2026-27 Blue Jackets Roster Projection 2.0: The Charlie Coyle Effect

We have reached the start of NHL Combine week. With that, the NHL Draft is less than a month away. Teams are in the midst of actively putting their plans together for how they hope to handle the offseason.

For the Columbus Blue Jackets, they are actively getting ready for what is sure to be an interesting offseason. They still have a lot of business they need to take care of in the form of contracts for their own players as well as making decisions on guys they want to bring in.

Welcome to our 2026-27 Blue Jackets Roster Projection 2.0. Around once a month throughout the offseason leading into the start of the regular season, we will project what the roster may look like. In case you missed our first projection, you can read that here.

In Part 1, we discussed at length the possibility of all four pending UFA’s leaving the Blue Jackets. Today, three UFA’s remain as the team was able to re-sign one of their most important players.

Charlie Coyle signed a new six-year deal to stay with the Blue Jackets. That’s where we will focus most of Part 2 on as the defense and goaltending remain status quo as of this writing.

The importance of re-signing Coyle cannot be understated given the current roster construction.

Center Depth a Strength

Most successful teams have center depth on all lines to lean on. That was one of the strengths of the Blue Jackets in 2025-26 that helped them achieve over 90 points in the standings.

Although it wasn’t enough to make the playoffs, it was good enough to be in the race. Coyle was a massive part of that. His line was the one that was trusted by head coach Rick Bowness in every important critical situation.

Not only did Coyle and his linemates deliver, they were one of the best 5-on-5 lines in the NHL for a period of time. They were making an impact at both ends of the ice.

That’s why the Blue Jackets made it a top priority to re-sign Coyle. They had to. They knew it was going to cost them a premium given he would have been free to sign anywhere.

Six years is a lot for a 34-year old player. While that will be one of the main talking points, the Blue Jackets will cross that bridge when it gets here. Today, they couldn’t afford to lose Coyle. It would have been a massive blow had he walked in free agency. Absent a massive trade, that would have been a hole no pending UFA would be able to fill.

Having Coyle in the fold now ensures depth down the middle on all four lines. He’s also the only right-handed center on the team. He does so many things for this team it would have been hard to imagine them being a serious playoff contender in 2026-27 without him.

Potential Forward Lines

In Part 1, we identified 10 players who are under contract for the 2026-27 season or who were prominent RFA’s in which a deal will get done at some point. Those players were:

• Sean Monahan, Conor Garland, Dmitri Voronkov, Kirill Marchenko, Mathieu Olivier, Miles Wood, Cole Sillinger, Kent Johnson, Isac Lundestrom, Adam Fantilli.

Now add Coyle to the list and you see his importance immediately. Here’s a look at what the lines could look like based on the above players.

• Kent Johnson – Adam Fantilli – Kirill Marchenko
• Dmitri Voronkov – Sean Monahan – Conor Garland
• Cole Sillinger – Charlie Coyle – Mathieu Olivier
• Miles Wood – Isac Lundestrom – ??

There is actually a lot to consider and several key questions we could be asking. We will try to hit some of those here to give you a perspective on the kinds of questions the team must answer.

Let’s start on the top line. Fantilli is already the clear top center on the team. He’s also going to get paid as such. Pay attention to the Connor Bedard and Leo Carlsson situations. That could be a guide to what Fantilli’s next contract may look like. Expect it to be eight digits in length.

Next, who should Fantilli play with? He and Marchenko played a lot together and would seem to be destined to start on the top line together. The Blue Jackets outscored their opposition 38-28 when the two where on the ice together at 5-on-5 (per Nat Stat Trick.) But then who do they put with them? Does Johnson have a big rebound season? What about Voronkov as he has played on the top line before?

This now becomes one of the biggest questions of this offseason for the Blue Jackets. Is the answer to the other member of their top line on the roster or does Waddell go out and make a trade for help there? Given how Johnson and Voronkov played under Bowness, it’s fair to wonder what approach the team will take.

Next, we list Coyle as the number-three center but could easily be the number-two. If Monahan is back to better health, the two can interchange. It was clear Monahan played most of the season through various ailments. If he can regain his form, that will only bode well for the Blue Jackets.

That question mark on the fourth line could be filled by someone in the organization. Waddell has said he wanted to save a roster spot for some open competition.

With the Monsters season now over, did anyone make enough of an impression to give them confidence they could contribute to the Blue Jackets next season?

That question mark could also be a placeholder for an incoming trade. The fact that this opening is there leaves room for several possibilities on how to fill it.

Coyle’s Importance & Next Steps

In all, having Coyle back in the fold was a huge step to lock down the center depth while also providing a clearer picture of what the Blue Jackets need to do. With more trades league-wide being a possibility, we can’t rule out a current roster player being involved in a bigger trade should one materialize.

The other question to consider here is do they really run it back? If the 11 forwards above all make the opening roster, that would be very telling about what the Blue Jackets think of what they have.

But two years in a row of being in the playoff race only to fall short is simply not good enough. The Blue Jackets need to take important steps this offseason not only to qualify for the playoffs but do damage in them.

Running it back would depend heavily on Bowness’ influence and if he can get the team to buy into the way he does things. That feels risky given how last season ended. Look how far ahead teams like the Hurricanes and Golden Knights are. If they Blue Jackets want to shrink that gap, they’ll need to do more than run things back. They need to add impact to their roster.

The 2026-27 season for the Blue Jackets is massive. They’re in “win now” mode. Signing Coyle was a good step. It shows there is a plan he believes in. The focus now becomes the rest of the offseason business and what the Blue Jackets can do to finally get back to the playoffs.

As for what else to watch for in the coming days, Sergei Ivanov’s contract expires on Sunday. Will we hear news of his signing with the Blue Jackets? Seems likely.

The Hockey Writers was able to confirm that Monsters’ head coach Trent Vogelhuber will be joining Rick Bowness’ staff on the bench with the Blue Jackets. Add this to the long to-do list for Waddell to find a new head coach in Cleveland.

Jet Greaves is enjoying a massive World Championships. Not only has he positioned himself well as the Blue Jackets’ number-one, he could be working his way into Team Canada discussions in the future.

Then on Boone Jenner, Mason Marchment and Erik Gudbranson, it’s premature to say the door is 100% shut on all three of them. Waddell is comfortable with talks going towards July 1 as demonstrated with Ivan Provorov. While we still believe the chances of them walking is better than 50/50, it’s still wait and see on all three.

The NHL Combine starts on Sunday in Buffalo with all teams and agents together in one place. We will start finding out what ‘s real and what isn’t as we are now on the fast track to the 2026 NHL Draft.