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Free Agent Focus: Columbus Blue Jackets

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Free agency is now under a month away, and teams are looking ahead to when it opens. There will be several impact players 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 Blue Jackets. 

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Dmitri Voronkov – A number of players had breakout campaigns for the Jackets in 2024-25. Voronkov wasn’t chief among them, but he was up there. After a strong rookie campaign last year, the 24-year-old received loads of top-line deployment at even strength with Kirill Marchenko on his opposite wing and either Adam Fantilli or Sean Monahan down the middle. His 23 goals and 47 points didn’t explode off the page, but it’s still serviceable top-six output and a steady improvement on 2023-24’s 18-16–34 scoring line in two more appearances. Voronkov averaged 16:47 per game, a figure that shouldn’t see much variation heading into next year. The 6’5″, 227-lb winger also played as you’d expect given his frame – 71 hits and quite good defensive impacts. With some room to grow, Columbus is likely looking at a long-term deal in the $6MM range annually. A bridge deal, if they go that route, should be more attainable in the high $3MMs or low $4MMs in terms of AAV.

D Jordan Harris – Harris was picked up from the Canadiens in last summer’s Patrik Laine trade. He’d become a fine bottom-pairing and even fringe top-four option with Montreal last year, but the 24-year-old spent most of the year as the odd man out on the Columbus blue line, even with Erik Gudbranson missing most of the season. After posting just five points and a minus-one rating in 33 games while averaging a minuscule 11:23 per game, there’s reason to believe the Blue Jackets don’t have an appetite to issue him his $1.4MM qualifying offer. The 2018 third-round pick could be on the open market this summer as a result.

G Daniil Tarasov – Like Harris, Tarasov is a non-tender candidate later this month. The 26-year-old Russian could still have some untapped upside, but a roster crunch in net likely means he won’t discover it in Columbus. He was superseded as a top-two option for the Jackets down the stretch by the younger Jet Greaves, who looks to serve in tandem with Elvis Merzlikins next year. He struggled when given the chance to start in 2024-25, posting a 7-10-2 record, .881 SV%, and 3.54 GAA in 20 appearances. He’s also due a seven-figure qualifying offer ($1.26MM) and has arbitration rights, neither of which work in his favor for being retained as a No. 3 option.

Other RFAs: F Hunter McKown, F Mikael Pyyhtia, D Ole Julian Bjorgvik-Holm, D Cole Clayton, D Daemon Hunt, D Samuel Knazko

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

D Ivan Provorov – Some extensions in the back half of the season vaulted Provorov into being the consensus No. 3 UFA available this summer on the blue line behind Aaron Ekblad and former Blue Jacket Vladislav Gavrikov. The 28-year-old has been a fine fit in Columbus since his acquisition two years ago, though, and there could still be a long-term fit on the left side behind Zach Werenski, even with top prospect Denton Mateychuk emerging as an NHL option. He managed a +11 rating and 33 points in 82 games this year, his first time in the black since 2020-21, but his possession metrics (47.9 CF%, 45.6 xGF% at even strength) are still lacking for someone logging over 23 minutes per game. Regardless, a weak UFA market on defense and his usability in heavy minutes likely mean the Jackets will need to offer a long-term deal in the $7MM range per season to keep him around.

D Dante Fabbro – Provorov isn’t the only core member of the Jackets’ top four at risk of hitting the open market. Claimed off waivers from the Predators early in the season, Fabbro was a revelation and quickly stapled himself alongside Werenski in top-pairing duties. It wouldn’t be particularly surprising to see Columbus pour more resources into re-upping Fabbro, who’s their best right-shot option at present ahead of Gudbranson and Damon Severson, than Provorov. His brief track record in extended usage will likely limit his value to under $5MM annually. After the waiver claim, Fabbro had 26 points and a +23 rating in 62 games for the Jackets while controlling 54.4% of expected goals alongside Werenski, per MoneyPuck.

