The Columbus Blue Jackets lose defenseman Daemon Hunt to the waiver wire while being assigned to the Cleveland Monsters. Hunt returns to the Minnesota Wild, less than one full calendar year after being trade from the organization in a blockbuster move that sent former first round draft selection David Jiricek to the second quarter-century club. 

For the inital trade that occured last season, the Jackets have no active roster members from this trade any longer. Minnesota used the Jackets’ fifth round pick to select Justin Kipkie, who decied to re-enter the draft after not committing to sign with the Utah Mammoth. The first round selection was used on Pyotr Andreyanov at 20th overall, and remains under contract in the KHL until 2029-2030 (with an out clause at year 4). The Jackets currently hold the other remaining draft picks from the deal, including the Avalanche’s third round pick in 2026, the Leafs’ fourth round pick in 2026, and the Wild’s second round pick in 2027. 

For the defensive depth of the organization, this gives Stanislav Svozil, Corson Ceulemans, and Dysin Mayo the most likelihood in being recalled at some point in the season given the recent departure of Brendan Smith from his tryout and the development of the roster. Ceulemans should be the favorite as he had a longer look in preseason and Christainsen is already slated to be in the rotation this season. The right hand first rounder may finally be getting the look he deserves after the Foligno trade from years ago. 

For Wild fans, Hunt returns to the system he originally knew, gives them some room for Jonas Brodin to recover from his injury, and allows time for Zeev Buium to develop on the roster as a 19 year old rookie. His $775K cap hit is also of no worry for the organization as that is buriable in Iowa.Â