The Big Reset

It was a busy offseason in Ohio. Remaining mostly quiet during the EHE Entry Draft, General Manager Andrew Payeur made a flurry of moves in and around the Free Agent Frenzy. After successfully re-signing UFA Laurent Broissoit after a positive first season as the teams backup goaltender, the Blue Jackets roster was poised to lose just one player: the recently retired Kevin Shattenkirk. Combined with the expected graduations of young players to the NHL like Cam York, Cole Sillinger and Alex Laferriere, Payeur had a glut of NHL roster players, especially at forward and an impending exodus of serveral 2025 UFAs. Payeur make quick work of the situation, moving out veterans Teuvo Teravainen, Jaden Schwarts and Jeff Skinner for multiple draft picks.

Displeased with missing the playoffs the season prior, the team was also determined to improve upon the roster by seeking help externally. Payeur landed Jonathan Huberdeau early in free agency, hoping to combine the pass first winger with Jack Eichel on the team's top line and allowing head coach Jay Woodcroft preference of pairing Robert Thomas with Timo Meier to create two top shelf scoring lines.  Later in free agency in a surprise move, the team also signed veteran defenseman Brent Burns to a $9.35 million one year contract, in what is expected to be the future EHE Hall of Famer's final season. In a final move, Payeur, frustrated by last season's mediocre goaltending traded Kasperi Kapanen and his burdenson contract along with draft picks and Anton Forsberg to the Ducks in exchange for an upgrade in net in the form of Tristan Jarry. Jarry spent the last four seasons as the Ducks starting netminder, posting an average save percentage of 0.912, a mark that could have been the difference between playoffs and an early golf membership for the 2023-24 Blue Jackets.

Head coach Jay Woodcroft enters the season on the hot seat. After leading the team to the playoffs in his first season, expectations are higher than ever following after his team stumbled down the home stretch of the 2023-24 season and finished 8 points outside of the final wild card spot. In a cut throat Metropolitan division, the team needs to start out of the gate hot and avoid falling into old patterns of digging themselves into a hole that requires a Herculean effort to climb out of.

Projected Opening Night Roster 2024-25 Regular Season: