Evening Notes: Jagr, Baertschi, Necas
Hockey legend Jaromir Jagr has hit a lull in his off-season prep, announcing in an Instagram post that he’s suffered a torn hamstring. He’ll now be out for three-to-six weeks, adding that the injury was likely a result of overtraining, which team physio Pavel Kolar warned him against. In a quote translated from Czech by Derek O’Brien of The Hockey News, Jagr said, “When I talked to the physiotherapist Pavel Kolář about the fact that I would like to properly train, he warned me not to do anything that my body is not used to. Of course, I didn’t listen to him… I went for a run. Not the sprints I used to do uphill, but normally straight. But I put weights on my ankles and tore my hamstring.”
Jagr, a partial owner of Kladno, will now miss the team’s remaining four pre-season games and could be out for the start of the Czech Extraliga season on Sep. 18. Kladno has a game roughly every other day from there on out, eating into Jagr’s goal to play in every Extraliga game this season. The inevitable Hall-of-Fame winger has stayed productive into his 50s, scoring 18 points across his last 31 Extraliga games, dating back to 2022. He’s never shown any reason for doubt, and even through a hamstring injury, he hopes to continue a productive playing career in Kladno as soon as possible.
Other quick notes from around the NHL:
- Former Vancouver Canucks winger Sven Baertschi has joined the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks as an assistant coach, shares Ryan Pike of Flames Nation. Baertschi spent two years with the Winterhawks in 2010 and 2011, ultimately scoring a dazzling 240 points in 156 games with the club. That was enough to motivate the Calgary Flames to select Baertschi with the 13th overall selection in the 2011 NHL Draft, though he never managed to live up to that precedent. His career year came with Vancouver in 2016-17, when he posted 18 goals and 35 points in 68 games. Baertschi finished his NHL career with 138 points in 292 games, playing in parts of 10 seasons. That’s a hockey career to be proud of – meager scoring or not – and Baertschi will now look to carry his experience back to the juniors team that helmed his early career.
- Plenty of teams expressed interest in former top trade piece and recent Hurricanes re-signee Martin Necas, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in the latest written 32 Thoughts. Among the interested parties were the Winnipeg Jets and Columbus Blue Jackets, though Necas was ultimately swayed to stay in Carolina thanks to the support of his teammates off the ice. Necas will now look to make the most of his two-year contract after posting 71 and 53 points in the last two seasons, respectively. That’s strong production, and Necas should earn an impressive contract when he becomes an unrestricted free agent, pending any collapse over the next two years.
Summer Synopsis: Columbus Blue Jackets
It’s been a summer of change for the Columbus Blue Jackets as the team now has a new general manager for the first time in over a decade, with Don Waddell tasked to man the ship. It took longer than expected, but the team also has a new head coach, Dean Evason, as the team looks to turn the corner in their rebuild. The Blue Jackets have disappointed immensely since losing in the First Round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, as they’ve compiled a record of 107-155-40 in the meantime, which is good for a winning percentage of .354. As now one of the younger teams in the league, the Blue Jackets will be relying more on their younger players to take the next step and pull the organization back to contention.
Draft
1-4: C Cayden Lindstrom, Medicine Hat (WHL)
2-36: D Charlie Elick, Brandon (WHL)
2-60: G Evan Gardner, Saskatoon (WHL)
3-86: D Luca Marrelli, Oshawa (OHL)
4-101: D Tanner Henricks, Lincoln (USHL)
6-165: D Luke Ashton, Langley (BCHL)
It was going to be difficult for Columbus to miss out on a top prospect with the fourth overall pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, and the team did not disappoint as they took the premier power forward available. Lindstrom combines size and speed and will be a valuable long-term option in Columbus’ top six. He recently wrapped up his sophomore campaign with Medicine Hat in a season that saw him score 27 goals and 46 points in 32 games. The only early concern with Lindstrom up to this point is a nagging back injury that limited him last season, but he still carries a development floor of being a second-line center.
