The Blue Jackets have taken care of their top remaining restricted free agent, announcing that they’ve re-signed forward Dmitri Voronkov to a two-year contract. The deal carries a $4.175MM cap charge. He was eligible to file for salary arbitration by today’s 4:00 PM CT deadline. GM Don Waddell had the following to say about the signing:
We are very pleased to reach this agreement with Dmitri as he is an important part of our young core. He has size, strength and excellent hands and has a chance to be a very special player. We look forward to his continued growth and development as a Blue Jacket.
The 24-year-old was a fourth-round pick by Columbus back in 2019, going 114th overall. While Voronkov showed some promise with Ak Bars Kazan of the AHL, the Blue Jackets had to wait a while to get him as he spent four more years in their system after being drafted before making the jump to North America in 2023.
Voronkov had a slow start to his rookie season in 2023-24 but adapted well as the season went on. He spent a good chunk of that year playing center and did relatively well offensively in a secondary role, tallying 18 goals along with 16 assists and 55 penalty minutes in 75 games despite averaging just 13:27 per night.
His performance gave the Blue Jackets enough confidence to move him into more of a regular top-six role last season. However, with the addition of Sean Monahan and the decision to move Adam Fantilli back down the middle, Voronkov was predominantly on the wing in 2024-25. He played in 73 games for Columbus in 2024-25, tallying 23 goals along with 24 assists while his playing time jumped up to nearly 17 minutes per game.
Voronkov found himself in trade speculation last month when the Blue Jackets were showing interest in defenseman Noah Dobson. It’s believed that Voronkov was the forward that New York was coveting as part of the package for the blueliner, who ultimately went to Montreal.
With the signing, Voronkov becomes the third highest-paid forward on the Blue Jackets for the upcoming season, joining Monahan and center Charlie Coyle, who was acquired from Colorado last month. The deal buys both sides more time to assess if Voronkov has another level to get to offensively, one that could push him toward a significantly higher pay day in 2027 when the salary cap could be closer to the $113MM mark. When the contract expires, Voronkov will still have one RFA-eligible season left with arbitration eligibility.
With the signing, Columbus has two remaining restricted free agents to re-sign, defenseman Daemon Hunt and winger Mikael Pyyhtia. Neither player is eligible for arbitration this summer.
Photo courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images.
Columbus will make alot of noise this season. Great young team, Thanks to Jarmo Kekalainen.
Jarmo drafted well but his FA signings (aside from Johnny Hockey) were not good and most of his trades did not work out in Jackets favor.
Jarmo should be employed as an assistant GM responsible for the draft and scouting. If that’s what his role is with the Sabres, he is in the right place.