The Columbus Blue Jackets have been busy rebuilding themselves over the last few months. A new general manager (GM) and coaching staff have been putting their stamp on the franchise, which meant the non-renewal of contracts and trades of several players who had been in the organization for a long time. New GM Don Waddell has particularly been decluttering the logjam on the blue line and removing obstructions for the younger defensemen who are hoping to make a name for themselves.
With training camp less than a month away, the Blue Jackets’ defense for the 2024-25 season is coming into shape. Let’s have a look at how things might shake out.
Possible Top Pairing: Zach Werenski & Damon Severson
It is undisputed who will be on the left side of the top pairing. Zach Werenski is the Blue Jackets’ best defender and will be eating the most minutes out of any player this season. After missing most of 2022-23, he bounced back in 2023-24 and was arguably the team’s most valuable player. A top-15 defender in the NHL, Werenski is in the prime of his career and brings legitimacy to the blue line.
Damon Severson is a veteran defender and will be used throughout the right side as needed. He’ll be with the Blue Jackets for the next seven seasons making $6.25 million so he’s pretty well guaranteed a spot in the team’s top-four. Ideally, Severson would slot in on the second pairing, but while youngster David Jiricek acclimatizes to full-time NHL duty expect Severson to get more minutes.
Possible Second Pairing: Ivan Provorov & David Jiricek
The strength of a team’s second pairing tends to turn them from good to great. Honestly, the Blue Jackets’ second pairing will be an X-factor – it could be really good or really bad depending on a couple of variables.
Ivan Provorov was a reliable piece for Columbus last season and is a legitimate top-four NHL defender. Where this might get tricky is his contract situation. He has only one year left on it and an already reduced cap-hit due to salary retention from the Philadelphia Flyers. We talked last season about him being an excellent option as a trade candidate to bring back the most value in return and that likely holds true again this season.
Related: Blue Jackets’ Top-9 Forwards Solidified After Laine Trade
Yes, the Blue Jackets have built up enough cap space that they could re-sign Provorov to a long-term contract at the money he will want, but where is the roster space? With many solid defensive prospects coming up in the team’s system – like Denton Mateychuk, Stanislav Svozil, and Corson Ceulemans – it might not make sense to re-up Provorov. If the aforementioned Severson contract didn’t exist, a Provorov contract would be far more likely. However, committing too many years and dollars to players who will be in their mid-to-late 30s by the end of their contracts doesn’t strike me as Waddell’s style of business.
David Jiricek is the other half of the second pairing X-factor. Its success will depend on how well he adjusts to the rigors of an NHL schedule. Based on last season, Jiricek looks like he is the player that the Blue Jackets hoped he would be when they picked him sixth overall. We just need to see if he can be that guy for a full season. Consistency may be too much to expect from the 20-year-old, though.
Possible Third Pairing: Jordan Harris & Erik Gudbranson
The third pairing will be a little less crowded than you’re used to seeing this season. The past several years have had four or five different players competing for those two roster spots, that’s not as much the case now.
Erik Gudbranson is a lock to be the player on the right side. He’s experienced, a physical presence, and is being paid far too much to be a healthy scratch. He’s actually good enough to hold the position and – with almost 800 games played – is clearly a legitimate NHLer. His best-case scenario is playing an anchoring role as the team’s fifth defenseman helping instill professionalism and defensive accountability as the partner of a prospect.
There are a couple of options for who that prospect could be to start, but Jordan Harris, 24, seems the likely choice. As the return in the Patrik Laine trade, he is of smaller stature but was a solid depth defender for the Montreal Canadiens. At the very least, he should be a steady placeholder on the bottom pairing until someone with a higher ceiling is ready for NHL minutes.
The most likely prospect to supplant Harris is Mateychuk, who has done everything you possibly can at the junior level. He actually even made it tough on the team to send him back to juniors at the beginning of last season, so expect him to push closer to a roster spot this season. Training camp and preseason will have a huge impact on where he plays, as the Blue Jackets really want to make the right decisions with Mateychuk’s development because of his sky-high potential.
Waddell and his brain trust have checked all of the boxes on their to-do list for this offseason. Now that the Laine trade has happened, we’re getting a clearer picture of what the roster will look like. The Blue Jackets’ personnel on defense is good on paper, now we wait to see if new head coach Dean Evason’s system will enable them to have success.