Despite only having five picks in the remaining six rounds of the draft on day two, the Blue Jackets got a steal toward the top of the second round with Elick, who was predicted by many to be a late first-round talent. He’s already a legitimate shutdown defenseman in the WHL who can swiftly move the puck up the ice in certain scenarios. Despite being one of the more physical defenders in his age group, he is a menace with his stick in the lanes and has the acceleration to beat opposing forecheckers to the puck on defense.
Trade Acquisitions
D Jordan Harris (from Montreal)
Harris will take over responsibilities for Jake Bean on the Blue Jackets blue line, and he’s projected to suit up in a bottom-pairing role. Over the last two seasons with the Montreal Canadiens, Harris played in 131 contests while scoring seven goals and 31 points. At 24 years old, he still holds some prospect pedigree but doesn’t project to log heavy minutes outside of five-on-five action.
If Columbus trades defenseman Ivan Provorov during this season before he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer, Harris could slot into the second-pairing role with fellow youngster David Jiricek. The team could then test Harris on the second powerplay unit in hopes of a breakthrough but will likely opt for a more well-rounded option to fill that need.
UFA Signings
D Jack Johnson (one year, $775K)
F Dylan Gambrell (one year, $775K)*
C Sean Monahan (five years, $27.5MM)
G Zachary Sawchenko (one year, $775K)*
* denotes two-way contract
Columbus made a big splash on the opening day of free agency with a five-year deal to Monahan. He will be reunited with winger Johnny Gaudreau from their days with the Calgary Flames with the hopes of a resurgence from the latter. Since signing a seven-year, $68.25MM deal with the Blue Jackets in 2022, Gaudreau has failed to manage a point-per-game as he’s scored 33 goals and 134 points in 161 contests.
Monahan is coming off of a solid season split between the Canadiens and the Winnipeg Jets as he achieved the highest point total of his career since the 2019-20 season. Not only was he a solid contributor offensively with 26 goals and 59 points in 83 games, but Monahan also performed much better in the faceoff dot than in seasons past, as he achieved a success rate of 54.9% last season compared to his 51.0% career average. Monahan should immediately step in as the team’s first-line center allowing Evason and the coaching staff to take some pressure off some of their younger options down the middle.
RFA Re-Signings
F Yegor Chinakhov (two years, $4.2MM)
D Jake Christiansen (one year, $775K)*
G Jet Greaves (two years, $1.625MM)
F Kent Johnson (three years, $5.4MM)
F Kirill Marchenko (three years, $11.5MM)
F Cole Sillinger (two years, $4.5MM)
* denotes two-way contract
Most of Columbus’ available cash went to their class of restricted free agents as the team committed heavily to some of their younger talent. Marchenko landed the largest deal of the group after nearly leading all Blue Jackets in goal-scoring in back-to-back campaigns. With Monahan centering his line, Marchenko could hit the 30-goal plateau as soon as this upcoming season.
Johnson, Sillinger, and Chinakhov all carry similar pedigrees as prospects, with the latter having the most impressive season last year with 13 goals and 29 points in 53 games. It’s imperative that all three improve on the defensive side of the puck to have longevity at the NHL level and Evason’s coaching style should help in that department. None of their contracts were signed this summer, which hamper any near or future spending for the Blue Jackets, and they will give both player and team a pathway towards a better deal in the future.
One of the sneakier contracts dolled out by Columbus this summer is the two-year, $1.625MM agreement with Greaves, who is playing his way toward regular backup minutes at the NHL level. The young netminder impressed greatly at the AHL level last season with a 30-12-4 record in 46 games with a .910 SV% and 2.93 GAA. Greaves carried his strong play into the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs, where he helped push the eventual champion Hershey Bears to game seven of the Eastern Conference Finals on the backs of a .926% throughout the postseason.
