Lightning Sign Benjamin Rautiainen To Entry-Level Contract
The Tampa Bay Lightning have inked one of their draft selections from last summer. According to a team announcement, the Lightning have signed forward Benjamin Rautiainen to a three-year, entry-level contract. According to Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times, the Lightning had to buy out the final year of Rautiainen’s contract with Tappara to facilitate the deal.
As mentioned, Rautiainen, 20, was drafted 108th overall by the Lightning in the 2025 NHL Draft. The Tampere, Finland native was playing for the Finnish Liiga’s Tappara, scoring 10 goals and 33 points in 50 games with a +4 rating. Additionally, he registered two goals and four points in nine postseason contests.
This season, Rautiainen turned heads. He was easily the most dominant force in Finland’s professional ranks, scoring 25 goals and 77 points in 59 games with a +24 rating. The next closest scorer was Joachim Blichfeld (33 goals and 71 points in 52 games), who is seven years older than Rautiainen.
Always looking for cheap depth, Rautiainen made Tampa Bay’s decision relatively easy. Although it’s typically unreasonable to expect a younger player to make the jump from Europe to the NHL, unless they’re coming from the KHL, there’s a non-zero chance Rautiainen cracks the Lightning’s roster out of training camp, albeit as a 12th or 13th forward.
Still, it wouldn’t hurt Rautiainen to begin the 2026-27 season with the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch. Rautiainen’s ability to provide offense in multiple ways should blend well with his peers in Syracuse, who recently tied for eighth in AHL scoring.
Predators Sign Felix Nilsson To Entry-Level Contract
According to a team announcement, the Nashville Predators have signed forward Felix Nilsson to a three-year, entry-level contract. The Predators didn’t disclose the financial terms of the deal, but it will carry through the 2028-29 season.
Nilsson, 20, was drafted with the 43rd overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft by Nashville. He was coming off a solid season for Rögle BK’s under-20 team, scoring 19 goals and 41 points in 36 games with a +17 rating. Nilsson did appear in 18 games for Rögle BK in the SHL, though he went scoreless.
The Stockholm, Sweden native gradually became a full-time SHLer the next season. He established a relatively low bar, scoring one goal and three points in 41 games with a -5 rating. On the international scene, Nilsson registered one goal and eight points in 16 games for Team Sweden’s U19 & U20 teams.
During the 2024-25 campaign, Nilsson continued his evolution into a formidable top-six forward. He completed the season with five goals and 22 points in 40 games, finishing with a -3 rating, which showcased his above-average playmaking abilities. Playing for Team Sweden in the U20 IIHF World Junior Championship, the then 19-year-old recorded one goal and six points in seven games, helping Sweden reach the Bronze Medal game.
This season, it became apparent that Nilsson was ready to make the jump to North America. He recorded 14 goals and 40 points in 52 games, achieving a +18 rating. He tied for 18th in overall scoring while leading all under-21 players in points.
Unless the Predators make several subtractions to their forward corps this offseason, Nilsson will likely begin his professional career with the AHL’s Milwaukee Admirals. The Admirals have been a solid team in recent history despite taking a step back this season.
Timo Meier Given One-Game Suspension In World Championship
According to a public announcement, the IIHF Disciplinary Commission has given a one-game suspension to Team Switzerland’s Timo Meier for a knee-on-knee hit in the quarterfinals against Team Sweden. It’s a tough blow to Team Switzerland, as they are looking to reach the Gold Medal game for the third consecutive season.
The play of note came in the second period of the quarterfinal matchup. Oskar Sundqvist received the puck in the offensive zone and quickly adjusted when Meier was attempting to deliver a check. Instead, Meier followed Sundqvist’s path and was given a minor penalty for the play.
As is typically the case, the IIHF Disciplinary Commission reviewed whether there was a reasonable expectation of Meier being able to get out of the way. If it’s clear that he wasn’t, there likely wouldn’t have been a suspension since intent would have been removed from the situation.
In the announcement, the Disciplinary Commission said, “The Disciplinary Panel determined that this was not a situation where a sudden movement by the opposing player created unavoidable contact. Rather, Meier adjusted to his opponent’s movement and extended his knee, causing direct knee-on-knee contact.”
