The first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs are underway, but for those teams that missed the postseason – like the Columbus Blue Jackets – it’s already time to look ahead to the offseason.
First, there are teams already making changes to their coaching staff. New York (Rangers), Anaheim, Seattle, and Philadelphia have coaching vacancies, and Rick Tocchet’s position in Vancouver is uncertain. New York (the Islanders) fired their GM, Lou Lamoriello, so who knows if coach Patrick Roy is safe there. The Blue Jackets are obviously content with Dean Evason, and they’ve extended several assistants that he inherited: Jared Boll, Niklas Backstrom, and Steve McCarthy. General Manager Don Waddell has made some other changes, however, with dismissals of longtime members of the strength & conditioning, training, and equipment staffs.
The Cleveland Monsters are still playing, having just made it into the Calder Cup Playoffs. They received reinforcements via defenseman Denton Mateychk and goaltender Jet Greaves, and earned an OT victory at home in Game 1 vs. the Toronto Marlies. They head north this weekend for Games 2 and 3 (if necessary) on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
NHL Draft Lottery: May 5 or 6
Depending on the playoff schedule, the NHL Draft Lottery will be held on one of those two dates in early May. Unlike in past years, this event has less importance for the Blue Jackets. They finished with the 13th worst record, and the lottery winner can only move up a maximum of 10 spots, so the best the Jackets can pick is third. Most likely they will stay at 13th, but per Tankathon they have a 4.2% chance to move up to #3 and a 5.1% chance to fall to 14th. The Jackets also have Minnesota’s first round pick thanks to the David Jiricek, and that pick is currently #20. It will drop farther if the Wild advance beyond the first round in these playoffs.
World Championships: May 9-25
CBJ Head Coach Dean Evason has been selected to be head coach of Team Canada in the upcoming World Championships. Keep an eye out for some Canadian Jackets to be on the roster. Boone Jenner, perhaps, after playing a shortened season following his shoulder injury? Team USA defenseman Zach Werenski has already said that he will NOT participate, due to a busy off-season that includes his wedding.
Buyout window: June 15*-30
Beginning on the later of June 15th or the last day of the Stanley Cup Final (last possible day is June 23) and running through June 30, NHL teams may buy out contracts. Waddell told the media that he is not anticipating any buyouts at this time, but let’s see if anything changes between now and then. Elvis Merzlikins and Damon Severson could be possible buyout targets if Waddell is unable to trade them by then.
That June 15th OR last day of the Final is also the deadline for clubs to file for arbitration with restricted free agents. The eligible Jackets are Dmitri Voronkov, Jordan Harris, Daniil Tarasov, Hunter McKown, and Cole Clayton.
NHL Entry Draft: June 27-28
The first round of the draft will be on Friday, June 27, with the second through seventh rounds on Saturday, June 28. At the moment, the Jackets possess seven picks in the draft, with two in the first and seventh rounds, one each in the third, fourth, and sixth rounds, and none in the second or fifth. Don’t be surprised if Waddell moves some of these picks to make more immediate upgrades to the roster.
NHL Free Agency: July 1
Per tradition, the league year begins on Canada Day, July 1, which means it’s the first day that free agents can sign with a new team. Here are the pending unrestricted free agents in the Columbus system:
Forwards: Luke Kunin, Sean Kuraly, Christian Fischer, Justin Danforth, James van Riemsdyk, Kevin Labanc, Joe Labate, Dylan Gambrell, Trey Fix-Wolansky, Owen Sillinger
Defensemen: Ivan Provorov, Dante Fabbro, Jack Johnson
Goalies: Zachary Sawchenko
Waddell already said that they’re looking to extend Provorov and Fabbro. Danforth, JVR, and the Other Sillinger seem like possibilities to bring back, but there aren’t many spots left for them.
Here are the restricted free agents:
Forwards: Dmitri Voronkov, Hunter McKown, Mikael Pyyhtia
Defensemen: Jordan Harris, Samuel Knazko, Daemon Hunt, Ole-Julian Bjorgvik-Holm, Cole Clayton
Goalies: Daniil Tarasov
The priority here is obviously Voronkov, who played on the first line for most of the season. Pyyhtia proved to be a solid bottom 6 option when he played in Columbus, so he should be retained as well. Hunt was the return in the Jiricek trade, but never got called up to Columbus. Not sure if there’s a future here or not. If Tarasov can’t be traded, I expect him to be non-tendered. The goalie tandem in Columbus next season will include Jet Greaves and then either Elvis Merzlikins or some veteran pickup. Either way, Tarasov is no longer part of the future.
What moves are you hoping the Blue Jackets will make this off-season?