Departures
D Jake Bean (Calgary, two years, $3.5MM)
D Nick Blankenburg (Nashville, two years, $1.55MM)*
D Adam Boqvist (Florida, one year, $775K)*
F Joshua Dunne (Buffalo, two years, $1.55MM)*
F Brendan Gaunce (Minnesota, two years, $1.55MM)*
F Patrik Laine (traded to Montreal)
F Carson Meyer (Anaheim, one year, $775K)*
F Alexander Nylander (signed with Toronto, AHL)
D Billy Sweezey (Boston, one years, $775K)*
F Alexandre Texier (traded to St. Louis)
* denotes two-way contract
Columbus was not positioned to lose a lot of talent this summer, with the most significant loss coming from purposeful moves. The team chose not to tender contracts to defensemen Boqvist or Bean, which allowed them to find greener pastures elsewhere and thin out their defensive core. Boqvist and Bean both had disappointing campaigns last year which prohibited them from having any future use to the Blue Jackets. The team can now give consistent minutes to top-prospect Jiricek after shuffling him back and forth from the AHL for much of last year.
The major loss comes up front with the team moving on from Laine and a second-round pick in 2026 in exchange for Harris. Laine was limited dramatically last season due to injuries and a lengthy stint in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, which caused him to only suit up in 18 games. However, the former second-overall pick of the 2016 NHL Draft is only two years removed from being one of the better forwards on the roster, as he scored 48 goals and 108 points in 111 games between 2021 and 2023. No matter how much they would’ve liked to keep Laine after exiting the Player Assistance Program a few weeks ago, the Finnish sniper and his agent had already agreed with Columbus earlier in the summer that moving out of the organization was necessary to correct his career.
Salary Cap Outlook
By allowing the Canadiens to take on the full $8.7MM owed to Laine in each of the next two years, the Blue Jackets have one of the cleaner salary cap tables of any organization. The team is headed into the 2024-25 NHL season with $15.95MM available in cap space, according to PuckPedia. With the team unlikely to contend in a top-heavy Metropolitan Division this year, Waddell and the Blue Jackets could weaponize their cap space by taking on a bad contract or two or could become a third-team broker closer to the trade deadline. No matter the route they take, the salary cap won’t be an issue for Columbus heading into next season.
Key Questions
Who Will Be Left On The Roster At The End Of Next Year? The biggest trade chip for Columbus heading into next year is Provorov, who may be one of the better options available at next year’s deadline. The left-handed Russian is entering the final year of a six-year, $40.5MM contract originally signed with the Philadelphia Flyers and could reasonably take on top-four minutes with almost any team in the league. The Blue Jackets will also have the bonus of being able to retain 50% of Provorov’s salary, but it may not net them much more in return as it is becoming more and more common each season. A dark horse trade candidate would be captain Boone Jenner, given his solid play on both sides of the puck and his relatively low $3.75MM salary for the next two years. Depending on how the trade market develops over the regular season, Jenner could net Columbus a decent haul of draft capital and another roster opening for their prospects.
Which Player Will Take The Next Step? The Blue Jackets have not had a player score more than 80 points since Artemi Panarin scored 87 during the 2018-19 campaign. Gaudreau has not been that player up to this point, albeit getting close during the 2022-23 season. The team desperately needs a star player to take over and their best hope of that happening comes in the form of Adam Fantilli. The University of Michigan alum was the third overall pick of the 2023 NHL Draft and wrapped up his rookie campaign with 12 goals and 27 points in 49 games. Although he was hampered by a calf laceration last year, Fantilli is still an elite-level prospect and could score 50 points as soon as next season. Not typically viewed as a top free-agent destination — the Blue Jackets will need to develop one of their younger prospects into the player they desperately need.
Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Blue Jackets Agree To Terms With Cole Sillinger On Two-Year Deal
The Blue Jackets and center Cole Sillinger have come to terms on a two-year deal worth $4.5MM, per a team press release. It’s the expected result after Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reported earlier this month the two sides were close on a two-year pact.
Sillinger has been viewed as a potential core piece for the Jackets ever since they selected him 12th overall in the 2021 draft. He was the middle selection of a trio of first-round picks Columbus had that year, joining Kent Johnson and Corson Ceulemans. He immediately became a top-five prospect in the organization and was expected to be a high pick after being named the United States Hockey League’s Rookie of the Year the preceding campaign.