Although he’s had his offensive struggles for the New Jersey Devils, that hasn’t been the case for Meier at the World Championships. Playing on the most dominant team thus far, Meier is third on the team in scoring with three goals and 11 points in eight games with a +10 rating.
Team Switzerland will have to beat Team Norway tomorrow to reach the Gold Medal game for the third consecutive year. Unlike the Swiss, the Norwegians have never reached the Gold Medal game and have only finished as high as fourth in the tournament, most recently in 1951.
West Notes: Pridham, Celebrini, McKenzie
The clock is winding down on the Chicago Blackhawks’ ability to retain 2024 draftee, Jack Pridham. Pridham, 20, will have to commit to an NCAA program, sign his entry-level contract with the Blackhawks, or re-enter the draft this summer, according to Scott Powers of The Athletic.
Unfortunately, although Chicago would prefer the former two options, Powers didn’t allude to any firm decision either way. Despite committing to Boston University last year, Pridham instead decommitted from the Terriers program to continue his development with the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers. Including today, Pridham only has three more days to make a decision.
If he doesn’t commit to a collegiate program and doesn’t sign with the Blackhawks, Pridham would likely go higher than his 2024 billing of 92nd overall. Given his age, Pridham may not be a first-round talent, though he’d surely be a lock to go in the second round, at the very least. He’s coming off an impressive year with the Rangers, scoring 46 goals and 90 points in 65 games with a +38 rating. Additionally, he has been integral in Kitchener’s postseason run, scoring two goals and 17 points in 18 games, and will help the Rangers in the Memorial Cup Final on May 31st.
Additional notes from the Western Conference:
- Coming as a shock to nobody, Emily Kaplan of ESPN reported that it’s highly likely Macklin Celebrini will be named captain of the San Jose Sharks ahead of next season. Specifically, Kaplan said, “Celebrini wearing a “C” as captain next season is all but guaranteed.” Eligible for an extension this summer, Celebrini would become the 14th captain in franchise history, and the first since Logan Couture in the 2023-24 campaign.
- Despite being the subject of retirement rumors throughout the past season, Texas Stars captain Curtis McKenzie isn’t ready to hang up his skates. According to a team announcement, Texas has signed McKenzie to a one-year extension through the 2026-27 season. McKenzie has been the Stars’ captain since the 2021-22 campaign and has registered 206 goals and 510 points in 725 games throughout his 13-year AHL career.
Minor Transactions: Kahun, Morozov, Iskhakov, Cali
Former NHL winger Dominik Kahun agreed on a mutual contract termination with his former club HC Lausanne of the Swiss National League, ending what was originally a three-year deal with the team. As a free agent, Kahun has elected to return to his native Germany and sign with EHC Red Bull Munich, according to an official announcement from the club on social media.
The move returns Kahun, 30, to the club that launched him to the NHL back in 2018. Kahun was a former star scorer for Munich, spending four seasons with the team from 2014-2018. In those four years, he went from scoring just six points in his debut season when he was fresh out of the German second division to becoming a point-per-game winger. He won three straight titles for Munich in 2016, 2017, and 2018. While he was an instant-impact NHL signing for the Chicago Blackhawks, scoring 13 goals and 37 points as a rookie, Kahun left the NHL for Switzerland after 2020-21. He has been largely stellar in the National League, serving as a point-per-game winger for SC Bern from 2021-2024. Over the last two years, Kahun has struggled more, and his stint with Lausanne was marked by inconsistency as he was great in the playoffs but not very productive in the regular season.
Other notes on player movement from around the hockey world:
- Vegas Golden Knights 2018 second-round pick Ivan Morozov has signed a one-year contract extension with the KHL’s Spartak Moscow. Morozov has spent the last three seasons with Spartak, where he has been one of the team’s most productive players and a two-time All-Star. Morozov scored a career-high 50 points in 2024-25 and managed 33 points in 49 combined regular-season and playoff contests in 2025-26. The 6’1″ center last appeared in North America during the 2022-23 season, when he registered 17 points in 58 games for Vegas’ AHL affiliate, the Henderson Silver Knights.