F Sean Kuraly – The Ohio native came home on a four-year, $10MM contract in free agency in 2021. He responded with a career-high 30 points in 77 games, but the checking center’s offense has steadily dwindled since then. While still an alternate captain, his average ice time of 11:46 in 2024-25 was the lowest of his NHL career in a full season. He still managed 17 points and a respectable minus-four rating in heavy defensive deployment, though, and he finished third on the team with 163 hits. The 32-year-old remains a good fourth-line piece and could find a shorter-term deal to stay in Columbus at a slight discount on his current $2.5MM cap hit.

F Justin Danforth – After spending most of his pro career in the minors or overseas, Danforth made his NHL debut with the Jackets in his age-28 season four years ago. Now 32, the diminutive but physical forward posted a 9-12–21 scoring line in 61 games last year while averaging a career-high 14:23 per game. He’s primarily a winger but can flex in at center. Still, he’s the most expendable among their more pertinent UFAs and could be the one out the door to make roster space for a big splash or an up-and-coming prospect making the jump. He’s likely in the market for a multi-year but sub-$2MM cap hit contract this summer.

Other UFAs: F Christian Fischer, F Trey Fix-Wolansky, F Dylan Gambrell, F Luke Kunin, F Kevin Labanc, F Joseph LaBate, F Owen Sillinger, F James van Riemsdyk, D Jack Johnson, G Zachary Sawchenko

Projected Cap Space

Only the Sharks have more cap space for 2025-26 at present than the Blue Jackets. They’ve got $40.4MM to work with despite already having 18 roster players inked for next year, per PuckPedia. Cap space won’t be an obstacle for re-signing anybody with mutual interest in an extension or making competitive offers for some of the top players available on the open market.

Images courtesy of Jerome Miron-Imagn Images (Voronkov) and Marc DesRosiers-Imagn Images (Provorov). Contract info courtesy of PuckPedia.

Blue Jackets Prospect Nikolai Makarov Remaining Overseas

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May 29: While Makarov intended to sign, it doesn’t look like the Jackets were ready to give him a contract yet. He signed a one-year extension with CSKA today to remain in Russia next season, the club announced.

April 15: The Blue Jackets are set to sign defense prospect Nikolai Makarov to a two-year entry-level contract beginning next season, Daria Tuboltseva of Responsible Gambler reports.

Makarov, 22, is a sleeper prospect in Columbus’ system. A fifth-round pick in 2021, the 6’1″, 194-lb lefty has remained in his native Russia since being drafted. Four years on, though, he’s yet to capture a full-time role in the high-tier Kontinental Hockey League. He remains with CSKA Moscow, the system he’s played in since 2019, but spent most of this season in the second-tier VHL with feeder club Zvezda Moscow.

A couple of years ago, it looked like Makarov was making strides in his development. While he spent the majority of the 2022-23 season in Russia’s top junior league, the MHL, he earned a late-season promotion to CSKA’s main roster and ended up suiting up in all 27 of the club’s playoff games as they won the Gagarin Cup. He also played in all five of their postseason games last year, but CSKA opted not to dress him in their first-round loss against Dinamo Minsk here in 2025.

Down with Zvezda, Makarov logged 4-8–12 with 14 PIMs and a plus-one rating in 41 appearances this season. He hits pause on his Russian professional career with 1-3–4 and a +12 rating in 64 career KHL games over the last five years, adding 4-17–21 in 69 VHL games over parts of five seasons.

A physically aggressive defensive defender, it’ll be interesting to see how Makarov leverages his NHL-average frame in the North American pros. He’ll presumably join AHL Cleveland next season for added development, although the Jackets could always reach an agreement to loan him back to CSKA while keeping his NHL contract active. There’s not much of a realistic path for him to see playing time on a Blue Jackets club with playoff aspirations in 2026, but he could be a name to watch for a call-up in the second season of his deal. He’ll be a restricted free agent upon expiry.

