Now that the Columbus Blue Jackets are fully in off-season mode, it is time to start talking about potential moves they can make. After the season that they had, Don Waddell will want to improve on it, and one of the ways he can do that is by spending a portion of the approx. $40 million the organization has one some big-fish free agents.
In this series, we'll start looking at the unrestricted free agents that "could" be available on July 1st.
Target: Brock Boeser - RW - 28 Years Old - 9 Yrs Experience
Boeser is coming off a down season where he only scored 50 points in 75 games. However, some of that can be attributed to the drama that was surrounding the Vancouver Canucks for much of the season. Teams that are interested in him will likely use that as a reason to offer a bit less money. However, Boeser will still get a fairly good-sized deal offered to him on the open market.
Stats
Boeser has played in 554 games and has scored 204 goals and 230 assists for 434 career points. His career high in points came last season when he scored 73 points in 81 games. Before that, he was always hovering around the 45–55 point mark.
He has also scored 11 goals and 12 assists for 23 points in 29 NHL playoff games.
2025 Columbus Blue Jackets Free Agent Targets: Mitch Marner
Don Waddell and the <a href="http://thn.com/columbus">Columbus Blue Jackets</a> are all set to have a big summer. One could say they could have a franchise-transforming summer. With approx. $40 million to spend, Waddell can start putting his thumbprint on the team and start building a championship-caliber roster.
Previous Salary
Boeser just finished his last year of a three-year deal that paid him an AAV of $6.6 million. His AAV was the fourth-highest on the Canucks and the second-highest forward's salary. NHL insiders have projected that he will land somewhere in the $9 million range for his next deal.
Realistic Chances Of Signing With Columbus
Boeser is a name that has been linked to the Blue Jackets for most of the season. After it was clear that the Canucks were going to struggle this season, a lot of people felt he was a good fit for Columbus.
The reason I think he is a great fit is the market size. Vancouver, much like every other Canadian team, has a ton of noise around it. Noise that at times has made life very hard on Boeser in particular. If he were to look elsewhere and sign with a team like Columbus, they have 1/3 of the media outlets and members, which means less noise. He would benefit a ton from playing in a market where he can just worry about on the ice and not what the media and social media are going to say about his performance.
Plus, he would pair very well with the core of the Blue Jackets now. He could slide in amongst Kent Johnson, Sean Monahan, Adam Fantilli, and Zach Werenski and be part of the reason why Columbus makes the playoffs and maybe even has some real success in the postseason going forward.
Let us know what you think below.
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