Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: Changes coming soon, but which UFAs stick around

New York Times

11 hours ago

A collection of notes, insights, ruminations and did-you-knows gathered throughout the week for the Columbus Blue Jackets:
Just think, one month from now — after the NHL buyout window opens and closes, the entry draft is held, and the league's free agency bonanza plays out — the Blue Jackets could look significantly different than the club that barely missed the playoffs in April.
Advertisement
Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell wants to add a top-six forward. He also wants to upgrade the defense, particularly on the right side. And, though everybody within the organization is playing it coy, there's a sense they want to make sweeping changes in goal, too.
Yeah, that's all.
However, before Waddell gets to his roster adds, he'll have to make some difficult decisions about who stays and who goes. The Blue Jackets have nine players who are pending unrestricted free agents, meaning they could sign with any team on July 1 unless Columbus re-signs them first.
Except for two unrestricted free agents whom Waddell wants to sign, this is a landscape with many moving parts, such that a few veteran UFAs might be exposed to free agency even if there's a chance the Blue Jackets end up retaining them.
'I've talked to some of (the UFAs),' Waddell told The Athletic. 'I haven't talked to all of them. There are some priority guys, but we're going to make some changes.'
Here's a breakdown of those players, sorted by the likelihood that they'll be back in a Blue Jackets sweater in 2025-26:
Ivan Provorov, D: This one has been simmering for some time. Waddell met with Provorov's agent, Mark Gandler, at the NHL scouting combine in Buffalo last week, but it's unclear if anything has changed. Provorov is 28, which makes it the perfect time for him to land a long-term contract. He could sign for seven years on the open market or eight years with Columbus, but the Blue Jackets have tried to get him under contract with a shorter term. Both sides can justify their positions, and the talks have remained amicable. As unsettled as the Jackets' blue line has been, it would be hard to let the sturdy, reliable Provorov walk.
Dante Fabbro, D: Playing next to Zach Werenski is a sweet assignment, but not everybody can keep up. Fabbro, a waiver claim from Nashville early last season, clicked instantly and was a much-needed upgrade on the right side. Fabbro had 9-17-26 and a career-high plus-23 in only 62 games, and there will most definitely be a market for him, especially as a right-shot guy with moderate skill. But if the Jackets keep both Provorov and Fabbro, are they making big changes on the back end?
Dante Fabbro gets his first goal as a Blue Jacket!#CBJ pic.twitter.com/r59DH5y5WJ
— FanDuel Sports Network Columbus (@FanDuelSN_CBUS) November 17, 2024
Justin Danforth, F: Not sure what this means — Danforth declined to elaborate — but the 30-year-old versatile forward switched agents this offseason. Pat Morris now represents him. It appears that Danforth wants to stay with the Blue Jackets, which gave him his NHL opportunity. However, Waddell must be smart and remain flexible. Danforth's ability to take right-side faceoffs is a plus, but the Jackets might seek other options if they can't meet on terms.
Advertisement
James van Riemsdyk, F: It would be hard to let van Riemsdyk walk after all he meant to the Blue Jackets last season. He scored 16 goals and 36 points in limited minutes. He played up and down the lineup, never looking out of place. He was the immovable, marble statue in front of opposing goalies, which every team needs. Those late-season scratches of van Riemsdyk still don't make any sense, do they?
Sean Kuraly, C: This one stings. Kuraly signed four years ago with the Blue Jackets, his hometown team, to help stop the bleeding when it seemed like every significant player was requesting a trade. The four years didn't go as he expected, but this season was certainly a high point. Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason sharply curtailed his playing time and curiously took him off the penalty kill, which is usually a sign of disfavor.
Jack Johnson, D: The Jackets used Johnson more than they expected. He played 41 games — exactly half the season — and provided some physicality on the third pair and penalty kill, especially after Erik Gudbranson went down. But, seriously, if the Blue Jackets are going to make changes on defense, they can't all come back.
Luke Kunin, F: Waddell parted with a fourth-round pick to acquire Kunin at the trade deadline, but it wasn't a perfect fit. He played 12 games to no great distinction.
Christian Fischer, F: A waiver claim by the Blue Jackets at the NHL trade deadline, but Fischer played only one game in the final month of the season.
Kevin Labanc, F: Waddell added Labanc off waivers before the start of the season because they were desperate for veteran forwards after a crush of late training camp injuries. He played 34 decent games before a shoulder injury ended his season.
The Blue Jackets have had seven first-round draft picks in the last four NHL drafts, four of them in the top 6 and six of them in the top 12 of the draft. The building continues, with Waddell looking to make significant roster upgrades. But the rebuilding is done.
Advertisement
Waddell heads to this year's draft armed with two first-round draft picks: He has the Blue Jackets' pick at No. 14 overall but also has the Minnesota Wild's first-round pick at No. 20. That was acquired early last season when defenseman David Jiricek was traded to the Wild.
Nobody expects Waddell to select a player with both of those picks. He's already dangling one (or both) of them in front of other GMs in an attempt to get immediate roster help.
The Athletic asked Waddell this week to put a percentage chance on the likelihood he selects a player with each of his first-round picks.
'I think it's 50-50 (that we take) both,' he said. 'I could move both of them. If we're helping our team immediately, I'm not opposed to that, for sure. Probably, though, I would think we'd keep one of them. But I can't say 100 percent.
'Like I always say, you never know what's going to be presented to you or what you can chase down. You have to keep your options open, that's for sure.'