- Another Russian forward who was selected in the second round of the 2018 NHL draft signed a KHL contract extension: Ruslan Iskhakov. Iskhakov was drafted No. 43 overall by the Islanders in 2018, and signed a two-year extension with Metallurg Magnitogorsk. Iskhakov joined Metallurg last summer from CSKA Moscow, where he was an All-Star in 2024-25. This past season, the 5’7″ forward scored 17 goals and 38 points in 65 regular-season games, and eight points in 15 playoff contests. Iskhakov played two seasons in North America, scoring 101 points in 138 total games for the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders, and one point in one NHL game for the New York Islanders. Stefen Rosner of The Elmonters wrote today that the “ship has definitely sailed” on Iskhakov’s NHL future with the club.
- 2026 NHL Draft prospect Ryder Cali has committed to play NCAA hockey at Providence College, according to Mark Divver of New England Hockey Journal. Cali, 17, was formerly committed to Harvard University. Cali spent this past season with the North Bay Battalion of the OHL, and it is unclear at this time whether his commitment implies enrollment for 2026-27 or 2027-28, which would impact whether he will play an additional campaign in Ontario. It seems most likely he will spend at least 2026-27 in the OHL before heading to college, but that is not confirmed. Cali is considered a second-round prospect by most major draft outlets, ranked as high as No. 34 (Elite Prospects) and as low as No. 62 (Craig Button, TSN).
IIHF To Decide On Russia Participation On Event-By-Event Basis
The IIHF announced an update this morning to Russia’s eligibility to compete in IIHF competitions for the 2026-27 season. The announcement came during the organization’s annual congress held in Zurich, Switzerland this week.
In its update, the IIHF wrote that the original decision made by the IIHF Council in January to rule out Russian participation in IIHF events for the 2026-27 season, which was appealed by the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, has been overturned by the IIHF’s Disciplinary Board.
The IIHF stressed that this does not mean that Russia has automatically been reintegrated. Instead, they said the decision has been sent back to the IIHF Council to be re-analyzed “based on safety, security, operational, and sporting plans.”
As a result, the IIHF says it will decide on Russian eligibility to participate in IIHF competitions “on an event-by-event basis.”
While the decision is by no means an indication that Russia will be able to quickly re-enter IIHF events, it does mark a notable development in Russia’s favor as the country looks to return to full international competition. That the country has no longer been fully ruled out for the upcoming season is an improvement from their position in the last few years. The move comes just one day after Belarus was reinstated for IIHF tournaments.
Russia and Belarus have not been allowed to participate in any major international competition since the former’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. As a result of the conflict, the IIHF cited security concerns in keeping the country out of competition.
Russia’s ice hockey federation issued a statement against the ban in February, which read in part: “the argument regarding the impossibility of ensuring the safety of participants in international tournaments involving Russian national teams is no longer relevant, lacks any basis, and is merely a formal pretext for denying our country’s participation.”
The key underlying issue with Russia’s participation is the stance of numerous European hockey federations, including superpowers Sweden, Finland, and Czechia.
Sweden’s federation has previously strongly backed the IIHF’s ban, calling it “absolutely necessary.” The Athletic’s Chris Johnston reported earlier this year that it was “highly unlikely Finland, Sweden or Czechia would agree to play in any tournament featuring a team from Russia with the war ongoing.” The source he cited “also questioned whether the Canadian government would allow its athletes to participate in such an event.”
Now that the IIHF will have to decide on Russian participation on an event-by-event basis, it appears the governing body’s disciplinary board has dealt a blow to the IIHF’s previous argument that cited safety concerns.
While this is by no means a guarantee Russia will return to international competition at any specific point, it does make that a more realistic possibility than it has been at any point since the country’s ban was originally imposed, though significant opposition from other federations remains.
Avalanche’s Mikhail Gulyayev Signs Two-Year KHL Extension
Colorado Avalanche 2023 first-round pick Mikhail Gulyayev has signed a two-year, two-way contract extension with the KHL’s Avangard Omsk, according to the league’s official transactions wire.
Gulyayev’s KHL contract was set to expire this summer. This extension confirms that the defenseman will remain in Russia through the 2027-28 season, meaning the earliest he could officially sign with the Avalanche would be for 2028-29, his age-23 campaign.
The Avalanche hold Gulyayev’s rights indefinitely, so there is no pressure to sign him to an entry-level deal before a certain point in order to preserve his exclusive signing rights.
