The eyes of the hockey world were on the Columbus Blue Jackets when the NHL transitioned from the Stanley Cup Final to the off-season in late June.
Columbus, fresh off missing the postseason for the seventh consecutive season, were subject to a number of trade rumours surrounding star defenceman Zach Werenski after reports indicated that his long-term commitment to the team was in question with his contract expiring after the 2027-28 campaign.
Werenski, 28, is fresh off winning the Norris Trophy as the league’s top defenceman last season after he registered 22 goals and 81 points in 75 games while averaging 26:37 of ice time.
The news of his possible availability sent fans and the media into a frenzy of speculation over where the superstar blueliner might land if the Blue Jackets elected to trade him.
However, general manager Don Waddell said that, from his point of view, the situation was not all that desperate.
“The difficult part of [his situation] was the media because the media got involved in our discussions and our discussions were much different than what was portrayed at times,” Waddell told TSN1050’s First Up on Tuesday. “First of all, we can’t negotiate a contract [extension] until next summer with two years left [on his deal]. That got mistaken as that we wanted to trade him, and he wanted to be traded.
“It was always discussed that, if there was something that made some sense, I would bring it to him.”
Adding to the frenzy, there was a trade that Waddell deemed worthy enough to bring to Werenski.
TSN Hockey Insiders Darren Dreger and Pierre LeBrun reported on June 30 that the Blue Jackets had a deal in place to send Werenski to the Dallas Stars, with speculation indicating that a package including defenceman Thomas Harley would go the other way.
Werenski, who has a full no-movement clause, decided that he’d rather remain a Blue Jacket.
“It’s well known that we were talking to Dallas about a trade when I called his agent,” said Waddell. “Within an hour I got a call back saying that Zach doesn’t want to go anywhere and he wants to be a Blue Jacket.
“I [then] had a great meeting with him where he said that he’s been here 10 years and he wants to see the team back in the playoffs and he’s fully committed here. What the future holds, we’ll figure that out when the time comes. But for now, he’s very excited about staying here and taking this team where we need to get back to, the playoffs.”
The Blue Jackets’ off-season involved more than Werenski’s future as the team continues to try to improve to reach the playoffs.
Columbus re-signed pending unrestricted free agent Charlie Coyle to a six-year extension in May and then added veteran forward Valeri Nichushkin in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche right before the start of free agency.
The team had more than $25 million in cap space entering free agency, but remained relatively quiet, only signing veteran forward Ryan Lomberg and re-signing defenceman Erik Gudbranson on July 1.
Waddell said the reason for this is to protect the franchise as they still need to find new contracts for restricted free agents Adam Fantilli, Jet Greaves, and Cole Sillinger.
Greaves and Sillinger are scheduled to go to arbitration next week, with the team hoping to agree to new contracts before it gets to that point.
However, for Fantilli, the team is keeping cap space available to protect themselves from an offer-sheet scenario that has already happened to other players in his situation this off-season.
The New Jersey Devils signed Utah Mammoth restricted free agent Barrett Hayton to a one-year $4.78 million offer sheet on July 1. Two days later, the Philadelphia Flyers handed Anaheim Ducks star centre Leo Carlson a huge five-year, $90 million offer-sheet to make him the highest-paid player in the NHL.
Both teams elected to match the terms in order to keep the players in their organizations, and the Blue Jackets want to have the space available to do the same if they’re forced to with Fantilli.
“You say we have $25 million in cap space but with Fantilli and the two arbitration cases, that money can go very quickly,” said Waddell. “You never want to put yourself in position where you don’t have enough cap space if you ever did get an offer sheet.”
Fantilli, 21, was drafted third overall by the Blue Jackets in 2021 and was third on the team in scoring last season with 24 goals and 59 points in 82 games.
Columbus views Fantilli as a key part of the team’s future moving forward and negotiations on a new deal are ongoing.
“The good thing with Fantilli is that I talk to his agent all the time and we’re in a good-faith negotiation,” said Waddell. “I think communication between the player and the team, and the agent and the team is so important. You can’t break off those discussions.
“You may not always agree with what’s coming back your way, but as long as you’re talking, you feel confident that you’ll get a deal done.”
As the off-season enters the middle of July, the Blue Jackets feel as though they are as active as they’ve ever been.
Waddell said that while they settle things with their restricted free agents, they are focused on improving their team via the trade route. However, once those contracts are settled, they could circle back to players that remain unrestricted.
“We have been talking to teams about trades, which I think is the route we have to go through at this point,” said Waddell. “If things get settled, I think there’s a few guys we think we still could get that we’d like to add. When talking about free agency on July 14, there are more talks still going on about movement around the league than in years past.
“Usually by this time, things start to slow down, and August is usually the slowest month. Normally things shut down pretty quick, but not here in Columbus with everything we got going on. I think here in July it’s going to continue because there are still a few guys who need to get signed.”