Those expectations ratcheted up after Sillinger made the opening night roster as an 18-year-old, a rare feat for a non-top-10 pick. In his rookie season, he was immediately thrust into bottom-six center duties and finished 10th on the middling club in scoring with 31 points in 79 games. He still had some work to do defensively, as his -22 rating was one of the worst on the team, and his shot attempt and shot quality shares at even strength were below team average.
Two years later, not much has changed. Sillinger’s possession numbers improved slightly last season after a sophomore slump in 2022-23, but his offensive development has largely remained stagnant. He did feature more prominently on a weaker Columbus offense this past year, ranking sixth among forwards in average time on ice (16:07). But it didn’t translate into a big breakout on the scoresheet, managing 13 goals and 32 points in 77 games. It’s undoubtedly solid depth production, but it’s not a verifiable step forward from where his rookie season was.
But last season was a massive step in the right direction for Sillinger compared to the previous year. That sophomore slump hit him hard, limiting him to just three goals and 11 points in 64 games, resulting in a brief assignment to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.
Sillinger’s overall game has had some notable positives thus far. The 21-year-old pivot has been a consistent physical presence, tying for third on the team in hits last season with 119. He’s also been a decent chance generator by volume, ranking fourth on the Jackets in shots on goal with 157 last year, but a lack of quality chances has limited him to an 8% shooting rate through his 220 career NHL games.
For now, the 6’1″, 201-lb center is a decent third-line anchor, especially for a rebuilding club. But he’s still got room to grow, and he’ll look to do so throughout this affordable bridge deal to cash in when he becomes a restricted free agent again in 2026.
Sillinger is the second member of the 2021 draft class to ink a new deal this week, joining No. 2 overall pick Matthew Beniers. He put pen to paper on a seven-year, $50MM pact yesterday.
With Sillinger signed, the Jackets’ season-opening roster could now be set with 13 forwards, eight defensemen and two goaltenders, PuckPedia projects. His $2.25MM AAV and cap hit still leaves them with $15.95MM in cap space with a full roster.
Laine Trade Could Make Blue Jackets A Cap-Clearing Broker
Earlier today, the Blue Jackets were able to accommodate Patrik Laine’s trade request, moving the winger to Montreal along with a 2026 second-round pick in exchange for Jordan Harris. With no salary retention on either player in the swap, Columbus opened up $7.3MM in extra cap room.
Speaking with Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch, GM Don Waddell indicated that clearing the entirety of Laine’s contract was a key focus, something they wouldn’t have had a chance to do with the other offers that were on the table:
Any other deals we’d talked about were all about retaining half, and our goal was to get out of the whole contract. So, we’re happy it worked out. I called him and wished him the best of luck. Sometimes, you’ve got to make decisions that are better for your hockey club, and gaining cap (space) and cash means a lot for two years.
As it turns out, the Canadiens were a late entrant to the discussions as The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline relays (Twitter link) that Montreal only engaged Columbus this past weekend about the swap with discussions quickly turning serious. Speculatively, based on Waddell’s comments, the priority wasn’t necessarily maximizing the trade return but rather maximizing their flexibility moving forward so once they found a team open to taking on the full freight of the deal, they moved quickly to get it done.
When it comes to that flexibility, the Blue Jackets now have nearly $18.2MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. Only two teams – Calgary and Anaheim – have more than that. Even if Columbus is a team operating under a budget and not able to spend right to the Upper Limit of the salary cap, they should still have some room to make some moves.
It seems there are some executives who feel the same way. Waddell noted to Hedger that shortly after the trade, he received a pair of inquiries from teams that are looking to open up cap space. With several teams fairly tight to the cap, there are bound to be others as well. That said, Waddell cautioned that they might not take advantage of that flexibility right away:
There are a lot of teams that are either over the cap or right up against it, and if nothing happens right now, we’ll just go into training camp. We just gave ourselves so much more flexibility. Even if it doesn’t work out this year, going into next summer knowing that you don’t have that on your books is a relief.
