COLUMBUS, Ohio — Well, the NHL offseason just got a lot more interesting with the news on Thursday that Dylan Larkin has requested a trade from the Detroit Red Wings. You might know that Larkin’s best friend is Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski.

Ladies and gentleman, start your rumors!

The Stanley Cup Final is off to a hell of a start, now headed to Las Vegas with the series knotted 1-1. Meanwhile, the rest of the league is in Buffalo for the scouting combine, where GMs get together for chats that may or may not bear fruit in the coming weeks.

Earlier this week, we answered myriad questions about the Blue Jackets’ short-term plans this offseason, how they plan to get better after missing the playoffs for a sixth straight season.

There’s a few of those here, too, but also more long-range issues, including questions about Werenski’s patience, the Blue Jackets’ overall progress, the club’s next GM after Don Waddell, etc.

How much longer should Zach Werenski tolerate the Blue Jackets’ mediocrity? How much longer will he tolerate it? — Ed P.

It’s a great question, but probably one that only Werenski should/could answer. He’s won a gold medal both in the Olympics and the World Championships. He’s now won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman. Really, the only thing Werenski hasn’t accomplished is team success in the NHL. He has two years remaining on his contract. On July 1, 2027, the Blue Jackets can sign him to a massive extension. I don’t think it’s a reach to say that this coming season could be massively important. The Blue Jackets certainly expect to win in 2026-27, and that would make it a whole lot easier for players to commit long-term. If they take a backward step, who knows? Werenski will be 30 years old when he begins play under his next contract. He’s in his prime now, and he will be then. But he wants to win, and NHL careers don’t last forever.

What do we need to do to sell Werenski on the future? And should we? — G.R.

Well, as of Thursday, I’d be making a call to the Red Wings to inquire about Larkin. Werenski and Larkin are extremely close, and have been for a long time. So there’s a start, but there are other ways. Keep building. Keep growing from within. Both of those things, not just one. Boone Jenner is an unrestricted free agent, and may be playing somewhere else next season. The would open up the captaincy, and Werenski is an obvious choice. Werenski has always spoken highly about living and playing in Columbus.

Where did it all go wrong? It feels like an enormous gulf exists between us and the elites of the league and we can’t do anything about it year after year. — Joshua R.

Let’s go back four years to 2022-23, when the Blue Jackets bottomed out, dumped veterans for first-round picks and started to do what most would call a rebuild. Starting in 2022-23, their overall league finishes, respectively, were 31st, 29th, 20th, and 18th. Since that same starting point, their point totals, respectively, have been 59, 66, 89, and 92. There’s a pretty clear direction there. Sure, the step they took this season wasn’t a big enough improvement to make the playoffs, but I would argue that the gulf isn’t that big and that it’s definitely closing. No question, the end of the season was deflating and demoralizing. But two months later, if you step back, you can see the climb that’s taking place.

If you had to take a guess, what kind of contract does Adam Fantilli get this summer? — Union Blue Soldiers

If it’s a short-term deal, I suspect the Blue Jackets would want the contract to walk him up to one year within UFA status so that they still have that margin of control with the next deal. In that scenario, I’d say three years, $8 million to $8.5 million per season. If it’s a long term deal, the Blue Jackets will pay for the UFA seasons they’d be buying. In that case, I’d guess six years, $10 million to $12 million per season. For a 21-year-old, No. 1 center, you’re paying for his so-far production (already a 31-goal season) and you’re paying for potential, which is enormous.

Do the Blue Jackets need a No. 1 shutdown defenseman to compete for the Cup? — Nick S.

Honestly, I don’t think we’re going to know what they need to compete “for the Cup” until we know what this team looks like in the playoffs. They have to get there first, and in that regard, I think the bigger issues are up front rather than on defense. If the 2025-26 version of Damon Severson can be the consistent version, I like their top four, especially as Denton Mateychuk continues to emerge. I really want to see this group under the pace and pressure of the playoffs. We learned a lot late last season, and what we learned wasn’t pretty. It’ll be fascinating to see how they respond next season and see how they elevate — and who elevates — if they actually get into the playoffs. That’s when beards grow and young players grow up.

We were in the trade market last season for Noah Dobson before he went to Montreal. Any rumblings of the same? — Ethan B.

You’ll recall that the pursuit of Dobson was made while Ivan Provorov was a pending UFA. But once the Blue Jackets bowed out of Dobson talks with the Islanders, they turned back and signed Provorov to a lengthy extension. That top four, with Werenski-Severson and Denton Mateychuk-Provorov, is pretty well-established now. Not saying they couldn’t flip it upside down with a trade or two, but the Blue Jackets’ needs this summer have changed.

