Latest / Jablam Sports Hockey / Columbus blue jackets 2026-2027 Season Preview: Don Waddell wake up!

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Columbus blue jackets 2026-2027 Season Preview: Don Waddell wake up! · Jablam Sports Hockey

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Jablam Supports Hockey, your home for everything happening around the NHL.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Peter Bojarinov, and every episode we break down the biggest topics every hockey fan is talking about with writers, TV, and radio experts from all 32 NHL teams.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: Today we're still doing the 32 episode season previews with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: Back on the show, we got Craig Murz.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: He covers the Blue Jackets for the Associated Press.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: And Craig, what do we have from you?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's been an interesting offseason, to say the least.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: So they've lost a goalie for a while in Elvis with a shoulder, and they picked up one in Cam Tower.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been a busy time.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, we have Adam Fantilli's situation, which continues.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: Sure does.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: Did you want to plug a book?
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yes, yes, by the way.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: And I also work for NHL.com, by the way, Peter.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: That's covered the blue jackets for them as well.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to get that in there.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I wrote a book with Jeff Rimmer, the former Blue Jackets play-by-play man.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: He's now retired.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: 20 years with the Blue Jackets, was with the Florida Panthers, the Washington Capitals.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Hosted games for the Montreal Canadians, the Montreal Expos.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's called It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so it'll be out on the shelves September 28th, but you can order it on Amazon.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we had our launch party yesterday.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, had a lot of people out at uh nationwide arena in Columbus.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I'm really proud of it working with Jeff on it.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um, John Davidson, he's now with the Buffalo Sabres, did a forward, as did Mike Russo of The Athletic.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: And we had some uh great people uh giving some comments on like Bob Costas mentioned it on the cover.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: We have a little blur from him praising Jeff Rimmer, and no, it didn't go to Jeff's head, but everything else has.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been it's been quite a treat.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Took us about a year and a half to put together uh first flight books, so we thank them.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, it doesn't get any better than this.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: It sure doesn't with Jeff Rimmer.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I love having back in the day Davidson on hot stove on hockey night in Canada, and boy, it's been years.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_01: I think you know, time fly time flies.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Well, well, he and he and uh Jeff Rimmer they started down in Florida with uh NHL.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: I'll forget the name, it's in the book.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: I wrote the darn book, I can't remember the name, but they started in Florida.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they're doing uh the Sunday night hockey show, the NHL, and so many, many years ago, did like 110 episodes.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: So it's come full circle.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's pretty cool.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: All right, and in trending now, we'll talk about another RFA off the table, but we'll get to one shortly.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: So last season the Blue Jackets missed the playoffs, finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: They haven't made the playoffs in what seven years now?
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_01: But they've been slowly turning it around.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: What one one thing truly needs to happen for them to take that jump and get back into the playoffs?
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: They need to stay healthy or at least be healthy at the right time.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh near the end of last season, they were rolling along 26 game stretch.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: They were the best team in the NHL record-wise.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, then had uh uh Matthew Olivier in a fight, broke his hand.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: He went out, and then Damon Severson, who had a great season, a great comeback season from two really pedestrian seasons, was on the number one line uh pairing with Zach Worensky.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: He went out with an injury, you know, they went one out or less, win one out of their last 10 or 12 games, and it was all downhill.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they should have been in the playoffs last year.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: That was a big reason.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: I think some of their players, some of their younger players, the pressure got to him.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: A guy like Kyril Marchenko, uh leading their scores with 20-some goals, he did very little down the end.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, the tough going got tough.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: He was not out there as much producing, and he knows it.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Other guys like Adam Fantilli, he knows it.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: So the young guys did not handle the pressure as well as they should.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: They're hoping that this year, with that experience from last season, they can turn it around.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned him, and we said the big uh big RFAs have all signed, but Blue Jackets, Adam Fantilli.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Camp is starting.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: What's the update there, and what type of contract could we be looking at?
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Don Waddell had uh he was a pretty subdued, had the media day today, the luncheon this morning, and he uh he was uh he just said to know that Fantille is not under contract.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: There is no agreement, he will not be in camp.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh physicals were today, Wednesday.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they start practice tomorrow.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: He will not be there.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and Waddell says they probably, and that's he's what probably will send out another contract offer within 24 hours, which leads me to believe they're not really close at the moment.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, there was some talk last weekend.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: There was an offer counter proposal last weekend.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: And so you can go four or five days without really coming back with another offer, maybe with a cooling off period.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so that doesn't that does not sound good.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but so far the talks have not gotten uh vicious or personal at all.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the last time I had a major player was uh 2014 with Ryan Johansson.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_00: That one got really ugly.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so far this one has been amicable, so that's a good sign.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: They're still talking, that's a good sign.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: And Vantilli would not be in camp tomorrow.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's not a good sign.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: But term-wise, I think it jackets want a longer term, five, six years, most likely.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Vantilli, money-wise, you you know, the offer sheet, the Leo Carlson just blew everybody out of the water.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: Everybody's value went up went up.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Fantilli's probably looking 13.5, 14 mil.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if the jackets want to go above 13 at this stage.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's just a guess.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_00: But uh you look with, and we'll talk later about Cutter and what he signed with.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh but you know, Fantilli, is he a 15 million Bedard?
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: He hasn't played like it yet, so he doesn't not gonna get that type of money.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, nor should he.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: No.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know what Waddell is doing.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: It seems like he's sitting on his hands a little bit with Fentili, but also all these other teams are locking up their young players, especially more so with eight years gonna be off the table in like a couple of days.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: What is Waddell doing?