The 21-year-old was selected by the Avalanche No. 31 overall at the 2023 NHL Draft, with a pick they acquired from the Montreal Canadiens as part of the Alex Newhook trade.
At the time, it seemed the Avalanche may have had a steal on their hands with Gulyayev, at least considering where he was ranked entering the draft. He was No. 23 on Bob McKenzie’s list for TSN, and No. 21 overall in the rankings of Scott Wheeler of The Athletic.
Gulyayev split his draft campaign between the KHL, Russia’s top minor league, the VHL, and the top junior league in the MHL. Since then, he has played three campaigns as a regular in the KHL for Omsk.
While he remains ranked as one of the top prospects in the Avalanche system, (No. 3 in the most recent ranking by Wheeler) the pace of his development has concerned some scouts. Wheeler wrote in March that Gulyayev “has struggled to take that next step beyond just being a depth guy” in the KHL. As his ice time fell compared to last season, so did his production. Gulyayev scored 15 points in 2024-25, but had just three in 2025-26.
Wheeler also wrote that Gulyayev “needs to get over to North America” to maximize his development and chances of becoming an impactful NHL player, but that will now not happen for at least two more seasons.
While Avalanche fans are likely also itching to see Gulyayev cross the Atlantic and join their organization in North America, it did not appear to be as pressing of a priority to Gulyayev. He was invited to the team’s development camp last summer, but opted to remain in Russia to prepare for the season, in contrast to fellow KHL prospect Ilya Nabokov, who attended development camp. Nabokov had signed his entry-level deal in May of that year.
Last summer, when Gulyayev was asked by Sergey Demidov of RG.org about his timeline to sign an entry-level deal, the player was non-committal, saying “right now I can’t say anything concrete.”
With the news of the two-year extension, his window to join the Avalanche will be pushed back an additional two seasons. The hope will be that with a level of continuity in Omsk, he can rebound after a difficult 2025-26 season and develop to the point of being NHL-ready by the time his extension expires.
Photos courtesy of Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Islanders Hire Jay McKee As AHL Head Coach
The New York Islanders announced that they have hired Jay McKee to serve as head coach of their newly-relocated AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Hammers. The organization’s previous AHL head coach, Rocky Thompson, was promoted to the position of assistant coach on Peter DeBoer’s NHL staff, creating the vacancy filled by this hire.
McKee is no stranger to the city of Hamilton. The 48-year-old has been head coach of the OHL’s Brantford Bulldogs since 2021-22, meaning the first two years of his coaching tenure came when the franchise was still located in Hamilton.
A former NHL defenseman who had an 802-game career playing for the Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues, and Pittsburgh Penguins, McKee’s coaching career began in 2010-11, the very next season after he chose to retire.
His first job as a coach came at Niagara University, where he spent 2010-11 as an assistant coach on the staff of Dave Burkholder. The following year, he was an assistant for the AHL’s Rochester Americans, where he would coach future NHLers such as Marcus Foligno, Brayden McNabb, Zack Kassian, Alex Biega, and Brian Flynn.
After one year in Rochester, he left professional hockey and resumed his coaching career in 2014-15 as an assistant for the OHL’s Erie Otters. On the staff of future NHL coach Kris Knoblauch, he coached numerous future NHLers such as Connor McDavid, Dylan Strome, Alex DeBrincat, Darren Raddysh, Travis Dermott, Taylor Raddysh, Mason Marchment, and Kurtis MacDermid. He left Erie after one season to become an associate coach on the staff of Mike Van Ryn with the Kitchener Rangers.
McKee got his first chance as a head coach in 2016-17 with Kitchener. In year two of his tenure, he took the team to the OHL’s Conference Finals. His Rangers reached the OHL playoffs in every one of his full seasons as head coach, though he was fired after 21 games in 2019-20 after a 7-10-4 start.
In 2021-22, McKee was hired as head coach of the then-Hamilton Bulldogs. He was an instant success. In his first season in Hamilton, the Bulldogs had a 51-12-5 regular season, and steamrolled their way to the OHL Finals, sweeping each of their first three series. In the OHL Finals, the Bulldogs won in seven games against the Windsor Spitfires.
While McKee hasn’t won a title with the Bulldogs since then, he’s kept the franchise consistently among the OHL’s strongest teams. In total, he has gone 213-91-36 as head coach of the Bulldogs, with that championship run and another run to the Conference Finals this past season.
Beyond just that extremely impressive record, his program has also shown it can consistently develop NHL talent. His 2022 championship roster featured future NHLers such as Mason McTavish, Arber Xhekaj, and Ryan Winterton, as well as players who are currently on the NHL/AHL bubble, such as Avery Hayes, Logan Morrison, Jorian Donovan, and Jan Mysak.
His more recent Bulldogs teams have been led by some quality NHL prospects including Marek Vanacker, Florian Xhekaj, Nick Lardis, Jake O’Brien, Adam Jiricek, Ben Danford, Adam Benak, Jett Luchanko, and top 2026 draft prospect Caleb Malhotra.
That record of developing players is especially relevant for this new role. While McKee will certainly be tasked with turning the Hammers into a winning team, (something that has been a very real challenge for Islanders AHL coaches over the last half-decade) he will also be mandated with delivering as many Islanders prospects as possible to the NHL.
That’s something McKee appears prepared to do after nearly a decade as head coach of the OHL. As New York prepares for a season where some of its top prospects, such as first-rounders Cole Eiserman, Victor Eklund, and Kashawn Aitcheson, may begin the year in the AHL, they’ve decided to pull from the OHL to add a promising head coach to oversee their development.
Free Agent Focus: Carolina Hurricanes
Free agency is just over a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. Even with the UFA crop being thinned out in recent months, there will be some quality veterans set to hit the open market in July, while many teams also have key restricted free agents to re-sign. We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Hurricanes.
Key Restricted Free Agents
D Alexander Nikishin – Nikishin may not have lit up the NHL like he did the KHL in recent years but he still had a very strong rookie season. He finished second in rookie scoring for a defenseman after potting 11 goals and 22 assists in 81 games while averaging over 18 minutes per night of playing time. That performance earned him a seventh-place spot in Calder Trophy voting. On a deep back end, the Hurricanes were able to ease him in a bit which could impact contract talks. If Nikishin’s camp feels he has another level to get to over the next couple of years, they may prefer to work on a bridge contract and position the blueliner to cash in later. That deal could fall in the $4MM range. If both sides are content to do a longer-term pact that buys out some UFA eligibility, the market value could be closer to $7MM.
G Cayden Primeau – The word ‘key’ probably doesn’t apply here but Primeau has seen NHL action now in seven straight years, although he spent most of this season with AHL Chicago. He’s no longer viewed as a potential full-time NHL backup but the market for third-stringers with NHL experience who can come up and play a few games in a pinch has gone up lately. He should at least be able to land another one-way pact but it may have to come from elsewhere. Because Primeau has played in 58 NHL games but is more of an AHL player at this point, he’s a strong non-tender candidate to avoid giving him the chance to test salary arbitration.
F Justin Robidas – Another one who doesn’t really fit the ‘key’ descriptor (Carolina’s RFA list is pretty thin), Robidas is one of Carolina’s more intriguing youngsters. He hasn’t seen much NHL action so far (just four games) but he has been quite productive with AHL Chicago over the past two seasons, tallying 115 points in 128 games. The 23-year-old will no longer be waiver-exempt in 2026-27 and his minor-league production could make him a candidate to be claimed. It will be interesting to see if he’s able to land a one-way deal as a result.
Other RFAs: F Skyler Brind’Amour, D Domenick Fensore, F Noel Gunler, D Aleksi Heimosalmi, D Kyle Masters, F Viktor Neuchev, G Nikita Quapp, D Ronan Seeley
Key Unrestricted Free Agents
G Frederik Andersen – There may not be a player in the playoffs who has flipped the script as much as Andersen has. After a below-average regular season, he has been stellar in the postseason to the point of being a viable Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of his team in the playoffs. In doing so, he has certainly bolstered his marketability. He’ll be 37 in early October but it’s not unfathomable that Andersen could land a two-year contract around the $3.25MM he made this season (including performance bonuses). Alternatively, another one-year pact that makes him eligible for performance incentives is the other option. He should be able to at least match his current deal if he goes that route.
