Befitting one of the busiest days of the NHL calendar, as Don Waddell met with the media Tuesday, his phone went off not once but twice.
Such is the life of an NHL general manager at the start of free agency.
But for the Blue Jackets’ boss, much of his heavy work had been done by that point. While stopping short of a total makeover of his squad, Waddell believes he’s bolstered the team for the upcoming campaign and years to come.
Friday brought the acquisition of veteran forwards Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood, as well as the addition of a draft class the Blue Jackets feel is well-regarded. The biggest moves were the retention of familiar faces, as in the leadup to free agency, Waddell re-signed two big pieces of the CBJ defense in Dante Fabbro and Ivan Provorov.
The signing of bottom-six center Isac Lundestrom as well as the return of Owen Sillinger and the addition of depth defenseman Christian Jaros on two-way contracts finished up Tuesday’s business.
With a tight market making trades and free-agent signings hard to come by, Waddell was somewhat constrained in what he could and couldn’t do to bring in help for a team that missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs by two points. At the same time, he’s perfectly fine with continuity for a squad that to a man said they’re as close as any group in hockey.
“I always say you don’t make changes for the sake of making changes,” Waddell said. “You make changes to try to make your team better. We felt we did that with the few changes we made.
“Anytime guys can be together, especially this group – this is a special group with everything that happened last year, how they stuck together, how they were at the end of the year and moving forward. I think trying to keep the nucleus together was important.
“It doesn’t mean we don’t explore. We always have to look to see what’s out there, see if we can make our team better, but at the end of the day, this group here, we felt very comfortable moving forward with it.”
The biggest piece of the puzzle to put pen to paper over the past few days was Provorov, who inked a seven-year, $59.5 million extension to do what he wanted to do – stay in Columbus. A stalwart of the CBJ blue line the past two seasons, Provorov totaled 12 goals and 65 points in that time and posted a plus-11 rating in 2024-25 while playing 23:21 per night.
The deal came down to the wire, but Waddell was able to lock up a player who hasn’t missed a game to injury at any point in his nine-year NHL career. The old saying goes that the best ability is availability, but Provorov’s durability is second-to-none in a way that has impressed even Waddell.
“I’ve told the story several times,” Waddell said. “Up in Canada, when he dislocated his thumb (Dec. 6 vs. Vancouver) and I asked him how long he was going to be out because we weren’t sure, and he looked at me and said, ‘Don, I broke my thumb, not my foot.’ And he never missed a game. This is a true warrior and we’re very comfortable giving him the term of seven years.”
It’s Waddell’s belief that the returns of Fabbro and Provorov should help a team that finished 25th in the NHL in goals allowed, as there are mitigating factors on the blue line in the eyes of the general manager. The Blue Jackets didn’t bring in Fabbro until a month into the season, added rookie Denton Mateychuk to the lineup in late December, and were without the services of alternate captain Erik Gudbranson for much of the campaign.
Over the last 41 games of the season from Jan. 9 onward, Columbus allowed 2.90 goals per game, 14th in the NHL.
“I think from a defense standpoint overall, if our defense was healthy for the year, having Mateychuk play, Fabbro come in here, Werenski continuing on his way, I think we’re much better defensively,” Waddell said.
While Waddell said before the start of the free-agent frenzy that he had hoped to add a top-six winger, that pursuit was largely extinguished by the notable group of forwards who re-upped with their teams before the calendar even flipped to July 1.
The Blue Jackets lost unrestricted free agents James van Riemsdyk (Detroit), Sean Kuraly (Boston) and Justin Danforth (Buffalo) on Tuesday, but the additions of Coyle, Wood and Lundestrom will fill out the lineup. Lundestrom inked a two-year deal this afternoon, and the 25-year-old center comes to Columbus with seven seasons and 337 NHL games under his belt, with a career-best 16-goal season in 2021-22.
He’ll be looked at to potentially center the fourth line and fill a largely defensive role.
“(He’s) going to fit into our group very well,” Waddell said.
Sillinger made his NHL debut with the Blue Jackets a season ago and can easily swing between AHL Cleveland, where he’s spent much of the past four seasons, and Columbus. Jaros returns to the NHL from the KHL, where he spent the past three seasons, and the big (6-3, 222) right-shot defenseman should push for a spot in the lineup along with prospect Daemon Hunt, Waddell said.
“He’s a big body,” Waddell said. “We watched a lot of video of him. We think he can play right now if we need him to be in the NHL, so he’ll compete for a job. He moves the puck well, plays hard.”
The shopping list isn’t quite complete, though, as the Blue Jackets will continue to look for depth in net. While both Elvis Merzlikins and Jet Greaves are on NHL contracts, the only other goaltenders signed are Zach Sawchenko (two-way deal) and prospect Nolan Lalonde.
“We’re working on that,” Waddell said. “To be honest, we were in on a lot today, and it didn’t work out, but we’d like to sign what we say is a two (or) three kind of guy. ... Potentially, we have to trade for that, which there are some options there. We’re going to explore all those.”
Waddell oversaw a team that improved by 13 wins and 23 points in the standings a season ago, a good mix of talented youngsters and veterans who lead with both their play and in the locker room. As he sees it, nothing has changed in that regard even as the Blue Jackets have attacked the offseason.
“We’ve created a great atmosphere that starts with the coaching staff,” Waddell said. “You have to give them a lot of credit for the atmosphere around the team. You have to be surrounded by good people, good veterans. I think that’s what’s helped our young players tremendously. That hasn’t changed.
“I think with the leadership we have on this team and knowing the potential of the players, I think there’s a lot more yet to come.”
