Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell introduces new coach Don Evanson
Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell on Tuesday introduced the man he hired to be the team’s next head coach, Dean Evason.
The Columbus Blue Jackets hold the 14th and 20th overall picks in the 2025 NHL Draft and are willing to trade them for the right price.GM Don Waddell seeks established NHL players in return but finds a shortage of available players league-wide.Waddell believes the draft has a clear top tier of seven prospects, with a significant drop-off afterward.While Waddell prefers a trade before the draft, he’s prepared to keep the picks if a suitable deal doesn’t materialize.
The Blue Jackets’ two first-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft are available, but it’ll probably take an established player to get one or both.
That’s the main reason Don Waddell, the Jackets’ president of hockey operations/general manager, still has the 14th and 20th overall picks in a draft held June 27-28 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles while GMs across the league operate remotely in a “decentralized” format.
“We could’ve traded both picks by now,” Waddell said June 26 at Nationwide Arena. “I’ve had offers for both of them, but I didn’t feel there was value for us. So, we’re not just going to trade the picks because I said we’re going to trade them. We’re going to trade them if it’s a meaningful trade for our hockey club.”
Finding the right price is proving to be a bigger challenge than Waddell, a veteran GM, anticipated when he first said in May 2025 that his two highest picks were available. Each time he’s inquired about adding an NHL player or two for them, it hasn’t been enough.
“Right now, there seems to be a shortage of players, because everybody wants players for players,” Waddell said. “There’s a few teams that don’t have first-round picks that might be looking for (picks), but most teams are trying to make deals … ‘hockey trades’ for players. So, it’s been a different year.”
The Blue Jackets have nine pending unrestricted free agents who can explore the open market starting July 1 plus power forward Dmitri Voronkov as a key restricted free agent needing a new contract. Voronkov’s signing rights still belong to the Blue Jackets, which allows Waddell to keep his contract situation warming on a back burner.
The nine UFAs are a different story because each could sign elsewhere, including those the Blue Jackets consider “priority” players.
Adding established NHL players via trades would provide a clearer picture for filling out the Jackets’ roster, but might take patience to see if incoming offers rise as the first round unfolds.
Waddell would much prefer to get something done before the first round even starts but has found it a difficult task.
“I don’t know where all the (NHL) players went, because there doesn’t seem to be enough players to go around for everybody,” Waddell said. “I guess we’ll find out in another week or so, but … I’ve talked to a lot of teams. I’ve been offered to move up from (14th overall) into the eight through 13 range (of picks), but we don’t see the point in that right now. Maybe that changes on draft day, when you have multiple picks in the first round, but right now, it’s been a … I’ll say, ‘Very unique,’ last few weeks for sure.”
Moving up to eighth overall, which would likely require cashing in both of the Blue Jackets’ picks in the first round and possibly more, isn’t high enough for Waddell. The way the Blue Jackets see this draft class breaking down, there’s a distinct group of seven prospects at the top and then a drop.
“I think pretty much everyone agrees the top seven guys are going to go with the first seven (picks) in some order, but after that … the guy who goes eight, we might have him 20th on our list,” Waddell said. “It doesn’t mean they’re not going to play (in the NHL) or it’s a bad draft. It’s just after that first group of (seven) players, there’s certainly a drop-off.”
That drop-off is likely the biggest deterrent to the Blue Jackets getting offers to acquire established NHL players for picks, even among 10 teams without a pick in the first round.
“We’ve had lots of discussions the last few weeks with a lot of teams,” Waddell said. “There’s certainly some teams that don’t even have first-round picks that are waiting to see what might be available, and they’ll start with 10, 11, 12 and work their way through.”
Waddell did complete two trades June 26, including one that sent backup goalie Daniil Tarasov to the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers for a 2025 fifth-round pick (160th overall).
Following that deal, the Blue Jackets currently have eight picks: 14th and 20th overall (first round), 77th overall (third round), 109th overall (fourth round), 160th overall (fifth round), 173rd overall (sixth round), 205th and 218th overall (seventh round).
“We’ll make our hockey club better for today, but we’ve also got to guard the future too,” Waddell said. “So, if we end up keeping both (first-round) picks and picking them, then we’ll get players for the future. I’m still pretty confident there’s something that’s going to break here … before the draft, and if it happens, great. If it doesn’t, we’ll move forward.”
Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
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