Blue Jackets Won't Sign Peddle And Rysavy

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  • The Blue Jackets have a pair of prospects that they will lose the rights to if not signed by June 1st, wingers Tyler Peddle and Martin Rysavy. It appears they’ll be letting both go as Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Columbus won’t sign them before the deadline.  Peddle was a seventh-round pick in 2023, going 224th overall and had just 29 points in 54 games with QMJHL Saint John this season.  Meanwhile, Rysavy was a seventh-rounder two years earlier, going 197th overall.  He spent this season in the Czech Extraliga, posting five goals and four assists in 52 games with Liberec.

Blue Jackets Shopping First-Round Picks

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The Blue Jackets have made both of their first-round picks in the 2025 draft available for trade, general manager Don Waddell told Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers.

Columbus enters the draft with the No. 14 and No. 20 overall selections, the latter of which they acquired from the Wild in last November’s David Jiricek trade. It’s the first time since 2022 that the Jackets haven’t held a top-five pick, and the first time since 2020 that they haven’t held a top-10 selection.

Their lower draft position comes as a result of their ninth-place finish in the Eastern Conference, narrowly missing out on the final wild card spot to the Canadiens by two points. Under new head coach Dean Evason, many of the pieces Columbus has assembled with their wealth of top draft picks over the past few years took significant strides in 2024-25 and fueled the club to its first 40-win season since 2018-19. That was the year the Jackets upset the 128-point Lightning in a first-round sweep to win the first of two playoff series in franchise history.

Just two players, Boone Jenner and Zach Werenski, remain from that club. A full rebuild has gone on since, started by former GM Jarmo Kekalainen and guided nearly over the finish line by Waddell. After spending much of 2024-25 in a playoff position despite multiple core pieces missing significant chunks of the season with injuries, a playoff spot will be the expectation for the Jackets next season.

That, plus the fact that they’ve already assembled one of the best prospect pools in the league with their wealth of draft picks so far this decade, makes one – if not both – of this year’s first-round selections expendable, especially since they’re mid-round picks in a weaker draft class. Waddell has plenty of financial flexibility to augment his young core in free agency this summer, boasting $41.3MM in cap space with only six roster spots to fill, but it makes sense he’d consider leveraging his draft capital for a trade pickup amid a thin free agent class outside of the top few names.

If Waddell manages to agree to terms on an extension with pending UFA defenseman Ivan Provorov, the back end won’t be an area of concern for the Jackets entering next year, aside from some depth pickups. An impact top-line forward will be the main goal for the Jackets this summer, ideally to help push the aging Jenner down to a more comfortable middle-six role, as well as taking some pressure off of No. 1 center Sean Monahan to have a repeat performance of his unexpectedly resurgent 2024-25. Nikolaj Ehlers and Mitch Marner are the only two UFA options this summer who are under the age of 30 and are coming off seasons in which they operated at a 60-point pace.

They’ll face fierce bidding competition on both targets on the open market. While they have the cap space to match any offer they receive elsewhere, banking on certain UFA pickups – or even the assumption they’ll reach free agency – is never 100%. Leveraging what Columbus views as a redundant asset for a trade pickup is an understandably attractive workaround.

If there’s a legitimate starting goaltender to be had on the trade market as the offseason progresses, expect Columbus to make those picks available in a trade framework there as well. 23-year-old Jet Greaves likely solidified an opening-night spot in the fall after posting a sterling .938 SV% and 1.91 GAA in third-string duties last year, but they could look for an upgrade on veteran starter Elvis Merzlikins (26-21-5, .892 SV%, 3.18 GAA in 53 GP) to partner with him.

Offseason Checklist: Columbus Blue Jackets

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The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those already eliminated through the first couple of rounds.  Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months.  Next up is a look at Columbus.

