The Jackets have several upcoming UFA's and RFA's, and its going to be fun to see how they front office handles it.
It’s Tuesday June 13th, and the Columbus Blue Jackets have already had an interesting summer.
In the last week, the Jackets have traded for Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson, two defenseman the front office hopes can help the blue line and in turn, help the goalies. Provorov has two seasons left on his current deal, while the CBJ inked Severson to an 8-year extension. A pair of moves that left most Jackets fans excited about the future of the blue line.
As of today, the team has $21.5 million signed on the active roster for defense, with another $12 million being on IR. Zach Werenski and Jake Bean being the two players who are expected to be back and ready for the 2023-24 season. The Jackets defense currently have two players who are RFA, Tim Berni and Marcus Bjork. Gavin Bayreuther is the lone UFA for the defense.
Elvis Merzlikins and Daniil Tarasov are the active roster goalies as of now. Nolan Lalonde and Jet Greaves are expected to be the AHL goalie’s next season. I would expect them to sign another. Jon Gilles and Michael Hutchinson, both brought in at the 2023 NHL trade deadline, are both UFA. It will be interesting to see if the Jackets sign one of these two, for some goalie depth, or go outside of the organization and pick one up. The cap hit for the active goalies sit at $6.45 million.
Adam Boqvist -Brad Mills-USA TODAY SportsThe forward group currently carries a cap hit of $36 million, add another million or so for Justin Danforth, who should be back and ready for the season after suffering a shoulder injury last season. The active roster has Lane Pederson as the UFA, specifically being a UFA Group 6. UFA Group 6 means that the player did not accrue the required games played by the age of 25. All signs point to him not re-signing in Columbus. The team also has two more UFA Group 6 players, Joona Luoto and Justin Richards. Both players played the majority of last season in Cleveland.
To see the full cap situation, check out the Blue Jackets Cap Friendly page here
As far as RFA’s, the team has a plethora. Mathieu Olivier, Trey Fix-Wolansky, Josh Dunne and Carson Meyer. I expect all these players to be offered a contract. Mathieu Olivier quickly became a fan favorite after his first year in Columbus, and he probably earned a small raise. As for the other three, Fix-Wolansky has been in the organization since 2019 and has yet to make any significant impact. Carson Meyer was brought in after his college career ended in 2020. Meyer has played in 27 NHL games and has four points but has yet to make the team out of camp.
The Jackets have 19 players on entry level contracts, and some of these kids are going to require some attention soon, including Kent Johnson, Kirill Marchenko and Cole Sillinger. However, after the 23-24 season, Jack Roslovic, Eric Robinson, and Justin Danforth will be UFA. So, they’ll have a little bit of work to do to get the kids signed.
The CBJ front office has some work to do soon, and historically GM Jarmo Kekäläinen has been known to play hard ball during contract negotiations. I don’t know about you all, but I for one hope everything goes smooth and both the team, and players can get this work done without any issues.