The puck officially dropped Sept. 17 at Nationwide Arena to open the Blue Jackets’ on-ice work at training camp.
They’ve undergone slight changes in their five months away, but remain mostly the same team that finished last season (2024-25) on a six-game tear to fall just shy of a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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A handful of depth players are gone, including forwards Sean Kuraly, James van Riemsdyk and Justin Danforth, replaced by Charlie Coyle, Miles Wood and Isac Lundestrom. Goalie Daniil Tarasov, now with the Florida Panthers, will be replaced by Jet Greaves. Winger Yegor Chinakhov made a trade request that wasn’t granted. Several support staff were replaced, but the Blue Jackets’ coaching staff returns intact for a second year together.
Now, it’s time to see how it all comes together for the 25th season in Blue Jackets history. Here are five storylines to watch:
Zach Werenski set a Blue Jackets’ franchise scoring records for a defenseman last year by posting 23 goals and recording 59 assists for 82 points.
Zach Werenski aims to match or exceed his best NHL season
After finishing runner-up to Colorado’s Cale Makar for last season’s Norris Trophy, which goes to the NHL’s top defenseman, Zach Werenski heads into camp with one big question mark looming overhead.
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Can he do it again?
Werenski went into 2024-25 with the mindset that he’d take more shots if given the opportunities, and it sparked the best offensive season of his entire career. He set franchise scoring highs by a defenseman with 23 goals, 59 assists and 82 points while posting a +12 plus/minus rating, launching a career-high 298 shots and leading the NHL in average ice time at a whopping 26:45 per game.
He missed only one game, too, logging the most games (81) since appearing in all 82 of the 2018-19 campaign, his third season. Should the Blue Jackets get anything close to these numbers again, they will almost certainly stay in the chase for a playoff spot all the way to the end again.
Blue Jackets goalie Jet Greaves was 7-2 last year with a 1.91 goals against average and .938 save percentage.
Jet Greaves should push Elvis Merzlikins for Columbus Blue Jackets’ top goaltending spot
Consistency between the pipes has been an ongoing issue for the Blue Jackets, primarily because Elvis Merzlikins is the team’s highest-paid option, and he’s struggled at times. For several years, Merzlikins has run either scorching hot or ice cold, taking the Blue Jackets with him on the rollercoaster ride.
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A couple of those seasons, the Jackets’ lineup was so riddled with injuries, it wouldn’t have mattered who played goalie, but finishing two points short of the playoffs last season put a spotlight on the issue. So did Greaves, a rookie, who excelled in a starter’s role for the final five games while Merzlikins was concussed.
Greaves posted jaw-dropping numbers during a five-game stretch when Columbus’ playoff hopes rode on winning games in regulation. He’ll start 2025-26 as Merzlikins’ backup and could provide an internal push that finally gives the Blue Jackets their strongest goalie tandem since Joonas Korpisalo was around.
Blue Jackets forwards Kent Johnson (left) and Adam Fantilli await the start of a Dec. 19 game against the Devils.
The Blue Jackets have a tantalizing blend of productive veterans and emerging young stars who can all handle leadership roles.
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The youngsters include center Adam Fantilli and right wing Kirill Marchenko. The roster also features talented right wing Kent Johnson and three power forwards with potential in Dmitri Voronkov, Cole Sillinger and Yegor Chinakhov. Denton Mateychuk, a highly skilled defenseman, joined the scoring mix as a rookie, and he wasn’t recalled from the AHL until December.
The Blue Jackets are loaded with impressive young talent, which is how they set a franchise record with 267 goals last season despite trading Patrik Laine in August 2024 and losing star left wing Johnny Gaudreau to a tragedy before camp. Almost every young player the Jackets brought up met or exceeded their expectations, and they’ll need to do it again to reach the postseason.
Development in the NHL, however, is rarely linear. Any backward slides by young players must be countered by somebody else exceeding expectations.
Yegor Chinakhov can still boost Columbus Blue Jackets lineup
Despite making a trade request public through his agent this summer, Chinakhov remains a Blue Jackets forward. In fact, he’s a big X factor up front after a fourth straight season with a limited role due to injury.
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A nagging back injury last season limited him to 30 games after an impressive start that included a stint at left wing for each of the top two lines. Chinakhov has shown flashes of immense skill when healthy, but he’s also been limited by multiple injuries and inconsistency.
The best way to force a trade, assuming he still wants one, is to iron out those two areas. His shot, skating, size and strength will take care of the rest.
Columbus Blue Jackets have questions to answer on defense
Speaking of X factors, a big one resides among the defensemen.
Damon Severson, a right-handed shooting veteran who’s well paid, must regain the coaching staff’s trust and earn one of the top four defensive spots. The Blue Jackets’ top two pairs should probably be filled out by veterans, starting with Werenski (left) and Dante Fabbro (right) followed by Ivan Provorov (left) and Severson (right).
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That would give the Jackets two solid veteran pairings and push Mateychuk, who’s still essentially a rookie, into a more realistic everyday role working the left side of the third pairing with hulking veteran Erik Gudbranson on the right.
Consistency has been Severson’s issue, too, so nothing is set in stone.
Dispatch Blue Jackets reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com and @BrianHedger.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets open 2025-26 training camp: 5 storylines