This past season for the Blue Jackets was a whirlwind, to put it lightly.  After moving Patrik Laine to Montreal, they then lost Johnny Gaudreau who died after being struck by a car a little before training camp, resulting in them briefly being under the salary floor.  Accordingly, expectations for on-ice success were quite low but instead, Columbus was in the mix for a Wild Card spot until the very end of the season.  As a result, instead of escalating their rebuild, GM Don Waddell’s to-do list this summer will likely revolve around trying to upgrade his group.

Shore Up The D

Columbus cut down on their goals allowed by 31 this season, a nice improvement but one that still left them near the bottom in that department.  Adding to that concern is that two of their better blueliners are eligible to hit the open market in July.

Heading into the season, it felt like a matter of when, not if, Ivan Provorov would be moved.  Unable to come to terms on an extension at various times in the year, it seemed like the Blue Jackets would move him closer to the trade deadline.  But with the team staying in the playoff mix, Waddell held onto him.  Provorov is coming off a deal that paid $6.75MM per season (30% of which was being paid down by Los Angeles) and as one of the better blueliners available in this UFA class, it stands to reason that he’s going to be able to command more than that on the open market.  Waddell is either going to have to find a way to bring him back or replace him with a similarly impactful defender and there aren’t going to be many of those available.

Dante Fabbro was an early-season waiver pickup and the fit couldn’t have been better.  After struggling to crack Nashville’s lineup, he came in and logged over 21 minutes a night while setting new career highs in goals and points.  Basically, he became the reliable top-four defender he was projected to be for years with the Predators.  All of a sudden, instead of having his next deal come in close to the $2.5MM he was previously making, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him pass the $4MM mark, especially as a coveted right-shot player.  Again, re-signing or replacing him will be necessary.

On top of those moves, Waddell would be wise to look for another upgrade at some spot on the roster.  Jordan Harris appears likely to be non-tendered while it’s unlikely Jack Johnson returns.  At least one of them could be replaced by an improvement, giving them better depth if nothing else.

There’s also the Damon Severson situation to potentially address.  A big addition two years ago, he was a healthy scratch for the final nine games of the season.  With six years left at $6.25MM, a buyout isn’t likely but is there a way to move him for another high-priced option to reshape the back end?  That will need to be examined as well.

Early Extension Talks

In terms of this year’s restricted free agent class, Waddell only has one headliner to contend with, RFA Dmitri Voronkov.  After a solid 23-goal, 47-point effort and having arbitration eligibility, he’s heading for a significant raise on his entry-level salary.  But beyond that, there really isn’t much.  As a result, the Blue Jackets can also turn their focus toward some extension-eligible players on July 1st.

The most prominent of those has to be Adam Fantilli.  After an injury-plagued rookie year, his sophomore year was quite solid as he tied Kirill Marchenko for the team lead in goals without being highly used on the power play.  The third-overall pick in 2023, Fantilli looks like he is going to become the legitimate high-end center that they envisioned.  That means they’re going to be handing him a significant raise within the next year or so.

A lot of the comparables in recent years have ranged from the high $7MM range to the low $8MM range.  However, with the salary cap going up by $7.5MM this summer and then a projected $8.5MM for 2026-27, those comparable price tags seem low.  Similar players have a cap hit percentage in the 9% to 10% range which, in 2026-27, would put his possible price range on a long-term deal between $9.36MM and $10.4MM per year.  If things are trending in that direction, it might make sense to try to do something now over running the risk of the price tag being even higher if Fantilli finds another gear offensively next season.

Another center of note will also be extension-eligible this summer, captain Boone Jenner.  He has been playing at a team-friendly $3.75MM cap charge for the last eight years, one that he outperforms when he’s healthy.  Of course, staying healthy has been a challenge for the 31-year-old who hasn’t played a full 82-game season since 2016-17.  Still, if Jenner posted another season around the 0.6 points-per-game mark with his faceoff prowess, he’d be highly sought after on the open market in 2026.  Given the injury history, his earnings ceiling might not be the highest but still could start with a five on a multi-year deal.  If Jenner is willing to give Columbus a bit of a discount on that coming off a particularly injury-ravaged season, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the two sides work something out this summer.