F Nicolas Deslauriers – Deslauriers is no longer the every-game tough guy he was in the first half of his contract a few years ago. Now, the 35-year-old profiles as more of a 13th forward who can step in against more physical teams. The market for more enforcer-type players isn’t what it used to be so while he should be able to land more than $850K minimum salary, it’s doubtful that he’ll be able to land the $1.75MM he has made in each of the last four years. Something closer to the middle is more realistic.
F Noah Philp – Philp passed through waivers and finished up the year with the Wolves but he won over 56% of his faceoffs between Edmonton and Carolina when he was in the NHL this season. The 27-year-old profiles as a minimum-salaried player this summer but he might be able to secure a one-way deal and could make a push to stick at the back of a roster in training camp.
D Mike Reilly – After missing most of 2024-25 after undergoing heart surgery, Reilly stayed healthy this season which was good to see. However, he had a fairly limited role overall, getting into just over half of Carolina’s games while logging just under 15 minutes per night of ice time and in the playoffs, he has suited up just twice so far. Profiling as more of a seventh option moving forward, Reilly is likely going to land another deal around his current $1.1MM price tag and it wouldn’t be surprising to see his streak of one-year contracts continue for a fourth consecutive season.
Other UFAs: G Amir Miftakhov, F Josiah Slavin, F Givani Smith, F Ryan Suzuki, D Juuso Valimaki
Projected Cap Space
There aren’t many teams with less cap space than the Hurricanes, who will enter the summer with a little under $12MM in room. They have room to re-sign Nikishin and Andersen (if they want to carry three goalies full-time next season) and enough space to replace Reilly as a depth defender. They might not be able to do too much beyond that, but they also don’t have a lot of holes to fill, as evidenced by a roster that’s a win away from advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.
Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire (Nikishin) and Eric Hartline (Andersen) – Imagn Images. Contract information courtesy of PuckPedia.
Offseason Checklist: Columbus Blue Jackets
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those who have already been eliminated. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Columbus.
It was an eventful year for the Blue Jackets. After narrowly missing the playoffs last season, they added Charlie Coyle over the summer and hoped that they’d be able to squeak in this time. Instead, they got off to a mediocre start, resulting in Rick Bowness being brought in as head coach. They went on a run early but faltered down the stretch, ultimately coming up just short again. Now, GM Don Waddell has some more work to do to try to get his team over the proverbial hump.
Culture Change
With Bowness only signing a deal for the rest of the season when he was first hired, he didn’t know his immediate future when, after the final game of the year, he let his team have it:
I don’t know if I’m back, but if I’m back, I’m changing this culture. These guys, they don’t care – losing is not important enough to them. It doesn’t bother them. Like, how can you go out and play like that?
Well, now he knows that he’s back as he signed a one-year extension not even 48 hours after the season ended. So, Bowness is going to get a chance to really reshape the culture but it’s not going to just be on him. This summer, it’s largely going to be on Waddell to make the types of changes that Bowness is likely seeking and model the roster to better suit that style.
One big decision that needs to be made (and frankly, might already have been made) is the fate of captain Boone Jenner. The 32-year-old has been with the Blue Jackets for 13 seasons, captaining them for the last five. When healthy, he has a quality power forward and defensive anchor. But he has dealt with a significant injury pretty much annually and his scoring touch has dipped a bit as of late. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent who has changed agents while Bowness has already signed Coyle to a six-year extension, potentially pushing Jenner more towards being out the door.
How aggressive of an overhaul Waddell will look to make is the big question here. Bowness is 71 and on an expiring contract already; he’s not the long-term voice behind the bench. But with the public vote of confidence in the form of that one-year extension, Waddell seemingly has to make meaningful changes beyond a player or two. We’ll find out just how big of a culture change they’ll be looking to make soon enough.
Re-Sign Key RFAs
While Waddell has already taken care of one of his key pending free agents, he has a few important restricted free agents to re-sign over the coming months.
The most prominent one is center Adam Fantilli. The third overall pick in 2023, his entry-level deal will officially expire at the end of next month. With the market for impact young centers jumping up considerably in recent years plus the projected increases to the Upper Limit, it’s fair to say Fantilli’s market value is going to jump considerably. If they want to sign him to a max-term eight-year contract (still legal through mid-September), they may have to go higher than Zach Werenski’s current price tag of $9.58MM. AFP Analytics pegs an eight-year pact at just over $10MM per season despite the fact he has yet to reach 60 points in a season. But to get him to give up four years of UFA eligibility, it’s going to be a hefty price tag. If they’re not willing to go that high yet, a bridge contract could still land in the $6MM-$7MM range.
