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Blue Jackets Sign Gavin Brindley To Entry-Level Deal

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The Blue Jackets have signed forward prospect Gavin Brindley to his entry-level contract, per a team release. While the team did not disclose financial details, the three-year contract begins immediately. He’s in line to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Hurricanes, Columbus’ final game of the regular season.

Brindley is one of the Jackets’ best forward prospects, going to them in the early second round (34th overall) of last year’s draft. He was billed as a mid-to-late first-round talent by many and was coming off a strong freshman season at the University of Michigan, but his 5’9″, 168-lb frame scared enough teams off to let him fall to the second.

Now turning pro after his sophomore campaign came to an end in the semifinals of the NCAA national tournament last week, the 19-year-old wraps up his time with the Wolverines after racking up 37 goals, 54 assists and 91 points with 50 PIMs and a +38 rating in 81 games. He led the Big 10 tournament champions in overall scoring this season, posting 53 points (25 goals, 28 assists) in 40 games with a +17 rating to eclipse teammates such as Blackhawks prospect Frank Nazar and Lightning prospect Dylan Duke, both of whom signed their ELCs in the past few days.

That performance earned him three Big Ten year-end honors, including Player of the Year, and was named to the First All-American Team for the NCAA’s West Region. He also won gold with Team USA at this year’s World Juniors and was named one of their top three players after posting six goals and 10 points in seven games while serving as an alternate captain.

Brindley would be considered a top-two organizational prospect on several teams but slotted in as the fifth-best in a stacked Columbus system in Scott Wheeler’s 2024 rankings for The Athletic. He can play both center and wing, although his smaller frame means he’s likely slated for more action on the latter over his NHL career. Described by Wheeler as a “debatably elite skater,” his speed and acceleration give him the tools to be a legitimate two-way threat – something that should carry over to the pros thanks to his rather intelligent style of play. His frame may prevent him from winning the majority of board battles, but he’s got an Energizer bunny-like quality that should make him an effective checker.

That’s not to slight his skills with the puck. His finishing isn’t the hallmark of his game, and projecting him as a 30-goal scorer might be ambitious. His high-end view of the game lends itself to making smart plays, though, something he can execute consistently with strong puckhandling and stickhandling abilities that make him a great set-up man.

Signing his ELC now makes him ineligible to join AHL Cleveland for their playoff run, so his season will end after tomorrow’s game. Inked through 2026, he’s a strong candidate to make the Jackets’ opening night roster next fall as part of their next wave of young forwards.

Gavin Brindley May Finish Year In AHL

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Earlier today, as expected, forward prospect Frank Nazar opted to leave the University of Michigan as he signed his entry-level contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. Following in his footsteps, his now-former teammate Gavin Brindley is expected to do the same and sign his entry-level contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

However, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that Brindley may sign an entry-level contract starting in the 2024-25 NHL season, while he would join the Cleveland Monsters for the remainder of the regular season and playoffs on a PTO. Although Brindley firmly believes he is ready to turn pro, he would not be put in a position to play meaningful games for the Blue Jackets this season.

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Adam Fantilli Could Play For Team Canada Next Month

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Despite their recent collapse, it doesn’t appear as though the Philadelphia Flyers are planning to make a coaching change to replace John Tortorella anytime soon. This news comes from TSN’s Darren Dreger who reports that Flyers sources have told him that “Torts is not leaving the bench.” The speculation around Tortorella’s job security makes sense given that the team is mired in a 1-6-3 streak in their last ten and are currently chasing a playoff spot after sitting comfortably in third place in the Metropolitan Division just a few short weeks ago.

The Flyers are winless in eight straight games and have looked lost the last month, particularly in their last three games where they have been outscored 19-7 by the Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets and Montreal Canadiens. Last night’s 9-3 loss to Montreal was particularly difficult to watch as the Canadiens dominated the Flyers from start to finish which further added to speculation about Tortorella’s future.

In other evening notes:

  • Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that Columbus Blue Jackets forward Adam Fantilli won’t play again this season after suffering a lacerated calf against the Seattle Kraken back on January 28th. While that news isn’t overly surprising given that there are just a handful of games left on the NHL schedule, what is surprising to hear is that the 19-year-old rookie might play for Team Canada at the IIHF World Championships if he is healthy a month from now. Fantilli played for Team Canada last year at the tournament and could return on May 10th if he is at 100 percent. Last year’s third-overall pick will finish his first NHL regular season with 12 goals and 15 assists in 49 games.
  • Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times is reporting that Chicago Blackhawks defensemen Seth Jones and Alex Vlasic will suit up for Team U.S.A. at the IIHF World Championships. The 22-year-old Vlasic hasn’t represented the United States internationally for over five years, last suiting up for the Americans at the U18 World Championship in 2018-19. Jones last suited up internationally two years ago at the World Championships when he captained the Americans to a fourth-place finish.

Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Trey Fix-Wolansky

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Less than a week removed from being placed on the waiver wire, forward Carson Meyer of the Columbus Blue Jackets left the team’s game last night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, as he was limited to only two shifts. Once again in a position to round out their depth at the bottom of the lineup, the Blue Jackets have recalled Trey Fix-Wolansky on an emergency basis.

Having already played in 10 games for Columbus this season, Fix-Wolansky will now get another opportunity to show his value at the NHL level. In those 10 games, Fix-Wolansky has only averaged 11:00 of ice time and has tallied only one assist.

As a late-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, and a bit undersized as well, that has not stopped Fix-Wolansky from becoming one of the premier scorers on the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. Since making his debut for the Blue Jackets AHL affiliate in the 2019-20 season, Fix-Wolansky has played in 221 games, scoring 84 goals and 197 points overall.

Leading the Monsters in scoring for back-to-back seasons, there is a legitimate argument to be made that Columbus should give Fix-Wolansky an extended look at the game’s top level. As the new front office heads into its first offseason, the top brass in Columbus may look to thin out the forward core over the summer, giving Fix-Wolansky an opportunity for a full-time position with the Blue Jackets.

Sean Kuraly Returns From Lower-Body Injury Sunday

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  • The Blue Jackets have center Sean Kuraly back in the lineup today against the Hurricanes, per the team’s Jeff Svoboda. The news ends a few days of will-he-won’t-he from head coach Pascal Vincent and marks his first appearance since sustaining a lower-body injury against the Canadiens on March 12. Now in his third season in his native Ohio, Kuraly has nine goals and 17 points in 57 games this year while averaging 13:33 per game, down from the 15-plus minutes he’d averaged since arriving in Columbus in 2021.

Blue Jackets Place Carson Meyer On Waivers

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April 7: Meyer has cleared waivers and can be assigned to the minors at will, per CapFriendly.

April 6: It’s not very often that we see waiver activity in April but there was a placement on the wire today.  CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the Blue Jackets have placed winger Carson Meyer on waivers.

It’s the second time on waivers for the 26-year-old who also cleared at the beginning of the season.  At that time, Meyer was assigned to AHL Cleveland where he was relatively productive, notching 22 goals and 15 assists in 55 games, setting new career-highs in goals and points.

That helped earn Meyer a recall on an emergency basis back on March 11th.  He had been a regular most nights in the lineup since then as he got into a dozen games with the Blue Jackets, picking up a goal along with 33 hits while averaging a little under ten minutes a night.  Because Meyer played in more than ten games on this recall, he has to clear waivers to return to the Monsters.  Since the recall came after the trade deadline, he retained his AHL eligibility for the stretch run.

It’s quite likely that Meyer will once again clear on Sunday.  If a team were to claim him, he’d be ineligible to play for the remainder of the season at both the NHL and AHL levels.  Meyer will be eligible for Group Six unrestricted free agency in July, his first opportunity to hit the open market.

Blue Jackets Recall Two, Assign Trey Fix-Wolansky To AHL

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On the heels of providing several injury updates earlier in the day, the Blue Jackets have made several roster moves.  The team announced that they’ve brought up defenseman Nick Blankenburg and goaltender Malcolm Subban on an emergency basis while winger Trey Fix-Wolansky was re-assigned to AHL Cleveland.

Blankenburg is in his third season with Columbus after signing as an undrafted free agent and has seen NHL action in all three years including six appearances this season where he has been held off the scoresheet.  The 25-year-old has battled back issues in the minors which has limited him to just 21 games with the Monsters despite spending most of the season at that level.  He has fared well offensively in the AHL, picking up 13 points.  The pending restricted free agent won’t be waiver-exempt next year and is expected to push for a full-time spot next season.

As for Subban, he was acquired from St. Louis at the trade deadline to give them some extra organizational depth between the pipes down the stretch.  The 30-year-old has a 3.12 GAA and .901 SV% in 35 AHL contests so far this season.  Subban, a pending unrestricted free agent, also has 86 career NHL appearances under his belt but with Elvis Merzlikins and Vadim Tarasov unavailable, Jet Greaves will likely serve as the starter in the short term.

Fix-Wolansky, meanwhile, was recalled on an emergency basis yesterday but with Johnny Gaudreau expected to return Saturday, emergency conditions no longer exist so he had to be sent down.  The 24-year-old is averaging more than a point per game in the minors for the second straight year, collecting 24 goals and 34 assists in 53 games so far.  Fix-Wolansky has an assist in ten games with the Blue Jackets as well.  He’s signed on a two-way deal through the 2024-25 season.

Zach Werenski To Play For USA At 2024 World Championship

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  • Blue Jackets star defenseman Zach Werenski will join the United States national team after the end of the regular season in preparation for the 2024 World Championship in Czechia, he told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. In doing so, the 26-year-old is strengthening his candidacy for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics, as Team USA GM Bill Guerin has made it clear national team hopefuls for those big-ticket tournaments should attend this year’s World Championship if possible. Today, Werenski was named the Blue Jackets’ nominee for the 2024 Masterton Trophy, churning out All-Star-caliber minutes this year after missing most of 2022-23 due to shoulder surgery.