Who do you think Waddell will target this summer? My four: Jordan Kyrou, Troy Terry, Bryan Rust, and Pavel Buchnevich — Undisclosed

Could certainly see Rust, who might be on the move from Pittsburgh. Kyrou would bring the potential of speed and scoring, which they need, but he’s not coming off a great season in St. Louis. I could see Jake DeBrusk, who could be on the move out of Vancouver. Your question was submitted before Larkin’s trade request was known, but that’s an obvious phone call for Waddell to make. Truth be told, there are probably several other players available that haven’t drawn public mention just yet. This could be a fun summer.

Will the NHL salary-cap increases outpace the Blue Jackets’ budget? Can smaller-market teams keep pace? — Stephen C.

The NHL also has a salary “floor,” which requires clubs to be within 15 percent of the NHL’s salary cap midpoint. That’s in place to keep clubs from having massive disparities, as in the pre-cap era when the $105 million Red Wings played — and pummeled — the $18.6 million Blue Jackets. So there’s that. Plus, this belief that the Blue Jackets don’t spend money doesn’t stick with the facts. The same people who complain about Provorov’s big ticket last summer and Charlie Coyle’s this summer are often the same who complain that owner John P. McConnell — and by extension, Waddell — aren’t big spenders. If they aren’t at the cap over the next two years, just know that they’ll need to set aside $16 million per season for Werenski in two years.

Do we expect a big offseason move? Or will the McConnells’ internal cap present a challenge for Waddell? They seem content to just grow their equity line and limit expenses. — Sean H.

The most criticism the Blue Jackets have taken in recent summers is for overspending on players — Severson’s contract, Provorov’s, Coyle’s … get ready for the next wave this summer, especially with the cap going up. It’s not my place to tell fans who or how to criticize anybody with the Blue Jackets, and their struggles over time certainly leave them wide open to fair critiques. But the ownership complaint always lands with me as people not knowing who else to blame. If an owner is always visible, they meddle. If they put hockey people in charge and step out of the way — which is the approach most fans say they want — they get accused of not caring, or not being present, when the team is struggling.

Are the Blue Jackets looking specifically for coach with a more flexible approach to power-play zone entries and defensive-zone exits under pressure? — David L.

Well, Rick Bowness has a pretty good idea of how he wants his teams to play and how he thinks these Blue Jackets should play. But, yes, they’re hiring at least two assistant coaches. As reported in this space, one will be Dublin, Ohio, native Trent Vogelhuber. I’m hearing names on the other, but there are lots of moving parts across the league right now. I would expect adaptations in the way the Blue Jackets play, but I don’t think you’re going to see radical changes. Also, see what type of lineup changes are made between now and October. That will impact how they can and want to play, too,

Is Mateychuk our only real trade piece to acquire a top forward via trade? We lack true top prospects because of the Cayden Lindstrom pick, which is looking worse by the day. — Chad. T.

Mateychuk is not the only “real trade piece,” no. And I wouldn’t trade a 21-year-old, top-four defenseman coming off a 13-goal season unless it was part of a monster package coming back. The Blue Jackets’ top prospect is Jackson Smith, who is a really impressive young defenseman. Also, the Lindstrom pick looks much better now than it did a year ago, when you wondered where it was going following his back surgery. He played a full season at Michigan State against much older players, and it was a struggle for him. His sophomore season in East Lansing will be judged much more by his production, but the key in year one was to play games and move beyond his lost season due to injuries. That’s no small feat.

Any thoughts on Rick Nash? I didn’t hear his name mentioned during various GM searches. — Daniel S.

It hasn’t been specifically articulated by the club that Nash will succeed Waddell, but that is the assumption. Waddell took Nash under his wing upon getting hired in Columbus, so unless something has changed, that still seems to be the course. Nash is a quiet guy. He neither seeks nor wants any headlines, so there’s that to consider. But the Blue Jackets actually have a couple of good NHL GM candidates in house.

When will Chris Clark become the next GM? — Mark P.

Yep, that’s the other strong candidate. Clark is very highly regarded around the game. I would suspect his name is going to be start percolating whenever there are GM openings around the league.

What about Misha Donskov as an assistant coach? — Scott Q.

It’s a great question, and, frankly, I’m a little surprised that his name doesn’t surface more when there are openings around the league. For those who don’t know, Donskov is a Columbus guy, but he’s worked all over hockey, from the OHL (London) to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Dallas Stars, Team Canada … the guy has done a little bit of everything, and done it all well. Right now, Donskov is wrapped up with Team Canada for another year, but he’s a name that should be popping up when there are openings. It’s pretty clear from our conversations that he wants to coach, but Donskov could legitimately go any direction he wants.

When George McPhee was hired to start building the Vegas franchise, Donskov was the first guy he hired. And it was Donskov who scoured the likely protected list and helped determine the type of club Vegas could build with the anticipated players available. The guy’s resume is impressive. He’s had talks with NHL teams. He talked with the Blue Jackets when he left the Golden Knights, but the Blue Jackets couldn’t find a spot for him in the front office at the time. It’s definitely a career worth watching.

