Blue Jackets Looking To Extend Pending UFAs

On New Year’s Day, the Blue Jackets were in last place in the Eastern Conference and had a three-point cushion in the basement. They were all but set to punt on the season, and their high-value pending UFAs, namely Charlie Coyle and Boone Jenner, had found themselves high up on trade bait lists.

Fueled in part by a surprise coaching change, Columbus has now won 11 of its last 12 and is fully back in playoff contention. They’ve gone from 16th place to ninth in the past six weeks and are four points back of the Bruins for the final playoff spot with a game in hand.

If getting rental returns for Coyle and Jenner was general manager Don Waddell‘s deadline plan a month ago, that streak has changed his mind. The organization told  RG.org’s James Murphy yesterday that they’ve stopped soliciting offers for Coyle, Jenner, and fellow pending UFA forward Mason Marchment and will instead start extension negotiations with all three players before the Olympic break ends.

All three have been legitimate impact players for the Jackets this season, particularly Coyle and Marchment. Acquired from the Avalanche last summer in something of a cap dump, the veteran Coyle has technically served as Columbus’ third-line center for virtually the entire campaign but is averaging north of 17 minutes of ice time per game thanks to extensive special-teams deployment. Coming off one of the more offensively underwhelming campaigns of his career for Boston and Colorado in 2024-25, he’s tossed up 15 goals and 42 points in 56 games to rank third on the Jackets in scoring.

There will be obvious trepidation over offering anything more than a one or two-year extension to Coyle, who turns 34 next month. He’s finishing at a 15.8% clip, and his possession numbers lag behind the average on a Columbus squad that’s greatly improved its play under Bowness. But for a Jackets squad teeming with cap space over the next couple of seasons, the risk of decline isn’t as pressing as it would be for a cap-strapped contender.

Marchment was a surprising in-season pickup from the Kraken in December, but he’s been the complete package in the nearly two months since his arrival. He’s clicked at nearly a point per game with nine goals and four assists in 14 games since the trade and leads Columbus forwards with a 53.1 CF% at even strength, although he’s helped out by playing a higher percentage of his games under Bowness. He’s still been a natural-looking fit on their top line alongside youngsters Adam Fantilli and Kirill Marchenko.

Jenner may be the afterthought of the three in terms of on-ice performance this season, but he’s the captain and a career-long Blue Jacket. His production has taken something of a hit after missing most of last year with shoulder surgery, but he’s still produced eight goals and 27 points in 42 games, above his career-average pace. His 9.0% shooting rate is a bit below his career average and should come up down the stretch, too.

His 52.0 CF% signals his two-way game is still in a good spot, and he’s third on the team with 92 hits despite missing 14 games with an upper-body issue earlier in the year. Any concern about a long-term extension for the 32-year-old revolves around his extensive recent injury history. He’s missed double-digit games in every season since 2019-20 and has dealt with back problems for the vast majority of his career. The risk of aggressive age-related decline is palpable as a result.

Expecting Columbus to be able to swing extensions for all three is unrealistic – and considering all three are on the wrong side of 30, there’s a debate to be had over whether it’s a wise choice. Still, the question then shifts to whether the Jackets will still look to flip one of them and gain assets in return if it’s clear they’re too far off on an extension.

At least right now, the answer is no. “Regardless of whether they’re signed to extensions before the Olympic break ends, they’re off the trade market heading into the trade deadline,” a league source told Murphy.

“I’ve told everybody we will touch base over the break and see where they’re at and see where we’re at,” Waddell said. “And I said it last year, if players want to be here and we want ’em here, we’ll find a way to get it done. We did it last year, and we’ll do it again this year.”