Add Veteran Firepower

Columbus ranked seventh in the NHL in goals this season despite having a group on paper that largely went under the radar.  All things considered, they still have a very young group up front and a lot went right from a development perspective, there’s far from a guarantee that they’re all going to stay on that same trajectory in 2025-26.

There’s one way Waddell can try to hedge against that concern and that’s by making a big splash to add some proven firepower on the wing.  Beyond adding James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Labanc in training camp, they didn’t really replace Laine or Gaudreau.  They got better than expected production out of van Riemsdyk with 16 goals while Mathieu Olivier moved up to the third line and scored 18 after having a previous personal best of five.  Those were great outcomes but whether they’re repeatable remains to be seen.

The Blue Jackets have pretty much the cleanest books in the league from a cap perspective.  The team enters the summer with over $41MM in cap space, per PuckPedia.  A good chunk of that will go to the back end re-signings or replacements but there’s more than ample room to work with, even if they are working on a budget closer to the $70.6MM floor than the $95.5MM Upper Limit.

With their center situation in good shape, they can focus strictly on adding wingers.  If they want to really aim big, Mitch Marner would certainly add to this roster.  If they want more of a first or second-liner, Brock Boeser and Nikolaj Ehlers are out there.

If they want to go with a shorter-term option knowing that Fantilli, Kent Johnson, and Marchenko (possibly Cole Sillinger too) are heading for expensive raises in the next few years, then there are players like Patrick Kane, Reilly Smith, and Kyle Palmieri that could either fit on the second or third lines.  They could also take a pricey player on in a trade, the inverse of what they did with Laine last summer.

There are lots of options for the Blue Jackets to take and while they could rest on their laurels with how things turned around offensively under Dean Evason, they can also help their chances of staying at that level by making a key addition on the wing in the coming weeks.

Search For Goalie Upgrades

To say it has been a rocky tenure for Elvis Merzlikins in goal would be an understatement.  There have been impressive flashes where he has played like a legitimate starter.  Unfortunately for Columbus, there have been plenty more struggles where he has played like an AHL starter at best.  He hasn’t been able to put up a save percentage starting with a nine in the last three years; he actually lost five points off his .897 mark from 2023-24 this season which also was a contributing factor to the Blue Jackets being near the top of the league for most goals allowed once again.

With two years at $5.4MM, this is around the time when a buyout could start to look more feasible.  Doing so this summer would save them $3.9MM next season and $2.6MM in 2026-27 before adding $1.65MM to the books for two years after that.  Cap space isn’t an issue for Columbus but as a team that typically operates with budgetary restrictions, freeing up some money in the short term doesn’t hurt.

Of course, for a buyout (or a trade where he’s included to balance the money) to be feasible, they’d have to secure another starting goalie first in a marketplace that doesn’t feature many starters available either in free agency or in a trade.  But if one of those options don’t materialize, there could still be a way to upgrade their situation between the pipes.

Daniil Tarasov was once viewed as the goalie of the future for Columbus but he struggled mightily this season.  Owed a $1.26MM qualifying offer, it’s far from a given that he receives one.  Meanwhile, Jet Greaves was quite impressive down the stretch but he has just 21 career NHL appearances under his belt.  Still waiver-exempt for another year, would they be better giving him one more year with AHL Cleveland and opening a spot for a backup upgrade?

This isn’t something that the Blue Jackets necessarily have to do.  If the back end winds up getting reshaped to a more structured unit, that could allow Merzlikins to bounce back somewhat.  But this is an avenue Waddell would be wise to explore either way.

Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.

Blue Jackets Sign Oiva Keskinen To Entry-Level Deal

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The Blue Jackets announced today they’ve signed center prospect Oiva Keskinen to his entry-level contract. While financial terms weren’t disclosed, the deal begins next season and will make him a restricted free agent in the 2028 offseason.

