While typically in the days before the NHL draft, general managers, scouts and front office members are boarding planes, this year looks a bit different.
Standing in front of a Blue Jackets backdrop at Nationwide Arena on Thursday, Don Waddell addressed the team’s state of affairs heading into draft day and, soon thereafter, free agency. And while he might not be in Los Angeles with the 2025 NHL Draft prospects when the league’s decentralized draft begins Friday night, the process remains relatively unchanged.
Waddell and his team, led by director of amateur scouting Ville Siren, continue to put together their draft list while also looking at the trade and free agency markets to see what can be done to improve the team during the hot stove season.
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“I would love to be able to show you guys this book I keep on all the conversations (I have). I write everything down, and it’s pages of players for trades and, of course, you have the free agent list,” the CBJ president of hockey operations and general manager said Thursday. “But I feel comfortable that we’re going to be able to do a few things that could make our hockey team better. That’s our goal.”
An active participant in the trade market in his more than two decades of experience as a general manager, Waddell made a pair of deals Thursday, acquiring a fifth-round pick in this year’s draft for goaltender Daniil Tarasov and adding forward Brendan Gaunce from Minnesota for forward Cameron Butler.
But when it comes to bigger splashes, Waddell knows that part of leveraging that market is playing the waiting game. Though Waddell has spoken openly about the Blue Jackets' two first-rounders – Nos. 14 and 20 – being available for other clubs, those won’t get moved just for the sake of making a trade.
And those trades have been offered, as Waddell said both No. 14 and No. 20 have been asked about, but none of the offers has made sense from a value standpoint. Waddell even mentioned that he’d been offered the opportunity to pick as high as eighth overall, but that didn’t stick, either.
With the uncertainty in this year’s draft class, especially after the first six or seven picks, waiting to see who’s on the board could dictate what moves are to be made.
“You listen to every deal. I’ve made a lot of deals on draft day (in my career),” Waddell said. “(With pick No. 14), we might have three or four guys that we’re very comfortable with, so we (can) move back to 17 or 18. We know we're going to get one of those guys and pick up another asset. … But I'm also a believer that if there's a guy on that list and you really want him, you just step up and take him.”
With all the chatter about the potential risers and fallers in this year’s draft, Waddell agreed that the rest of the order – outside the “top-seven guys” – will vary based on each team’s scouting department.
“After that, the guy that goes eighth, we might have 20th on our list,” Waddell said. “It doesn't mean it's a bad draft. It's just after the first group of players, there's certainly a drop off.”
All kinds of players have been mocked to the Blue Jackets with their two first-round picks, from centers to wingers to defensemen and even goaltenders. Waddell will be aided through the draft by his scouting team, including assistant director of amateur scouting Trevor Timmins, who was clear when asked about drafting for need versus best-available.
“Best player available,” Timmins said. “When you get away from that, that's when you can make mistakes.”
The staff will not have much time to soak in its draft success, as free agency looms just around the corner starting July 1. Waddell said he’s been in extensive talks with the Blue Jackets’ pending unrestricted free agents – including defensemen Dante Fabbro and Ivan Provorov – but noted that the discussions don’t just halt when the calendar flips from June to July.
“It doesn't stop on July 1 either, because there's a few guys that we signed later on (that) made a pretty good impact with our hockey club last year,” Waddell said.
Waddell noted James van Riemsdyk – ironically enough a UFA again this season – as an example of a late signee that turned out to be a welcome addition to the team. The veteran forward didn’t ink a contract with CBJ until Sept. 15 – just days before training camp began – but went on to score 16 goals in 2024-25.
Beyond the Blue Jackets’ unrestricted free agents, Waddell admitted it’s been difficult to find suitable established players that fit the team’s needs – whether that be in the somewhat bare unrestricted free agent market, or through trades around draft time.
It’s a unique year – it seems that most of the 32 teams are looking to improve their team now, rather than building for the long run. With a market dominated by buyers and with so few sellers, it makes it difficult to sign or trade for impact players.
“I don’t know where all the players went, because there doesn’t seem to be enough players to go around for everybody,” Waddell said with a laugh. “Everybody wants players. There’s a few teams that maybe don’t have first-round picks that are looking for that, but most teams are trying to make trades for players.”
And while things seem to be getting rapidly closer and deadlines seem to be ever-approaching, time doesn’t to be a concern on Waddell’s mind.
CBJ fans will just have to wait and see.
“Time’s not an issue. We have 24 hours every day. I probably look like I haven't slept in a couple days, but I'm not worried about running out of time,” Waddell said. “In this situation, time works in our favor, because a lot of people don't react until those deadlines, and there's deadlines that are coming. … Everything that happens at the deadline is because there's a deadline – you have to do something, right? I look at this the same way.”
