It’s late July, and the heavy lifting of putting together the Blue Jackets’ 2025-26 roster is done.
That doesn’t mean a few tweaks aren’t still coming, though.
President of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell has been quick to remind reporters that his work never ends, and that not everything in an offseason gets done during the frenetic days around the NHL draft in late June and the start of free agency July 1.
Last summer was a perfect example of that, as the Blue Jackets added major contributors all the way up until the start of the campaign – and even after. James van Riemsdyk signed as a free agent in the lead up to training camp, Kevin Labanc did the same after a strong preseason in New Jersey, Zach Aston-Reese was claimed on waivers mere days before the season and Dante Fabbro was also nabbed on waivers a month into the campaign.
All those players combined to do was play in 246 games – meaning, on average, three of those players were in the lineup for all 82 contests – and notch 33 goals and 91 points for the Blue Jackets while filling key roles.
In other words, there’s still the potential for moves to be made in the months before the Blue Jackets take the ice, with Waddell continuing to look for pieces to add to the organization – in particular in net, where he has his eyes on a swing goaltender who can play AHL minutes or step into an NHL net at a moment’s notice.
Already this offseason, Columbus has added forwards Charlie Coyle, Miles Wood and Isac Lundestrom to bring depth to the lineup, said goodbye to forwards van Riemsdyk, Sean Kuraly and Justin Danforth, and re-signed top-four defenders Fabbro and Ivan Provorov to a defense that got better as the season went on.
While there may still be some more tweaks to come, now seems like a good time to take a look at how the Blue Jackets lineup stacks up. It’s something we do each July once the opening days of free agency are done and the roster starts to take shape.
Take it all with a grain of salt, but here's our first guess at an opening lineup as the Blue Jackets work their way toward the first game Oct. 9 in Nashville.
Forwards
Dmitri Voronkov – Sean Monahan – Kirill Marchenko
Boone Jenner – Adam Fantilli – Kent Johnson
Yegor Chinakhov – Charlie Coyle – Cole Sillinger
Miles Wood – Isac Lundestrom – Mathieu Olivier
Also in the mix: Zach Aston-Reese, Mikael Pyyhtia, Luca Del Bel Belluz, Brendan Gaunce, Owen Sillinger, Hunter McKown, James Malatesta, Jack Williams
Coming off the best offensive season in team history, the Blue Jackets have a lot to like up front. And if you’re putting together a lineup, a great place to start is slotting Monahan and Marchenko together on the top line. The two-way center and gregarious Russian sniper-turned-playmaker were great throughout the entire 2024-25 season, outscoring opponents 45-20 when they were together on the ice at 5-on-5.
It didn’t matter if Voronkov, Jenner or Chinakhov was on the other side, the two clearly had chemistry together and with whoever they played with. That gives the Blue Jackets a lot of options when it comes to building a top line, but we’ll start with Voronkov there given the connection he has with his countryman and how well that trio performed together throughout the season.
You’re also in a good position when your second-line center is a 20-year-old who scored 31 goals a season ago like Fantilli did, and the rising star also proved he could handle top-line minutes with aplomb when Monahan was out. His skill level and growing all-around game gives the Jackets the potential to have a second scoring line that has as much talent and skill as a first line, and the trio of Jenner, Fantilli and Johnson outscored foes 8-3 last year at 5-on-5 so we’ll slot them together to start.
From there, you can start to get a little creative. Coyle and Lundestrom seem set as the third and fourth centers, but you can do a lot with the wings depending on the combinations you’re looking for. There’s a lot of noise around Chinakhov at the moment, but if he remains on the squad, the 2020 first-round pick still has the offensive ability to be a difference maker and could push his way into a top-six role pretty quickly after starting last year on the top line. Sillinger could just as easily be the third-line center, and putting him with Coyle would give the Blue Jackets a lot of flexibility when it comes to taking faceoffs.
It’s probably a bit unfair to Olivier to list him as a fourth-liner after last year’s impressive 18-goal performance, but it’s also fun to imagine him with Wood as the two would be a fast, physical duo that teams would hate to play against. They have both approached 20 goals at points in their career, too, so there’s the potential that would be an above-average scoring combination for a fourth line.
The veteran Aston-Reese could easily slot into any bottom-six wing spot after showing some size, speed and smarts a season ago. Pyyhtia played 47 games last year, and coaches love his defensive responsibility and think there’s some more offensive ability in there as he gains experience. Del Bel Belluz was an AHL All-Star who showed he might be ready for a full-time NHL role in his 15-game call-up in the middle of last season, so he bears a lot of watching heading into camp. All three would be strong candidates to play a lot of games in case of injuries or should their play deserve it.