This summer has been all about patience for Columbus. It took them a while to find a new GM while their head coaching search went into July, a rarity; assistant coaching decisions went even longer. It took several weeks for the Laine trade to come together, even at a time when it was widely known he was available. Knowing that, patience might be the best course of action for Waddell and the Blue Jackets to take when it comes to utilizing their newfound cap space. With a lot of teams potentially benefitting from extra cap room, the Blue Jackets are well-positioned to wait for the offers to come in, basically the opposite of what happened in what turned out to be a very limited market for Laine.
Canadiens Acquire Patrik Laine
The Canadiens announced the acquisition of scoring winger Patrik Laine and a 2026 second-round pick from the Blue Jackets in exchange for defenseman Jordan Harris. No salary is retained in the swap.
Montreal has been on the lookout for top-six scoring help for quite some time. They’ve slowly added to their rebuilding group over the past few summers, taking on younger projects via trade like Kirby Dach and Alex Newhook. This is the biggest swing that general manager Kent Hughes has taken, though, picking up a more established yet expensive sniper.
They’re taking on an extremely high-ceiling talent in Laine and buying low while doing it, taking on a second-round pick for their troubles and only parting with Harris, an intriguing defender that was buried among their litany of other blue-line prospects. Laine’s lack of availability the past few seasons tanked his trade value, with various injuries and a lengthy stint in the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program capping his 2023-24 campaign at just 18 appearances. He hasn’t played more than 60 games in a season since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
But when he’s on, he’s on. Even while battling through both upper and lower body injuries, Laine was close to a point-per-game player over his first two full seasons in Columbus. His best offensive season came in a Blue Jackets uniform in 2021-22, when he notched 26 goals and 56 points in 56 games. That prompted then-Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen to award Laine a four-year, $34.8MM deal, the same one that his successor, Don Waddell, has now had to surrender a draft pick to shed.
In the first year of the deal, Laine largely kept up the pace, churning out 22 goals and 52 points in 55 games even while shooting 12%, a conservative figure compared to his 14.7% career average. But last season, Laine was injured from the start and clashed with new head coach Pascal Vincent, who deployed him for a career-low 15:13 per game. As such, he was limited to six goals and nine points before his campaign ended in December.
It’s an expensive gamble for Montreal, who’s on the hook for an $8.7MM cap hit through 2025-26. But after taking months away to mentally reset and rehab his various injuries, Laine seems primed to return to form – if he can avoid re-injury. The 2016 second-overall pick hit 30-plus goals in the first three seasons of his NHL career with the Jets, and he had 28 goals in 68 games in 2019-20 before the pandemic ended the regular season. It was the shortened 2020-21 campaign, during which Laine was dealt to Columbus following a trade request, that first showed a chink in the armor of his goal-scoring ability. He was limited to just 12 goals and 24 points in 46 games on the year, managing just 82 shots on goal.
But he was on pace for well over 30 goals in each of the following two seasons with the Jackets, and that’s the player Montreal hopes can revitalize an offense that’s placed bottom-10 in the league for three years in a row. He, along with Cole Caufield and 2022 first-overall pick Juraj Slafkovsky, give the Habs three top-six wingers who can all likely be penciled in for more than 60 points next year. Slafkovsky, entering his third NHL season, broke out for 20 goals and 50 points with Montreal last year after being moved to top-line usage alongside Caufield and captain Nick Suzuki.
Laine likely won’t bump Caufield out of first-line minutes, but the right-winger will be tasked with anchoring their second line, potentially alongside the aforementioned Dach and Newhook. The 26-year-old would be the oldest member of that trio, a reversal from his time in Columbus, which was spent mostly on a line anchored by veteran Boone Jenner.
