Welcome to the start of the 2024-25 season, at least for us anyway. Training camps open across the NHL this week as we are now under a month away from regular season hockey beginning.
The Columbus Blue Jackets are in Buffalo participating in the Prospect Challenge. They have one more game to play Monday afternoon against Ottawa. Then camp opens on Wednesday with medicals and off-ice fitness testing.
Even with camp opening, there is still some business the Blue Jackets have to take care of before the regular season starts. On Sunday, the team signed a much-needed veteran presence. That’s expected to be only the beginning.
van Riemsdyk Signs
The Blue Jackets have agreed to a one-year contract worth $900,000 with forward James van Riemsdyk. This move was widely expected after he was talking to some teams about a potential PTO. The Blue Jackets stepped up with a one-year contract given their immediate need for help.
van Riemsdyk is exactly the kind of player the Blue Jackets’ locker room needs. Widely considered one of the good guys in hockey, he will be looked upon as a calming influence and leader. He also still has plenty to give on the ice too.
Here is what GM Don Waddell had to say about signing van Riemsdyk.
“James van Riemsdyk has been a very consistent, productive player throughout his career and bringing him to Columbus will not only provide depth to our group up front, but also valuable leadership and another veteran presence in our dressing room.”
The Blue Jackets will be JVR’s fourth NHL team. While spending most of his career with the Flyers and Maple Leafs, he played last season for the Boston Bruins.
van Riemsdyk scored 11 goals and 38 points in his 71 games with the Bruins. At age 35, he becomes the second player signed by the Blue Jackets this offseason who was born in the 1980’s joining defenseman Jack Johnson.
van Riemsdyk is best known for doing a lot of the dirty work in front of the net. He is a seven-time 20-goal scorer and two-time 30 goal scorer in his career. Many of those goals were scored from near the crease. On this one-year contract, he will fill an immediate need.
The question now becomes what other business will the Blue Jackets do between now and the season? Waddell opened up about that on Saturday.
Waddell Speaks
Waddell spent about 10 minutes on Saturday discussing the upcoming training camp and some other details surrounding their current situation. The first thing that stuck out is the opportunity the young players will get this season.
“We got to go out every night and play the best we can, play hard,” Waddell said. “We got to show improvement. We’re going to give our young players an opportunity this year. Some of them have had that opportunity. Some maybe not as much, so we got to give them an opportunity because we got to find out which guys we could move forward with moving into not only this year but the future.”
Waddell reiterates what has been known about the 2024-25 season for the Blue Jackets. They are going through a full evaluation of everyone under a new manager. Young players will get a chance to show what they can do. It will be a fresh start for some.
Not only will young players get a chance, they’ll get a chance in a top role. Expect a lot of mixing on the lines as the team tries to figure out where players belong for their best chance of success. There will be a lot of trial and error.
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Waddell then spoke about the power of togetherness and how it’s a major priority for the team. They want to get the players together in the room as quickly as possible.
“Boone Jenner and I were talking about the guys and we both agreed the quicker we can get guys back in the room together, the better it would be for everybody and a hundred-percent agreed. And so we both worked to make sure we get the guys back. They’re in their element. They’re with their teammates. They’re friends everyday. And I think that’s a big healing part of the process. We all mourn and heal differently, but I think as a team being together that is going to be critical for moving forward.”
Waddell said that both the NHLPA and Ohio Health have been great in providing resources to help the players. Among other things, counselors have been available for support. Waddell believes everything is going well in that area.
Waddell also said on Saturday before signing van Riemsdyk that “we’re at least two forwards short right now.” He went on to say that they may sign one or two guys right now “if we think there’s a good fit for us and for them.” It seems the preference in this case is signing a contract over a PTO. If the Blue Jackets sign anyone to a PTO, another team could sign them to a contract right away.”
Could this mean someone like Phil Kessel is next? Or perhaps the Blue Jackets will look for players from other teams as they figure their camp situations out. Expect at least one more signing to take place in the near future. At this point, Waddell said he’s not worried about the cap floor “yet.”
Side Dishes
- Couple injury updates to share. Waddell said that Justin Danforth might not be ready for the season. He suffered a wrist injury at the end of last season and had offseason surgery. He hasn’t been able to stick handle much. Danforth is scheduled to see a doctor on Monday. “So if he gets cleared now, he’ll be a full go, but it’ll take him a month or so to get going.”
- Kent Johnson is 100% after surgery to repair a torn labrum. He will be a full go at the start of Training Camp.
- As of the end of last week, only Kirill Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov were not in town. They were set to arrive over the weekend. David Jiricek just got to town as well. He just graduated high school, in case you needed a reminder of how young he is.
- The Blue Jackets got into five fights over their first two prospect tournament games. Is there really a need for that in this setting? Monsters coach Trent Vogelhuber said that he’s not telling the guys to look for fights. “I’m saying that we want to stick together for sure and have each other’s backs as teammates and hopefully future teammates. I’m certainly not going to get in the way of them trying to impact the game. It’s not something we’re looking for in a prospect tournament but good for them to stand up for themselves and for each other in a sense.”
- Wednesday will be the annual Media Day at the start of Training Camp. Waddell along with head coach Dean Evason and players Boone Jenner, Zach Werenski and Sean Monahan are scheduled to speak to the media. The team will stream the press conference live on their YouTube page.