Gaunce and Sillinger are dependable veteran players who can step in at a moment’s notice, giving the Blue Jackets some solid depth and the Monsters some leadership. McKown and Malatesta have both played NHL games and will be in the mix, while Williams signed with Columbus at the end of the season and looks set to begin his pro career with the Monsters.
Defensemen
Zach Werenski – Dante Fabbro
Denton Mateychuk – Ivan Provorov
Damon Severson – Erik Gudbranson
Also in the mix: Jake Christiansen, Christian Jaros, Dysin Mayo, Daemon Hunt, Stanislav Svozil, Corson Ceulemans
A year after placing 25th in the NHL in team defense (3.26 goals allowed per game), Columbus needs to get better at keeping the puck out of the net to be a viable playoff contender. Of course, a lot more goes into team defense than just the six defensemen on the ice, but there are signs this group has the chemistry to work; the Blue Jackets were 14th in the NHL with 2.90 goals allowed per game in the second half of the season. The two biggest factors in that improvement were the arrivals of Fabbro and Mateychuk, who looked like plus defenders in the time they spent in Columbus.
Starting up top, it seems like there won’t be much debate about the top pair going into camp, as Werenski and Fabbro had excellent chemistry from the second the latter arrived from Nashville. Werenski had a historic season a year ago, finishing second in the Norris Trophy voting and becoming just the ninth defenseman since 1996-97 to notch at least 80 points; it might be expecting a lot for him to repeat those numbers, but at the same time, this is one of the premier players in the NHL and an absolute rock who can play 25 minutes a night on the back end. Fabbro, meanwhile, has some offense to him but plays a solid all-around game that meshes well with Werenski’s offensive talents.
From there, ideally you’d like to have a left-shot and a right-shot defenseman on each pair, but you have to think the Blue Jackets go into next season with a pair of lefties – Provorov and Mateychuk – together. The two meshed quite well after Mateychuk’s promotion, with the Blue Jackets outscoring opponents 26-21 at 5-on-5 with the two on the ice per MoneyPuck.com. Provorov is a solid all-around performer and a veteran presence with Mateychuk, who never looked out of place on the way to earning NHL All-Rookie Team honors and grew offensively as the season went on.
From there, among one-way deals, the Blue Jackets have Christiansen as a left-shot D with Severson and Gudbranson on the right. To start, we put the two righties together, though it will be interesting to see how this develops. Gudbranson remains a towering physical presence and team leader who is an integral part of the squad, while Severson was a healthy scratch by the end of last season whose biggest aim has to be consistency going forward; there were games when he was a play-driving dynamo and others where defensive zone turnovers got the Blue Jackets into trouble.
Christiansen played 68 games a year ago in his first full season in the NHL, and while his offensive production from the AHL didn’t translate over (he finished with one goal and seven assists), he proved to be a solid option.
Jaros and Mayo both signed two-way deals and have NHL experience under their belt, and the Blue Jackets likely won’t hesitate to throw either into the mix if the need arises. Waddell in particular said Jaros will be in the mix for a spot at training camp after playing for CSKA Mosvka a season ago.
Acquired from Minnesota in November, Hunt was also mentioned by Waddell as a prospect whose game could also be NHL ready, so he bears watching. Ceulemans (first round) and Svozil (third round) were taken in the 2021 NHL draft and have been with Cleveland, though the former missed the second half of last season with an injury.
Goaltenders
Elvis Merzlikins
Jet Greaves
Also in the mix: Zach Sawchenko
If there’s any position where things might still be in flux, it’s this one. Waddell noted that he’s still looking for a depth option that can play for the Monsters and also move up to the NHL level should circumstances arise, and the recent trade of Arturs Silovs from Vancouver to Pittsburgh shows the goalie market still may have some musical chairs left in it.
But as of right now, Merzlikins and Greaves are the two NHL goalies. Going into his seventh NHL season, Merzlikins is coming off his most wins (26) since 2021-22 and his best GAA (3.18) since 2021, while Greaves’ exemplary play at the end of the season showed he’s deserving of a full-time NHL shot after four excellent years in Cleveland. It feels like a situation where whoever is the hot hand at the time will get a chance to run with the job, but both should see a fair amount of playing time.
Sawchenko played 33 games for Cleveland last year and will return, while Nolan Lalonde is expected to make his pro debut after four years in the OHL.
