Fabbro would signal a run-it-back approach. Can they really run this back given the poor stats?
This is where we expect the Blue Jackets to use their first-round picks in a deal if it comes to that. They need to improve their blue line preferably someone with size who can play the shutdown role. Waddell said both picks 14 and 20 are available in the right deals.
Another reason to think the Blue Jackets could look to outside help on defense is the state of the prospect pool. Barring an incredible training camp, it appears most every defensemen (such as Corson Ceulemans, Guillaume Richard and Stanislav Svozil) are bound for the AHL. The younger prospects still have work to do. Should the Blue Jackets make their picks in the first round, it’s reasonable to think at least one will be a defenseman.
Once the Provorov and Fabbro decisions are made, the picture will become clearer. Until then, major questions will persist.
Goaltending
As of now, Elvis Merzlikins and Jet Greaves are under contract for the 2025-26 season. Given how Greaves played down the stretch last season, he made his case for a more full-time role in the NHL.
That leaves the important question of what do the Blue Jackets do with Daniil Tarasov? Waddell told us that no decision was made either way on him. Talks will pick up once more of the offseason has played out.
This situation could go either way. Last season was a major struggle for Tarasov. He didn’t play for long stretches. The Blue Jackets elected to play Greaves over him.
With that said, the Blue Jackets do believe Tarasov has a lot more in his game when given a consistent chance. Would they consider carrying three goaltenders? That’s not ideal. All would require waivers in 2025-26.
Then there’s the question of seeking outside help. Despite the crowd, this can’t be ruled out yet. Remember the goals against? With Waddell saying he doesn’t anticipate buyouts, that would seem to point to Merzlikins being back since he has the contract barring an unexpected trade.
Speaking of trades, it’s reasonable to think the Blue Jackets would be open to a goaltending upgrade via trade if the opportunity presents itself. This will ride on what they decide with Tarasov. A wide range of outcomes are possible from running it all back to a major change.
We’ll be back with Version 2.0 after the NHL Draft at the end of June. By then, we may have some important answers to critical questions the team is facing.
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