Blue Jackets finish emotional season with romp over Islanders
Blue Jackets finish just shy of the playoffs after routing Islanders in season finale, salute fans amid postgame chants of ‘Johnny Hockey!’
The Columbus Blue Jackets finished the 2024-25 season with 89 points, a 23-point improvement, but missed the playoffs for the fifth straight year.GM Don Waddell, hired in 2024, reshaped the roster through trades, free agency, and waivers, notably adding Sean Monahan and Dante Fabbro.Waddell has significant cap space and draft capital to address team needs, particularly on defense and in goal, during the offseason.
The Blue Jackets took their fans on an unexpectedly wonderful ride in 2024-25. It ended last week. They missed the playoffs for the fifth year in a row.
What now?
Let us go back a year, to the interlude between the firing of general manager Jarmo Kekalainen (Feb. 15) and the hiring of president of hockey operations/general manager Don Waddell (May 28). The job opening was an attractive one for a number of reasons, including the Jackets’ mix of draft picks, high-end prospects, solid veterans and gobs of cap space. In the right hands, an idling rebuild could be throttled to respectability. The chance was there.
Waddell said as much the day he was introduced: “Previous management did a good job drafting. It’s not like this organization is going to take a long time to fix.”
Waddell hired Dean Evason to coach. He traded away center Alexandre Texier and sniper Patrik Laine, bought out defenseman Adam Boqvist and passed on extending defenseman Jake Bean. Then he signed a few veteran free agents – first-line center Sean Monahan, depth defenseman Jack Johnson and forward James van Riemsdyk.
We all lost Johnny Gaudreau on Aug. 29. That was the end of summer.
Off waivers, Waddell plucked depth forward Zach Aston Reese in October and defenseman Dante Fabbro in November.
As a whole, these decisions on additions and subtractions represent the work of a craftsman. The roster was cleaned up and it began to make more sense. The Monahan signing and the Fabbro waiver claim turned out to be artistic flourishes. The Jackets (39-33-9) finished two points out of a playoff spot. Their 89 points represented a 23-point improvement over the previous season.
What now?
This past season was a gimme for management and the coaching staff. It was a time to survey and assess. No expectations, no pressure. Now comes a more interesting phase: Waddell can now bring to bear many of the features that made the job alluring – the draft picks, high-end prospects, solid veterans and gobs of cap space.
“A few years from now we’ll stop talking about making the playoffs, and (then) it’s about winning the Cup,” Waddell said at his season-ending presser last week. “I truly believe after what I’ve witnessed this year, we have most of the pieces in that locker room. Obviously, there’s going to be some changes. There are some unrestricted free agents, and there are some needs we have to address, and we’ll do everything in our power to address those needs this summer.”
Our man Brian Hedger has surmised what is on Waddell’s immediate “to-do list.” Among the items: decisions on free agents (defensemen Ivan Provorov and Fabbro, in particular); negotiations on a extensions for budding star Adam Fantilli and moose Dmitri Voronkov; assessment of the goaltending situation (wherefore Elvis Merzlikins?); survey of the situation ahead of the late-June draft (one or both of the Nos. 13 and 20 overall picks owned by the Jackets could be in play on a trade).
The Jackets need to bolster their defense and goaltending.
“Yeah, that’s the issue,” Waddell said. “There are different avenues you can explore. One is through trades. We have a lot of pick assets we can use for trades. Then, there’s the free-agent market. This year, with the cap going up, a lot of teams have locked up their players for a numerous amount of years. There’s going to be challenges there but, I think, every summer there are deals to be made. Like I say, having the draft capital is always important.”
Waddell could have as much as $40 million in cap space, give or take, when free-agent season opens July 1. The number probably won’t be that high because a couple of contract extensions and/or draft-day trades are likely to get done before that date. In any case, the Jackets cap flexibility will be Slinky-like. He’ll be able to sign a marquee free agent, if he so chooses. (Nik Ehlers, anyone? He’s a 29-year-old version of do-everything Gus Nyquist, only better.)
Asked if he had the flexibility to consider any buyouts, Waddell said:
“Nah. Not at this point. That’s not something we’re looking at. I can’t say how the summer is going to play out, but as of now we haven’t even talked about it.”
There’s a chance.
Asked about his views on offer sheets – and he has been on both sides of those pitches for restricted free agents – Waddell said:
“It’s a tool in the tool box. It’s like everything else you have. If we don’t use all the tools in our toolbox, we’re not doing our job thoroughly. Does that mean we’re going to have an offer sheet? That’s hard to say. Who’s the player? What’s the value? Do you have the picks to make an offer sheet?”
Offer sheets seem unlikely, as teams are likely to have the cap space they need to protect their valuable RFAs.
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