The Blue Jackets have promoted Aron Augustitus to video goal coach, replacing Dan Singleton, who had held the position since the franchise's inception until his contract was not renewed after this season. Augustitus had served as Singleton's assistant for the past four seasons.
Waddell said he's 'getting close' on hiring an equipment manager and is beginning the process of finding a strength and conditioning coach. In the meantime, Blue Jackets players are utilizing their off-season conditioning resources under the guidance of Ryan Gadbois, who has served as Kevin Collins' assistant for the past four seasons.
Late last month, the Blue Jackets informed team services director Julie Gamble, who started during the inaugural season, that she wouldn't be back with the club for next season. Waddell indicated that a replacement will likely be hired from within the organization.
Advertisement
• It became clear in recent NHL awards shows that the league needed to change the format to breathe new energy into the proceedings.
Part of that involves presenting most of the awards before the show, surprising the award winners in meaningful ways, and capturing the moments on video.
None were more meaningful than Meredith Gaudreau showing up at the suburban Toronto home of Blue Jackets center Sean Monahan to present him with the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy.
Monahan was surprised, he said. 'I had no idea. I was kind of waiting around all dressed up for a while because I was told we were doing family pictures. My mom was here to help with the little guy (Leo). It was … it caught me off guard. It was presented in a special way. They did a great job to surprise me.'
In case you missed the video:
• The Masterton Trophy is voted on by members of the Pro Hockey Writers' Association, and 209 members filed ballots this year.
Monahan, with 523 points, edged finalists Gabriel Landeskog of Colorado (431) and Marc-Andre Fleury of Minnesota (293) to become the first Blue Jackets player to win the award.
Monahan received 75 first-place votes and appeared as a top-three pick on 141 ballots. Other receiving first-place votes: Landeskog (58), Fleury (32), Washington's Alex Ovechkin (16), Vancouver's Dakota Joshua (six), Philadelphia's Ivan Fedotov (five), Tampa Bay's Ryan McDonagh (four), Calgary's Justin Kirkland, Chicago's Pat Maroon, and Utah's Mikhail Sergachev (two), Los Angeles' Drew Doughty, Toronto's John Tavares, St. Louis' Ryan Suter, Carolina's Jordan Staal, San Jose's Marc Edouard Vlasic, Anaheim's John Gibson, Boston's Joonas Korpisalo (one).
• Evason finished fifth in voting for the Jack Adams Trophy, awarded late last week to Washington Capitals coach Spencer Carbery. Evason received five second-place votes and 15 third-place votes, finishing behind Carbery, Winnipeg's Scott Arniel, Montreal's Martin St. Louis and St. Louis' Jim Montgomery.
Advertisement
• After spending four seasons as an assistant coach with the Vegas Golden Knights and the past two in the same capacity with the Dallas Stars, Columbus native Misha Donskov has worked his way to the cusp of getting an NHL head coaching job.
Donskov, who went deep in the process with the Boston Bruins and might have interviewed for other openings this off-season, now has an opportunity before him with the Stars. Last week, Dallas fired coach Pete DeBoer, embarking on a coaching search at a point in the off-season when all of the other openings are filled.
Donskov, whose family owns Donskov Strength and Conditioning, Inc. in Columbus, was interviewed by the Blue Jackets after leaving Vegas in 2023, but joined the Stars instead.
• The Blue Jackets signed center Oiva Keskinen to a three-year, entry-level deal earlier this month after a solid season for Tappara Tampere in Finland's top league.
Keskinen, a seventh-round pick (No. 194 overall) in 2023, will attend the development camp, the NHL prospects camp and NHL training camp, Waddell said, but he'll be one to watch as training camp progresses into its final days. There is a stipulation in his contract that allows him to return to Finland for one more season if he doesn't make the Blue Jackets' roster out of camp.
• Cayden Lindstrom, the Jackets' No. 4 overall pick last summer, flew home to Vancouver (from Medicine Hat) earlier this week to get a few days around family and friends. But he'll be back in Columbus later this month, arriving the week of the draft and staying through development camp, which he mostly missed last season (back injury).
In early July, he'll head to East Lansing, Mich. — he's committed to Michigan State in the fall — to take part in the Spartans' six-week off-season camp. Then, after a 7-to 10-day trip back to Vancouver, he'll return to East Lansing to prepare for the start of the academic school year. He won't be able to attend the annual prospects tournament or NHL training camp because it conflicts with his college schedule.
Advertisement
• Lindstrom was asked if he had any issues with the knee-on-knee hit he absorbed from Spokane's Saige Weinstein during the Western Hockey League championship series. Lindstrom was not 100 percent the rest of the way, missing the first game of the Memorial Cup.
'Nah, I walked into that one,' Lindstrom said. 'I was rounding (making a sharp turn) and just ran into him. I have no issues with it. I'd try to lay a hit, too, if somebody was rounding behind the net.'
• Simon Olivier, father of Blue Jackets forward Mathieu Olivier, was named head coach of the Victoriaville Tigres of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. After retiring as a player in 2009, Olivier has coached at several different levels, including four seasons as an assistant coach with Victoriaville.
• On Dec. 18, 2020, The Athletic published a lengthy piece on former Columbus Chill player Al Novakowski, who detailed the sexual abuse he said he suffered at the hands of former Ohio State team doctor Richard Strauss.
Novakowski's story, along with those of other Strauss victims, is told in a one-hour, 48-minute documentary called 'Surviving Ohio State.'
The film, produced by George Clooney and directed by Academy Award winner Eva Orner, makes its debut this weekend at the Tribeca Film Festival, which is underway in New York City. The documentary premieres on HBO on June 17. Here's the trailer:
(Photo of Ivan Provorov: Ben Jackson / Getty Images)