COLUMBUS, Ohio — A collection of notes, insights, ruminations and did-you-knows gathered throughout the week that was for the Columbus Blue Jackets:

Item No. 1: Drat that rat

The Blue Jackets’ decision to challenge a Florida Panthers goal in the second period of Saturday’s 7-6 overtime thriller was just one of the pivot points in a wild, frustrating loss for Columbus.

Brad Marchand took his left hand off his stick in an attempt to catch a puck behind the Blue Jackets’ net, but the puck instead brushed off his glove and flipped over his shoulder, coming to a rest behind him, right in the path of teammate Carter Verhaeghe.

Jackets coach Dean Evason thought it was a deliberate play by Marchand, which, by the NHL rulebook, would have ruled the play dead. The league, however, ruled the puck merely deflected off his glove, that it wasn’t directed by Marchand, allowing the goal to stand.

But that wasn’t the Marchand interaction that should have infuriated the Blue Jackets most.

With the game in overtime knotted 6-6, the Blue Jackets called timeout with 2:19 remaining to strategize the final 39 seconds of a four-on-three power play that could have ended the game. Assistant coach Mike Haviland was drawing on a wax board and players were gathered round.

It took a few seconds for them to notice that Marchand had left his own bench during the timeout and skated over to the Blue Jackets’ bench, where he’d crept up over the shoulders of Zach Werenski and Adam Fantilli to listen in.

One Blue Jackets player, positioned just outside the scrum, reached out his stick to push Marchand away. Then Werenski noticed, and scooted to his right to cover Haviland’s doodling. Then Fantilli caught on and turned and said something.

Marchand blending in with the Blue Jackets. 👀

Smile and wave, boys. pic.twitter.com/i64lcOEQxn

— Jameson Olive (@JamesonCoop) December 6, 2025

The Panthers’ TV broadcast thought it was hilarious. Analyst Randy Moller, fighting back a laugh, said: “Look at the reaction of the Columbus players.” Play-by-play voice Steve Goldstein followed: “Some of those young guys were like, ‘Hey, that’s Brad Marchand!’”

I was left with one question: how did that not start a mob scene on the ice in front of the Blue Jackets’ bench? How did a player not come charging off the bench, gloves a-flyin’, to confront him? How did somebody not at least give Marchand a whack on the back of the legs?

Eventually, NHL linesman Brandon Gawryletz, who probably should have prevented Marchand from heading there in the first place, guided him back to the Panthers’ side of the ice, as Marchand, all smiles, appeared to say something to the Blue Jackets’ bench. But there should have been a mess to clean up for Gawryletz and the rest of the crew.

Does this sound a little over the top?

Well, imagine this scenario with the script flipped. Imagine if Fantilli, Marchenko or whoever had skated over to the Panthers’ bench and pulled the same stunt. You don’t have to imagine, right? You know what would have happened.

Marchand would have been the first guy over the boards. Sam Bennett would have followed, with A.J. Greer close behind. And, holy smokes, if Matthew Tkachuk were healthy and on the bench, they may still be scrapping in Sunrise.

This is not an anti-Marchand screed.

He’s had an amazing career. He’s a sure-fire Hall of Famer when he retires. He is, by all accounts, a tremendous person and family man off the ice. Every interaction I’ve ever had with him in a media-player setting has been engaging, informative and professional.

But he’s been one of the NHL’s notorious rats for how long now?

Somewhere along the line — maybe because he won the Stanley Cup with the Panthers last spring — the response to Marchand’s antics has changed, from wondering when the league or his team will crack down, to finding everything he does (even at others’ expense) funny.

In the mid-2010s, Marchand began a bizarre habit of licking — yes, licking — opponents in the face. It caused quite an uproar in the NHL, but, incredibly, he was never suspended for it, even though it happened multiple times. Would that be funny now?

It’s tough to imagine that the Blue Jackets’ coaches laughed on Saturday. If this had happened when Evason played for the Hartford Whalers, he would have lost his mind. If it had happened when assistant coach Jared Boll played for the Blue Jackets, he would have been suspended for three games, maybe three weeks.

It was only fitting that Marchand had the primary assist on the Panthers’ go-ahead goal with only 3.2 seconds remaining in overtime. The guy is a gamer, you have to give him that.

But know this: if Marchand truly respects the Blue Jackets’ players, coaches and organization, there’s no way he shows them up in that way.

And that’s why that scene deserved a different response.

Item No. 2: Who says no?

The Blue Jackets are treading water. They’re 6-3-6 in their last 15 games with only two regulation wins, only three regulation losses and no consecutive games in which they didn’t get at least a point. They aren’t thriving or diving, just hanging around.

Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell would like to make a move. He’s been trying for weeks, talking with fellow GMs just long enough to know that everybody’s looking for the same thing: players that can help today, not futures in the form of prospects or draft picks.

One move that seems to be sitting there, waiting for somebody to push it over the finish line: Yegor Chinakhov to the Vancouver Canucks for winger Kiefer Sherwood, a pending unrestricted free agent who, fairly late in his career, has turned into one of the league’s top power forwards.

Sherwood, a native of Columbus and a player who still returns to train here each summer, would make for a great story in central Ohio.

It’s possible the Canucks would want a “sweetener” to swing the deal, and the Blue Jackets would want to know that they could sign Sherwood to a contract extension before he hits the market.

Sherwood, 29, is in the final year of a two-year, $3 million contract. Prior to that, he’s never made more than the NHL minimum (now $775,000). This is his chance to get paid as an impact NHL player, perhaps $5 million per season or more.

The Blue Jackets’ situation with Chinakhov has been awkward all season. He’s played mostly on the fourth line, which his not his proper usage, but there have been opportunities for him to play up in the lineup, and he hasn’t seized them.

Chinakhov’s frustration hasn’t become “Pierre-Luc Dubois” ugly, but his play has not been inspired most nights, other than a couple of bursts of speed.

On paper, it may be difficult to trade a 24-year-old (Chinakhov) with tremendous upside for a 29-year-old (Sherwood). But on the ice right now it makes sense.

Item No. 3: Take 5, Chris Clark

“Take 5” is our weekly, brief and (mostly) non-hockey conversation with a Blue Jackets player, coach, broadcaster or staffer. This week, Blue Jackets assistant general manager Chris Clark:

In what part of Columbus do you live?

We settled in Upper Arlington. The kids were young when I was playing (for the Blue Jackets), and that’s where we stayed. It was easy for me to get to games — not that there’s much traffic in Columbus — but I could get there in 10 minutes. And the kids when they were little could come to the game, watch the first period, and still be in bed by 8 or 8:30 p.m. When I first got here, we lived in Antoine Vermette’s place, then Anton Stralman’s. My wife absolutely loved it here. Our neighbors, our friends … we weren’t leaving.

Any hidden talents?

I’ve had a guitar for 20 years now. When I first got it, I took lessons and got to a point in a couple of months where I was feeling all right. And then I put it down again, didn’t touch it again until I retired. Took lessons again for three months and it was awesome. I’ve let it go again, though. The last time I touched it was to have Adam Sandler sign it. It’s a talent I’d like to have, but I haven’t put in the work.

Best Christmas gift, given / received?

The best gift we ever did … probably Disney World with the kids with they were 6, 8 and 10. We surprised them on Christmas and told them we were going the next morning. The bags were already packed. I think that was the big one. They were the perfect age, and so excited. For me, as a kid, it was a bike. A BMX freestyle. I came downstairs and it was sitting there, shiny. It had the pegs and everything. I was probably 9 or 10 years old. My friends and I were all doing tricks back in those days. I put a rotor on the handlebars so it wouldn’t tangle the brake cables. I could do some of that stuff, but the half-pipe wasn’t for me.

Favorite vacation spot?

We have a cottage in upstate New York. I’ve had it since I was a player. The season was so long, and I never liked traveling, but I was always happy back there. I’d get invited to go here or there, and I’d always tell people, ‘That’s my spot, if anybody wants to come visit, come visit.’ It probably drives my wife and kids nuts because they want to go places, but that was my safe place.

Favorite sandwich?

Leftover turkey. The best. And, yes, I’ve had a couple recently. I might even put the stuffing on it and the cranberry. No gravy. Maybe a little cheese, some mustard or mayo. My father used to rave about leftover turkey sandwiches when I was a kid, and I never got it. Now I get it.

Item No. 4: Snacks

• Nothing’s come easy for the Blue Jackets this season. After Sunday’s game in D.C., the Blue Jackets were scheduled to fly to Raleigh, N.C., ahead of Tuesday’s game vs. the Carolina Hurricanes. But non-mechanical issues with the flight grounded them, forcing them to check back into hotels in Washington D.C. and reschedule a flight to 2 p.m. on Monday. This comes just a couple of weeks after the charter carrier they had been using, New Pacific Airlines, ceased operations, forcing a switch to Sun Country Airlines.

• Since Nov. 10, the Blue Jackets have played beyond regulation — overtime or a shootout — on 10 occasions. Like every team in the NHL this season — with the Olympics squeezing the schedule — the Blue Jackets have been dog-tired. But this hasn’t helped. The extra hockey amounts to an extra 37 minutes, 43 seconds, of play, nearly two periods.

