Columbus Blue Jackets News

Home

Quizzes

Newsletter

Jani Hakanpaa, Toronto Maple Leafs (Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images)

Blue Jackets’ 3 Potential PTO Targets

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By William Espy | Last updated Aug 28, 2025 8:45 AM ET

The season is slowly approaching for the Columbus Blue Jackets, and they’ve already announced their first professional tryout signing, defenseman Brendan Smith. As training camp draws closer, let’s take a look at who else may make sense to earn a tryout with the Blue Jackets.

Forward: Robby Fabbri

Robby Fabbri’s career, unfortunately, has followed a path that Blue Jackets fans will know well. He had high expectations early in his career, but consistently failed to live up to them, whether it was due to injury or other factors. During his time with the Detroit Red Wings, he produced at a decent rate and seemed to be establishing himself as a legitimate NHLer for the long-term future. After being traded to the Anaheim Ducks last summer, though, he took a substantial step back.

Fabbri’s a prototypical example of what a professional tryout player should look like; he’s shown glimpses of talent in the past but has just struggled to put things together for a long period of time, mainly due to injury. His knees, in particular, have caused him quite a bit of trouble over the years, but he’s a solid option when healthy. As a result, even if they don’t end up signing him to a deal, Fabbri could be worth a look for the Blue Jackets as a depth option.

Defenseman: Jani Hakanpaa

A massive right-handed defenseman, Jani Hakanpaa’s size and physicality could be valuable; however, there’s quite a bit of unknown surrounding him. He missed almost the entirety of last season due to injury, and at one point, there was hope he’d make a comeback during the playoffs, but that never came to fruition.

Considering the fact that skating has always been viewed as one of Hakanpaa’s weaknesses, having multiple knee injuries in recent memory will definitely be concerning to any teams interested in his services.

Signing Hakanpaa to a professional tryout, though, would allow the Blue Jackets to evaluate a potential depth option who plays a different role than the majority of their roster without committing to him if he’s unable to keep up. While they likely wouldn’t see him as an everyday player at this stage, unless he proved that he could handle the workload, he could be an effective option to fill in whenever another player is banged up temporarily.

Forward: Craig Smith

The Blue Jackets went out looking for a right-handed center this summer, and they found one with Charlie Coyle. However, if general manager Don Waddell wanted to add another, Craig Smith could be an option.

Regarded as a two-way forward, Smith has taken a step back from his days with the Nashville Predators, as he is nearing the end of his career. His offensive production in particular has dropped off substantially in recent seasons, but he would still be an effective depth option who could fill in either at center or on the wing in the bottom-six forward group as needed. At this stage in his career, Smith isn’t a game-changing addition by any means, but he could still get the job done in a pinch.

While the Blue Jackets’ roster seems to be mostly set before training camp even begins, late offseason tryouts can generally lead to some strong depth additions. While none of the three players mentioned above are guaranteed to earn an NHL job for the 2025-26 season, they could be worth a short look through training camp and preseason.

Smith was an interesting addition for the Blue Jackets, but now we just have to wait and see if Waddell wants to explore any other options as well.