Goaltender Jet Greaves also happens to be up for a new deal. While he wasn’t going to come close to sustaining his late-season hot streak in 2024-25 over a full season, he locked down the starting job. He played the seventh-most minutes in the NHL while posting the 12th-best SV and 13th-best GAA on a non-playoff team. Traditional stats are still dominant in arbitration filings and the 25-year-old is arbitration-eligible for the first time. However, the small sample size makes this one a little harder to peg. The comparables here would be players like Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen ($4.75MM) and $5MM but the financial market is a little different now. The comparable now would be four or five years around the $5.75MM range. But if one or both sides want to see one more year before making that commitment, they can get away with it as he’s two seasons away from UFA eligibility. The price tag would be more in the $4.25MM territory in that scenario.
The other RFA of note is Cole Sillinger. His bridge deal has now come to an end and if nothing else, he has been consistent. Over the past three seasons, his lowest point total is 32 and his highest is 33. He has two years of club control left and is arbitration-eligible as well. It’s doubtful either side would want to do a long-term agreement so the options are more likely a one-year deal that allows for a bit more evaluation, or a three-or-four-year pact that buys up a bit of UFA eligibility. The former would be in the $3.5MM range and the latter more likely around double his current $2.25MM price tag.
Add Offensive Forward
One of the challenges this season for Columbus was primary scoring. They only had two players surpass the 60-point mark and one of those was Werenski, who led the team in points once again. The other was Kirill Marchenko, with 67. Fantilli and Coyle were just shy of 60 which doesn’t sound too bad. However, they’re also the only four players to reach 40 points on the campaign.
The silver lining is that their secondary scoring was fine. Eight additional players had between 30 and 40 points, including Mason Marchment, who had 32 in just 39 games after being acquired. He’s a pending unrestricted free agent and is set for a big payday on the open market. The Blue Jackets would undoubtedly want to keep him around but even if so, that’s only maintaining the status quo, not improving the roster.
While there is a young nucleus of players that they’re hoping for continued development from (with a bounce-back from Kent Johnson being first in that regard), it’s also quite evident that the Blue Jackets have a win-now mindset. While contention might not be realistic just yet, getting to the postseason should be the next step for this group.
That makes it more important for them to add an impact scorer to deepen the attack and take some pressure off the younger players (which might ultimately help them offensively). Of course, this is not a particularly deep UFA class – Marchment is one of the top forwards available – so this is something Waddell may have to accomplish on the trade front. But if Columbus wants to take that next step forward, more primary firepower will be needed.
Add A Shutdown Defender
With Werenski anchoring the back end, the emergence of Denton Mateychuk, and Ivan Provorov showing flashes of above-average offensive ability at times, the Blue Jackets quietly have one of the more talented back ends in the East from an offensive perspective. But their other regulars – Damon Severson and Dante Fabbro – aren’t known necessarily for being shutdown players. They can certainly contribute but aren’t necessarily defensive anchors.
One of their top-used defensemen shorthanded this season was Erik Gudbranson, at least when healthy. However, he’s also a pending unrestricted free agent and at this point, it would be somewhat surprising to see him return. That’s a spot in the lineup that needs to be filled. Ideally, that one isn’t filled internally, either by Jake Christiansen or a prospect like Corson Ceulemans. Again, if the goal is getting to the playoffs, they need to aim higher.
In a perfect world, the goal would be to get someone capable of playing on the top two pairings, logging over 20 minutes per game with primary penalty kill time. That player would also be matched up against top lines from other teams. It’s the type of player that a lot of teams could use although, again, there aren’t many unrestricted free agents who fit the bill. This is another spot they may have to try to acquire in a trade instead.
But this one is of particular importance from a culture standpoint as well. As Bowness wants to reshape things there, getting that gritty defender willing to go the extra mile to contain top players from other teams would be an anchor of that reshaped culture. A lot of good teams have a true shutdown piece on the back end and if they want to take the next step, the Blue Jackets need to get one too.
Photo courtesy of Jeff Curry-Imagn Images.