• Fantilli had his first NHL fight last Monday vs. New Jersey, scrapping with Devils defenseman Jonas Siegenthaler. He handled himself quite well, actually, landing a series of right before Siegenthaler started to return fire. Asked if Mathieu Olivier has taught him how to work the speedbag, Fantilli laughed. “My rookie year, I asked him to help with some grips and stuff like that. He helped me, but he was like, ‘I’ll help you with this stuff, but if I ever see you fighting, I’ll kill ya. That’s not your job,’”

• Goaltender Elvis Merzlikins has a notoriously volatile temper, and he nearly blew his cool in last week’s game against the Devils. Merzlikins felt he was interfered with on a goal that was initially allowed to stand, giving New Jersey a 3-1 lead. Merzlikins, unaware that the Blue Jackets had challenged and the play was being reviewed, left his net and started skating toward NHL referee Chris Schlenker when a linesman stepped in his path and gently turned him away.

“The linesman was saying, ‘Your team is challenging!’” Merzlikins said. “And then the bench was telling me that they were challenging. That’s when I zipped it and went back (to my net). I thought he had already made the decision and that was it.” Merzlikins and Schlenker had a laugh about it later. “He told me that I sounded like his wife,” Merzlikins said. “He apologized, as well. He said he didn’t see it in the moment, but then on video it was clear that this was interference. When he told me I sounded like his wife, I started laughing and I told him, I get it. I get that, too.”

• Among the top dramatic moments in the Blue Jackets’ 6-5 shootout win over Detroit last Thursday, happened before puck drop. ESPN’s John Buccigross, a proud native of Steubenville, Ohio, was given the honor of blasting the cannon ahead of faceoff, but then had to sprint back to the press box to make it time for the game to start. No problem. Buccigross hasn’t run this fast since he aced the par-4 No. 11 (296 yards) at Newport Country Club back in 2007. (True story.)

BUCCI BROUGHT THE BOOM! 💥@Buccigross fired the cannon to start the game, before sprinting to the booth for the call!

CBJ x @ESPN pic.twitter.com/5XwB324hy0

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) December 5, 2025

• The Blue Jackets will welcome back their third batch of alumni this week as part of their 25th anniversary celebration. Tyler Wright, who was the first Blue Jackets fan favorite, will be honored, along with stalwart defenseman David Savard, tough guy turned broadcaster Jody Shelley and the aforementioned Clark. They’ll be honored before Saturday’s game vs. Vegas.

• One of the bright spots with AHL Cleveland this season has been the return to health and the continued improvement of defenseman Corson Ceulemans, who was a Blue Jackets first-round pick (No. 25) in 2021. The Jackets knew Ceulemans was a project when they drafted him, but he began to pop early last season before he suffered a shoulder injury that ended his season in early January after only 33 games. Ceulemans, on a Monsters blue line that has lost Daemon Hunt and Brendan Smith to the NHL this season, is beginning to thrive, with 3-4-7 in his last 11 games, including a goal in Saturday’s 3-2 win over Syracuse. He’s one of only six first-round picks from that draft who haven’t yet played in the NHL. But he’s getting closer and closer to a chance.

• Blue Jackets Monday Gathering trivia question: Nobody has dominated the Blue Jackets quite like goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky, who, since leaving the Jackets as a free agent following the 2018-19 season, is 14-2-1 with a .922 save percentage vs. Columbus. What NHL goaltender has earned the most career wins against the Blue Jackets?

• The Blue Jackets were impressed by forward Luca Pinelli during his first taste of the NHL. He didn’t score a point in any of the three games, but he was in the middle of a bunch of plays and probably enhanced his standing as a prospect. Here’s Evason: “A lot of huge positives. First time in the NHL. He did everything hard, and that’s what he has to do, just continue to do everything aggressively. He has a skill set that we believe is going to produce (offense), even at this level. His passes were hard. His skating was hard. His forecheck was hard. His intensity was really good. He has to work on some stuff down there as a young player, getting pucks out and getting them in, all those things. He needs to get stronger. But he competes his butt off.”

• Pinelli has scored in each of his two games since being sent back to AHL Cleveland. He had the overtime game winner with just 13 seconds left before the shootout. Clark, who handles the Cleveland roster, said the organization always watches closely to see how a player handles being sent back to the AHL after time in Columbus. Late this week, he raved about Pinelli’s attitude, as well as that of Luca Del Bel Belluz earlier this season.

• Trivia answer: Pekka Rinne, who spent his entire career with the Nashville Predators, went 22-8-3 all-time against the Blue Jackets, making him the winningest goaltender against Columbus. Others in the top five: Evgeni Nabokov (21), Jonathan Quick (20), Tomáš Vokoun (20) and Manny Legace (18).