Columbus selected Keskinen in the seventh round in 2023, one year after he was initially eligible for selection. The 6’0″ pivot didn’t get many cracks at Finland’s top junior league in his draft year but did in the 2022-23 campaign, posting a 20-21–41 scoring line in 38 top-flight junior games with Tappara en route to his selection.

Keskinen has spent the two seasons since in full-time professional roles with Tappara, doing well against older competition in one of Europe’s upper-tier leagues in Liiga. He’s coming off a strong 2024-25 campaign in which he finished fifth on the team in scoring with 17 goals and 35 points in 59 games. He won a Liiga title with Tappara the year prior and recorded nine points in 16 postseason games in their run to the championship. He also had five points in seven games for the Finns back at the 2024 World Juniors.

Needless to say, he’s impressed considering his draft slot and gets rewarded as such. He’ll get a long look in camp before presumably being assigned to AHL Cleveland or being loaned back to Tappara for further development in 2025-26. Keskinen’s deal with the Finnish club runs through next season, so that’s the likeliest possibility.

Sam Gagner Confirms Retirement, Joins Senators’ Front Office

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Longtime NHL forward Sam Gagner has confirmed his retirement and will join the Senators as their director of player development, the team announced.

“Sam had an incredible career as a player and we look forward to launching his next chapter,” Ottawa general manager Steve Staios said. “A true character individual, Sam has contributed to the success of his organizations, both on and off the ice.”

Gagner, 35, last played in the league during the 2023-24 season when he appeared in 28 games for the Oilers, his third go-around with the team that drafted him sixth overall in 2007. He cracked the 1,000 game plateau a few years ago. He finished his career with 1,034 regular-season appearances but played just 11 postseason contests over 17 years in the NHL, only reaching the Stanley Cup Playoffs with the Flyers in 2016 and the Blue Jackets in 2017.

After tantalizing with 118 points in just 53 junior games with the OHL’s London Knights in his draft year, the 5’11” center never arrived as an elite scoring presence in the pros. He was still a consistent yet sometimes injury-prone 40-point scorer, especially early in his career with Edmonton. He averaged 17 goals and 50 points per 82 games over the first seven years of his career with the Oilers and averaged north of 17 minutes per game.

One season into a three-year, $14.4MM contract he signed with the Oilers as an RFA, Gagner was flipped to the Coyotes via the Lightning in the summer of 2014 after underwhelming with 37 points and a -29 rating in 67 games the year prior. So began the journeyman stage of Gagner’s career as his offensive production fluctuated wildly from year to year, even resulting in some time in the minors. Between 2014 and 2020, Gagner would suit up for the Flyers, Blue Jackets, Canucks, the Oilers for a second time, and the Red Wings in addition to his year in Arizona. During that run, he scored a career-high 50 points in 81 games with Columbus in the 2016-17 campaign.

Gagner got a modicum of stability to end his career, spending two full seasons with Detroit after they acquired him from Edmonton at the 2020 trade deadline. He spent the 2022-23 season with the Jets before signing his final NHL deal with the Oilers nearly two years ago. The versatile right-shot pivot finishes his career with 197 goals, 332 assists, 529 points, and a -139 rating, averaging 15:37 per game and a 45.6 FO%. He earned approximately $38.1MM in salary throughout his career, per PuckPedia.

While Gagner didn’t play in the NHL last season, he was still active on an AHL deal with the Senators’ affiliate in Belleville, giving some context for his joining the front office of a team he never suited up for in the majors. He recorded 10 assists in 19 games for the B-Sens, appearing in his last game on March 5.

Ottawa also announced they’ve hired Matt Turek to serve as Belleville’s GM while taking a player personnel role with the parent club. He arrives in Ottawa after spending the last decade with the Hamilton/Brantford Bulldogs of the OHL as a scout and, later, their GM. Senators majority owner Michael Andlauer also owns that club, and Turek also worked under Staios as a scout when the latter was Hamilton’s GM before succeeding him upon his departure.

