Blue Jackets sign final RFA to 1-year contract

The Columbus Blue Jackets are making a move to shore up their roster, ahead of the 2025-26 season. Columbus signed a one-year deal with defenseman Daemon Hunt, per Daily Faceoff. He is the last restricted free agent the club had to sign, after getting acquired in a trade.

“Daemon Hunt is a good, young two-way defenseman that plays a smart and controlled game,” Columbus general manager Don Waddell said, per NHL.com. “His signing provides us important additional organizational depth on our blue line.”

Hunt has played in 13 total NHL games for the Minnesota Wild. Hunt was traded to Columbus from Minnesota. He has just one assist in his short career in the league. Hunt also appeared in just one game during the entire 2024-25 campaign.

Hunt has excelled though in the AHL, playing for the Iowa Wild and Cleveland Monsters. The defenseman has posted eight goals and 51 assists in 173 career AHL games over four seasons, per NHL.com. He has also posted 224 shots on goal during that period.

Hunt was selected in the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft, by the Wild. He is coming off his three-year, entry-level contract. That deal had a league average annual value of $902,500, per Daily Faceoff. Hunt also had a minor-league salary of $80,000.

Blue Jackets want to make a push in the NHL’s Eastern Conference

The Blue Jackets haven’t had much success as an NHL franchise. Columbus has yet to make a Stanley Cup Final. The club finished the 2024-25 season with 40 victories, missing the NHL playoffs.

Columbus did finish the year though having won seven of their final 10 games. The Blue Jackets also were on a six-game winning streak to end the campaign.

Columbus needed some help on defense, and the hope is that Hunt can make an impact. The club finished just +5 in goal differential this past season, after allowing 268 total goals on the year.

Blue Jackets fans certainly hope that Hunt can help give the team a spark. Columbus starts NHL preseason contests in September.