The Columbus Blue Jackets are now less than a week away from returning to action in the regular season. They will face the Boston Bruins in a big game in the Eastern Conference playoff picture.
Once the games resume, there are just five games that separate the Blue Jackets from the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline. Thanks to a massive 11-1-0 run including winning seven in a row, GM Don Waddell now has some interesting decisions to make.
The Blue Jackets were at one point occupying the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference. That in part led to the dismissal of head coach Dean Evason and the hiring of Rick Bowness.
Bowness has gone 10-1 since taking over helping the Blue Jackets to being the first team out of the playoffs in the East. With more work to do to be a playoff team, Waddell has to decide which areas of the team need addressed and how much he’s willing to part with in acquiring talent.
Waddell stopped by on Thursday for our annual trade deadline conversation. We discussed everything from their potential strategy to decisions on their free agents and much more. A key focus was on how much did their 11-1-0 run change the Blue Jackets’ potential plans? That’s where we’ll begin.
Blue Jackets Not Selling
“Three weeks ago, I would have probably been selling everything now,” Waddell said. “I kind of looked at our UFA’s. We like our team. We like how it’s going right now. You say well, instead of going out and buying more UFAs, I have the group of guys I want here. In saying that, maybe (we) adapt a little bit. There might be a UFA that we pick up.”
“But if I’m going to do anything, it’s going to be players with term that we like. I’m not so much interested in paying a big price to rent players at this point. I look at our players. If for some reason they don’t stay, they’re our rental players right now.”
Among the notable UFAs are captain Boone Jenner, Charlie Coyle, Mason Marchment and Erik Gudbranson. Waddell says there are multiple things to consider regarding their futures. Do they want to stay with the Blue Jackets? And can the team find the right deal if they do?
“I think all of them have expressed that they like it here and they like what we have going on,” Waddell said. “Are we about to pay them all? I don’t know. There’s money and term. You got to be careful with some of the contracts. We got some younger guys but got some older guys too. You can’t (sign them all) just because you want to keep guys. Term becomes a factor.”
Waddell did spend time over the break talking to the agents of those UFAs. He admitted there have been no negotiations with any of the UFAs at this point but there have been talks centered around how everyone feels about how things are going.
“They potentially want to stay here,” Waddell said. “Because it’s a little bit tricky. The one thing you don’t want to have right now is a bad negotiation where we’re so far apart. Because we got things going right now, if guys want to stay here, I’ve said we will find a way to keep them here. It doesn’t have to get done right now.”
Identifying Needs & Approach
Waddell and the Blue Jackets constantly talk amongst themselves about what the team needs. At this point in time, they are of the belief that there aren’t a ton of holes to fill. However, they will look at anything that makes sense.
“Rick (Nash) and I talked almost every day during the break and we really don’t feel like we have a big hole any place,” Waddell said. “Not to say you can’t always get better, but there’s not one position that we’re sitting here saying we have to upgrade. (Rick Bowness) being here for weeks now, he’s got a pretty good feel for these guys and he really believes in these guys as we’ve believed in them all season long.”
How does Waddell balance the act of rewarding his team for their play versus protecting their longer-term assets? In the general manager’s words, they have to be careful what they do.
“You got to be careful because of two things,” Waddell said. “One is assuming if you do something that means somebody’s coming in a lineup either through a trade or just out because of the numbers thing. Everybody’s right now doing a pretty good job for us. The chemistry of the team, I think you talk to the guys. I think you’re going to get the same feeling that they feel like we’re a playoff team and we’ve got to go out and do it.”
“Adding at the deadline doesn’t work as well as what people, I guess believe it works. Because remember, only one team wins at the end. There’s been a lot of teams that traded a lot of assets for not only picks but players, that go out in the first round. We certainly at this point are a franchise aren’t going to do that.”
Part of the Blue Jackets’ approach will be identifying which teams are buyers and which are sellers. Some teams might not even know yet. Waddell says he has a pretty good idea at this point who those teams are.
“I think I have a pretty good feeling,” Waddell said. “I’ve talked to more teams the last few days. Everybody’s getting back at it as you can imagine. There’s more buyers than there are sellers. If you’re going into the buying market, you’re paying probably a premium because you’re going to be competing against multiple teams.”
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Waddell admits he keep tabs on everything when it comes to a player becoming available and what the price ultimately was. With teams trying to drive prices up, keeping a book on these things help him determine who is more trustworthy to work with than others.
“I keep a book on all this stuff anytime a player becomes available and I hear what the team’s asking for and then see what they really get. I keep track of all that. It was worse probably 5-8 years ago than it is now because there’s so much above board. But you know which guys are probably stretching the truth and they say they got a second and I say okay, I’m not giving you a second. And then they end up trading the player for a third a week later.”
“I always say in this business and I went through it with (Yegor) Chinakhov. I never, ever told anybody I had this or that until I had something. It’s just the way I operate.”
Side Dishes
- Waddell said that he hasn’t had any conversations yet with the pending RFA’s on the Blue Jackets. That list includes Adam Fantilli, Cole Sillinger and Jet Greaves. Waddell said he anticipates having a talk with Fantilli’s agent Pat Brisson in the next week. “I don’t anticipate anything getting done during the break on the RFA’s for sure.”
- On the rising salary cap, Waddell says ownership has been very supportive when he’s had a need. “I know what’s doable and what’s not doable. I’m not going to take something to them that I just don’t truly believe in. The $105 million, until we start being a playoff team consistently, it is not practical to think we’re going to spend $105 million in salary next season. It’s just not practical. So you got to weigh all that together. Ownership, as we just went through the whole coaching change, they’ve been very supportive I think. They haven’t said no to anything I want to do, that’s for sure.”
- League wide, Waddell thinks there could be some moves right after the trade freeze lifts. “I think there will be one or two deals done here pretty quick just from the rumblings I’m hearing. I think it’s going to be an interesting trade deadline.”