Turek will take on most of the responsibilities vacated by former assistant GM Ryan Bowness, who the Senators told clubs earlier this month won’t be back with the team next season.

Image courtesy of Ed Mulholland-Imagn Images.

Kirill Marchenko Wants To Stay In Columbus

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  • In a long-ranging interview with Sergey Demidov of Responsible Gambling, Columbus Blue Jackets’ winger Kirill Marchenko reaffirmed his commitment to the organization. Now, Marchenko is a few years away from contemplating a move, as he just completed the first season of a three-year, $11.55MM contract. Still, given his responses in the interview, which our readers are encouraged to read, Marchenko makes clear that he has no intentions of leaving Columbus even when his current contract expires after the 2026-27 season.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Lindstrom Makes Season Debut In WHL Final

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  • Friday was a big night for Blue Jackets prospect Cayden Lindstrom as the 2024 fourth-overall selection made his 2024-25 debut in the WHL Final, recording an assist in the first minute of the game. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic notes (Twitter link) that he spent most of his rehab with Columbus, skating with them from February through early April before returning to Medicine Hat to work with his junior club.  After missing the entirety of the season until yesterday due to back surgery, Lindstrom wound up going 399 days between games.

Marc-Andre Fleury, Gabriel Landeskog, Sean Monahan Named Masterton Trophy Finalists

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The NHL has announced the three finalists for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy. The award is presented each year to the player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.” This year’s finalists are Minnesota Wild goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog, and Columbus Blue Jackets forward Sean Monahan.

The race for the sportsmanship title may be closer than ever this season. Leading the back is the 40-year-old Fleury, who played the last game of his illustrious career on Tuesday night. Fleury is one of just three goaltenders to ever be drafted first overall, and he’s the only one of the trio to play through a full career in the NHL. He amassed 1,051 appearances and ended his career on a strong note this season, posting a satisfactory 14-9-1 record and .899 save percentage while serving as Minnesota’s backup. Fleury went through a true farewell tour this season, facing standing ovations and long hand-shake lines in many of his final stops around the league. A Masterton win would acknowledge the 21 years of formidable hockey and warm personality that Fleury offered the league.

While Fleury stands for achievement, Landeskog will represent true perseverance on this year’s ballot. The Avalanche captain made his long-awaited return to the ice this postseason, finally marking the end of his recovery from a skate-cut injury suffered in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Multiple surgeries and extended absences marked his 2021-22 campaign, though he stayed together long enough to net 22 points in 20 playoff games en route to Colorado’s 2022 Stanley Cup win.

But Landeskog fell completely out of the lineup after he lifted the Cup, and has spent the last three years fighting to return to game shape. His journey to recovery was outlined in the ’A Clean Sheet’ documentary, hosted on HBO Max, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Video. After three years of dedication, Landeskog has looked back to form in his return to the ice. He has four points in four playoff games and helped will a Game 7 when Colorado faced elimination on Thursday night.

For Monahan, Masterton recognition will mean something else entirely. The 30-year-old centerman signed a five-year, $27.5MM contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets last summer, intent on joining close friend Johnny Gaudreau on the team’s top line. But tragedy struck when Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, were killed by an alleged drunk driver in the weeks leading up to the season.

It was Earth-shattering news for much of the Columbus organization and fanbase, especially Monahan, who now lives two doors down from the Gaudreau family in Columbus. He channeled any emotions into incredible hockey to start the year, netting 41 points in 41 games to start the season. But Monahan sustained a right-wrist injury on Jan. 7 that forced him to miss nearly 10 weeks of action. He stayed hot when he returned, finishing the year with 16 points in 13 games, but the surge fell just a little short, and Columbus ultimately missed the postseason by just one win. Even then, Monahan’s season was a deep show of the resilience, community, and compassion that exists in the hockey world – all attributes that seem aptly summarized by the Bill Masterton Trophy.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports.

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