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: Because on top of Fentili, there's Denton Matt Matmachuk, uh yeah, Dmitry Voronkov.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned Marshenko, Ken Johnson, uh Luca, right?
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: All these guys are gonna need contracts as early as next year.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, then you forget you know, next summer Zach Worinsky.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yep, and the following year you can go and extend him July 1st.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: So um, yeah, it's it's gonna be a tough situation for him and the blue jackets.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: I think he's got to get the dominoes going here and Fantilly, what he gets, and then what does that mean for the other guys?
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and he's the key at this start at this stage.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: If you can get him under contract, and what's it's gonna be?
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think the younger, and he mentioned it today that the the young players want to go a lot.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: That three years from now may say, you know what, I could have done a heck of a lot better.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: So I think term may be a problem here with the blue jackets.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think they want him a little longer than Fantelli wants to go.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we'll see how that goes.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: We saw the netminder crease get better, especially now with Jet Greaves.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: He's been stellar so far and early in his career.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: Top 10 in saves made above expected last year.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_01: Could he become a top five goaltender in this league?
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's possible.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it would go against the trend of being big goalies.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: He's not really very tall at all, around six foot, but uh he's got amazing glove, and that's really the key to him.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Plus, he's unflappable, absolutely just you know, solid line all the way through.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so he's still learning.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be a big test this year.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: This last year was his first full year in the league, he's been around for a while, but now teams have got the book on him, got the video.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see how he handles it.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he could very well be, and he had he played 55 games or so last year, which you know for a rookie is a pretty darn good schedule.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody thought he'd play that many games, uh, and he handled it very well.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think he got a little bit tired at the end, but of course the team in front of him was struggling as well.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned Fantilli, uh, sorry, uh Zach Worinsky, Norris, Trophy.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: How can Worinsky get even better?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: And like you mentioned, is he gonna get Kale McCarner uh McCarr-type money now?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: He could be if he's if he keeps getting better, yes, he's gonna get a big contract, whether it's here in Columbus or elsewhere.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, he can get better.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: The one thing I was really surprised that he won the Norse this year.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: I had predicted during mid-season last year, or probably February or so, that he would probably win it in the year that he wasn't playing in international competition, whether it was four nations or the Olympic, because both of the past two seasons, he's tailed off a little bit towards the end, and he's admitted it.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: And that's one of the reasons the blue jackets-you can't blame him for everything, but that's one of the reasons.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: Your best player tailed off at the end.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: He was tired last year at the end, he was tired the year before the end.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_00: There's no international competition this year, and I thought he'd have an unbelievable season, and yet he won a Norse uh for this past season.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, he can get better, a full stronger season.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think, yeah, he can absolutely get better.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: He's scoring up now about 20 goals per season.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's asking a lot, but uh he's improved his shot over the past three seasons quite a bit, so he can definitely get better.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Time for some trending now.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: In blue jackets, uh, you know, the president Mike Priest retires.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it seems like some jacket fans are thrilled about this.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: Why, Craig?
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: Uh well, we mentioned the beginning that they haven't made the playoffs since 2020.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: That has something to do with they've never, and Mike has been there since basically the beginning of the franchise.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh spent almost 30 years there, um, even before the franchise hit the ice.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: So, and they've never passed, gotten past the first round of the playoffs, or excuse me, won more than one round of the playoffs.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that was Tampa Bay, that major upset in 2019.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, never made it past the second round.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, there's a lot of people that blame him.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: They blame the McConnell family.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, the original owner was John H.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: McConnell and Mr.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Mac.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: Nobody had a bad word to say about him.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: He he wanted the team to win so bad, uh, then passed away in 2008.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: His son is taken over.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: And now his son is now also involved with the franchise.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, a lot of people think that Mike Priest, he wasn't a visible person out there.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: He's the president of the team, but he didn't make a lot of appearances, didn't say a lot.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I remember though when Yarmo and John Davidson got canned two years ago, uh, he was at the press conference, one of his rare public appearances.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I think the people blame him a lot for what's going on.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: And there's probably a lot of people that are happy that he's retiring.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: The Anaheim Ducks re-signed restricted free agent forward, finally cut her goche to a six-year deal, 13.5 mil per year.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Team announced Tuesday.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: Can the Ducks still build around these two big contracts in Goche and Carlson?
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be tough.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if they can pull off a deal like the uh baseball's different, but the LA Dodds with the Otani contract for 700 million.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think I heard today that you know they have it structured, they're making basically$2 million on the book per year on the books, and everything's deferred till later.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: If the Ducks could find a way to do that, I'd say absolutely they're gonna be in the running for the Stanley Cup every year.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think they're gonna be able to do that.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: So they're gonna be top heavy, obviously.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's gonna be really up to the their scouting system, their farm system to fill in the spots there because there's gonna be a lot of guys that are not making a lot of money.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: They're gonna be very crucial.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: You can't just go with one or two lines or four defensemen in one goalie.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_00: And the way those contracts are structured, it's gonna be very tough for them to get some quality players in there, they're gonna have to develop them.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we've seen even recent Stanley Cup champions like the Hurricanes and the Panthers have a lot better depth uh lately with these winners.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_01: And thank you, Craig, for joining me for this episode.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_01: And fans, remember to subscribe to the show and you're listening at and if you have any questions, follow us on Jablam Sports on X, right?
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: They're calling it X these days.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's so hard to get used to.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, all right.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: See you next time.