What does the organization see long term with Jared Boll? What do they like about him? — Daniel S.

Boll is one of those guys who brings people together with his energy and can lighten the mood in a tense room. My sense is that he’s really grown in terms of Xs and Os, and there’s a reason Bowness wants him on the bench after he was initially sent to the press box to be the eye in the sky. People don’t see the work that NHL assistants do beyond the practices and games. Boll is often the guy out with injured players before practice as they work their way back. Then he stays on for practice. Then he stays on after practice and works with the players who aren’t dressing. It’s a lot of work, and it requires a lot of energy. That’s Boll.

Going back to Bowness’ end-of-year tirade, he said some guys “should be happy we don’t have practice tomorrow.” A couple of months later, any additional thoughts on that? — Michael Q.

That’s classic coachspeak for “I would skate them into the ground!” if they had another practice. I remember Ken Hitchcock taking the job and being delighted that the practice rink was “right down the hall” from the main rink. His vow was that, if the Blue Jackets didn’t empty the tank during games, he’d march them over the practice rink and skate them some more. Pretty sure the NHLPA’s ears perked up on that one, and it never happened, but old-school coaches had “punishment” skates once or twice a year. Pretty sure that’s all he meant.

There were surprisingly few call-ups from AHL Cleveland this season. Other than Luca Del Bel Belluz, is there anyone who projects as a full-time NHL player next year? — CVH C.

I would say it’s likely that Del Bel Belluz will play most of his games with Columbus, not Cleveland, next season. That’s seems reasonable. I don’t see anybody else who would do that without being a very pleasant surprise in training camp. But that’s what training camp is for, right? That’s what the offseason is for, right? The Monsters do not have blue-chip prospects — those guys all jumped directly to the NHL — but they have some players who are clearly getting better (Guillaume Richard) and some who are getting left behind (Jordan Dumais).

Why do the Blue Jackets not have a Russian translator on staff? — William P.

There are a couple of different theories here. The Blue Jackets had a “handler” for Nikolai Zherdev back in the day, and many wondered if that made it easier for Zherdev to remain inside his bubble and not really immerse himself with the rest of the club, especially the young guys. Turns out, that was just Zherdev, not the situation. The idea is for the players to integrate, and part of that is learning a passable English. The Blue Jackets have, on occasion, provided a translator for interviews, but only Dmitri Voronkov needs one at this point.

Talk me off the ledge, Porty. It’s incredibly irritating to see the Vegas Golden Knights waltz into the league on a red carpet, have every break bounce their way, and make their third Stanley Cup Final. How does Columbus finally get the breaks? — Nick J.

As a longtime fan of Ohio sports teams, I say … embrace schadenfreude! That’s what sports have become for so many fans these days, especially when your favorite teams chronically struggle. The suffering of your least favorite teams becomes your new enjoyment. It’ll never match the joy of your own team winning (I’m a Browns fan, so I think this is true), but it’s something to occupy your time in purgatory. Hey, give Vegas credit — I know you don’t want to — for really maximizing the system the NHL put before them. And, as proof that modern expansion isn’t just a ready-made path to wins, look at the Seattle Kraken. So I’m not sure you can say they’ve waltzed the red carpet. And, hey, the league is better when there are villains.

Do the Blue Jackets have a sports psychologist on staff or on retainer? Interested to hear your thoughts on having someone to get their mental games in better shape to deal with pressure. — Ben D.

Unless something has changed within the year, the Blue Jackets make a sports psychologist available for players, but it’s not a person who is around the team constantly. Years ago, under Hitchcock, the Jackets were one of the few clubs that had one around them frequently, even on road trips. Let’s be clear, we’re talking specifically about performance-based sports psychologists. As for mental health experts, the NHL and member clubs provide them on retainer as part of the collective bargaining agreement. That’s part of the league-mandated healthcare across the league.

What have you heard about the hometown Remix uniforms? — Charles P.

Nothing. And I don’t like them already. Kidding. They’re expected out in September, just ahead of training camps opening. I’m sure they’ll leak in advance. Stay tuned.

With the official kickoff to grilling season upon us, what is the best condiment combination for a hot dog? Is there a CBJ hot dog speciality? What’s an absolute no-no? — Ed H.

Two demands before we even start adorning this dog. First, the hot dog must be slightly charred. Just a bit. Second, the bun should be grilled or at least toasty. Then, relish, mustard and an onions — in that order — are perfect. I know of no such thing as a Blue Jackets-themed hot dog, but I’d say the marketing department just received its Fourth-of-July marching orders. As for big no-nos … I pass no judgment. But I saw a dude put ketchup and kraut on a dog in Cincinnati once, and I believe that to be a Class 3 misdemeanor.