The Columbus Blue Jackets made few additions this summer – but the most troubling thing is their current contractual stalemate with star center Adam Fantilli. The Jackets are playing with fire by taking a hard line with Fantilli – and if the standoff lasts long, Jackets fans should be incensed.
The Columbus Blue Jackets didn't have a great summer, adding only a couple of pieces that don’t move the needle enough to make them a Stanley Cup playoff team.
But things have become considerably worse, as Blue Jackets star center, RFA and franchise cornerstone Adam Fantilli hasn't signed to a new contract and hasn’t reported to the team’s training camp.
According to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, Fantilli called coach Rick Bowness to express his disappointment that he still doesn't have a new deal and isn’t at camp. But there’s no question Jackets GM Don Waddell is playing with fire here.
And at a time when nearly every other team has locked up its dynamic young stars with lucrative new contracts, Columbus’ deadlock with its best young player is stupefying.
To wit: the Chicago Blackhawks have locked up superstar center Connor Bedard to a five-year contract worth $15 million per season. Anaheim Ducks star winger Cutter Gauthier inked a six-year deal worth $13.5 million per year. And of course, the Ducks matched the Philadelphia Flyers’ offer sheet to star center Leo Carlsson, paying him $18 million per season.
Certainly, Jackets GM Don Waddell should be thankful another team didn’t offer-sheet Fantilli. At 21, Fantilli doesn’t have the impressive statistics Bedard does, but he’s not far off from Gauthier and Carlsson.
Fantilli did produce seven fewer goals last year than in 2024-25 – going from 31 goals that year to 24 goals this past season – but he also set new career-highs in assists (35) and points (59). Carlsson had 67 points, while Gauthier generated 69.
So Fantilli is in the same vicinity, and it would behoove Waddell and the Blue Jackets to pay him like he’s a crucial component of the team.
Columbus isn't strapped for salary cap space. They’ve got $13.4 million in space right now, so you can see why Fantilli and agent Pat Brisson are holding out for an extension that makes them happy and underscores Fantilli’s value to the organization.
And really, could things get much worse for this Jackets organization if they keep Fantilli on the sidelines at the start of the season? What type of message does that send to Columbus fans – some of the most patient fans in the league? Other than star defenseman Zach Werenski, Fantilli is obviously the franchise’s most important player. What purpose does it serve to play hardball with him?
Players have long memories, and as we’ve seen with scores of other NHLers, they can get essentially the same type of contract in any market they desire. Players force their way out of organizations more than ever, flexing their right to choose their own home for as much as the next seven years. So, by trying to clamp down on Fantilli’s financial compensation, the Blue Jackets are leaving a sour taste in Fantilli’s mouth that could last for years.
If the two sides are as far apart as Portzline is reporting, Blue Jackets fans should be incensed. It’s one thing to try and drive a hard bargain, and that’s something we can respect. But there’s a difference between negotiating tactics and flat-out disrespect, and that’s the dangerous game Waddell and Columbus ownership are playing with Fantilli.
The Blue Jackets had the entire summer to work something out with their top forward, and yet, here we are, at a needless standoff. If it doesn’t end soon, with a smiling Fantilli on a podium talking about how happy he is in Columbus, that’s essentially a fireable offence on Waddell’s behalf.
The Blue Jackets have every right to approach their players in their own strategic way, but make no mistake – Fantilli and Brisson are the ones holding the hammer here. The longer Columbus plays games with Fantilli, the more likely this relationship is to be strained, to say the least.
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