Blue Jackets Issue Multiple Injury Updates

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Blue Jackets defenseman Jake Bean has an upper-body injury that will keep him out for their six remaining games this season, head coach Pascal Vincent said Friday (via Jeff Svoboda of the team’s official site). The 25-year-old exited last night’s 4-2 loss to the Islanders after taking a shot to the hand late in the game, which the team later confirmed resulted in a break. It’s unclear if he’ll require surgery to repair the break or if rehabilitation over the offseason is sufficient to address it.

Bean’s third season in Columbus was much better than his second, when a November 2022 shoulder injury resulted in surgery that ended his season. He’s been a fixture in the Blue Jackets lineup for the most part, only being scratched on a handful of occasions. The 2016 first-round pick wasn’t able to rise above a third-pairing role, however, recording four goals and 13 points in 72 contests while averaging 16:20 per game. His pairing with Erik Gudbranson was Vincent’s most used, logging nearly 600 minutes together across 62 games. They were also the worst of Columbus’ six most-iced pairings at maintaining possession quality, controlling 45.1% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck. Bean’s individual possession numbers weren’t any better away from Gudbranson at 5-on-5, posting an on-ice xG% of 44.9.

Bean was the WHL’s leading goal-scorer among defensemen in 2016 and won Best Defenseman honors in the AHL in 2020, but his NHL ceiling is crashing down as he passes through his mid-20s. While his junior and minor league production still suggests there’s significant upside in his game, it won’t come buried on the depth chart on one of the worst defensive teams in the league.

He’ll be an RFA this summer upon completion of his three-year, $7MM contract, the last time he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency. With younger, high-ceiling defenders like David Jiricek vying for bigger roles in Columbus and multiple exemplary young defense prospects on the way, Bean could find himself on the open market this summer if Columbus opts not to issue him a qualifying offer and risk being taken to arbitration.

Extra blue-liner Adam Boqvist is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury and won’t be cleared to play before tomorrow’s contest against the Flyers, so the Blue Jackets will need to recall a defenseman from AHL Cleveland. That will likely be Jake Christiansen, who’s got two assists in 12 NHL games this season and was returned to the minors Tuesday after a weeks-long stint in Columbus.

On a shorter-term horizon, Vincent also said neither center Sean Kuraly nor goaltender Elvis Merzļikins will be available against Philadelphia. Both are out with lower-body injuries. Kuraly has returned to practice and is nearing a return after a three-week absence, while Merzļikins hasn’t played since getting banged up in a win over the Penguins on March 30. Backup Daniil Tarasov also sustained an upper-body injury in last night’s loss to the Islanders, so they’ll need to bring fourth-string netminder Malcolm Subban up from Cleveland if he’s unable to dress tomorrow. 23-year-old Jet Greaves will likely get the start in any event, posting an exemplary .917 SV% in limited NHL action this year. Subban hasn’t played a major league game in over two years, last appearing with the Sabres in January 2022.

A rare bit of good news for Columbus is that top winger Johnny Gaudreau will return against Philly after sitting out last night’s loss with an illness, Vincent told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. It’s been a disappointing season for the $9.75MM man, only potting 11 goals, but he still leads the club in scoring with 56 points in 75 games.

Johnny Gaudreau Out Tonight With An Illness

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The Washington Capitals have recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from their AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears. The 28-year-old Shepard has seen action with the Capitals already this season and made his NHL debut back in October when he led Washington to a victory over the New Jersey Devils. Shepard has a 2-1-1 record at the NHL level with a .894 save percentage and a 3.19 goals-against average.

Shepard’s recall is for cautionary purposes as the Capitals still have concerns about the status of Darcy Kuemper after he left yesterday’s practice in pain. Kuemper practiced today with the team and looked okay, but with Washington having a back-to-back against Pittsburgh and Carolina, the extra netminder was deemed a necessity.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • The Columbus Blue Jackets are without the services of Johnny Gaudreau this evening as he is dealing with an illness and was unable to dress for the game against the New York Islanders. Gaudreau had dressed in all 75 of the Blue Jackets games this season and has 11 goals and 45 assists in what has been another disappointing campaign for the 30-year-old since coming over as a free agent from Calgary in the summer of 2022.
  • Carolina Hurricanes reporter Walt Ruff tweeted that Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast re-joined the team this evening for their game against the Boston Bruins. Fast has been dealing with an upper-body injury that caused him to miss the last six games and will now take the place of Jesperi Kotkaniemi who was a healthy scratch. The light-scoring Fast has just six goals and 12 assists in 66 games this season and has seen a drop in his average ice time by almost two minutes per game from his career average. Despite the reduction in ice-time, Fast has maintained strong underlying numbers, particularly at even strength. 

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