Salary-wise, PuckPedia notes that the Habs are now over the cap by a projected $1.1MM with a 23-man roster, including LTIR-bound netminder Carey Price. Montreal will likely submit a bare-bones season-opening roster with a couple of waiver-exempt players papered down to the AHL to remain cap-compliant before placing Price and his $10.5MM cap hit on LTIR after the season starts, opening up a large chunk of in-season maneuverability.
As for the Blue Jackets’ end of things, they free up a decent amount of spending money for the next two seasons and recoup an NHL-caliber defender. Harris, 24, was a third-round pick by the Canadiens in 2018 and has since developed into a serviceable third-pairing option. His possession quality numbers have been poor, as to be expected for a young player on a basement team, but his shot attempt share at even strength has been above team average over the last two years. He’s posted eight goals, 24 assists and 32 points in 131 games, including 14 points in 56 games last year.
Harris gives the Blue Jackets another option to compete for left-shot third-pairing duties out of the gate behind Zach Werenski and Ivan Provorov. He’ll need to ward off challenges from UFA signing Jack Johnson and two-time AHL All-Star Jake Christiansen for the job, though. Even if he’s not in the opening night lineup, it’s hard to envision him starting any lower than No. 7 on the depth chart. He’s no longer waiver-exempt and carries a $1.4MM cap hit, more than the maximum that’s buriable in the minors.
Columbus can start contract discussions with Harris whenever they wish, as he’s already extension-eligible. If he reaches restricted free agency next summer, he’ll be eligible to file for arbitration.
The Blue Jackets now have north of $18MM in cap space after the swap, PuckPedia projects. That’s enough to add whoever they want at the trade deadline if their young core breaks out this season, but it’s also more than enough flexibility to take on money to relieve contenders if they’re still in seller mode by the trade deadline.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was first to report that Laine had been traded to Montreal. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Metropolitan Notes: Kolosov, Bergeron, Vaisanen
Flyers goaltending prospect Alexei Kolosov‘s status for next season remains in the air. Reports over the last month indicated that Kolosov had informed the team that he wouldn’t report to their AHL affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, if assigned there in the fall. Those were later refuted by general manager Daniel Brière, who said the team had no confirmation about Kolosov’s desires for the 2024-25 campaign.
Early this morning, Daria Tuboltseva of Responsible Gambling reported that Kolosov had switched his representation, now being represented by Gold Star Hockey’s Dan Milstein. He was previously represented by CAA Sports’ J.P. Barry, who also represents Philly netminder Ivan Fedotov and likely Calder Trophy contender Matvei Michkov.
That was quickly followed up by a report from The Athletic’s Kevin Kurz that Kolosov’s new camp, led by Milstein, is expected to meet with the Flyers later this week. A source tells Kurz that Kolosov does indeed wish to return to his native Belarus on loan this season to play for Dinamo Minsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, where he’s played since 2020. The Flyers, who signed Kolosov to his entry-level contract in 2023, loaned Kolosov to Minsk last season, expecting him to play the final two years of his rookie deal in North America, either with the Phantoms or the Flyers.
Kurz says the plan hasn’t changed, and the Flyers aren’t interested in loaning Kolosov back to Minsk or terminating his contract. Philadelphia, whose NHL tandem is expected to consist of Fedotov and Samuel Ersson out of camp, could suspend Kolosov without pay if he refuses to report to Lehigh Valley upon assignment in the fall. Since the KHL now exists independently from the IIHF and the Russian Ice Hockey Federation, there would be no sanctions against them if Kolosov signed a contract with Minsk in violation of his deal with the Flyers.
More from the Metropolitan Division:
- The Blue Jackets have hired Chris Bergeron as an associate coach for the Cleveland Monsters, their AHL affiliate, the team announced today. He’s the replacement for Mike Haviland, who was promoted to the NHL bench earlier this month as an assistant under new head coach Dean Evason. An Ontario native, Bergeron sticks in the only state he’s ever known as a coach. The 53-year-old boasts a collegiate career spanning 24 years as an assistant with Miami University, a head coach with Bowling Green State University, and a second stint with Miami as head coach.
- Penguins defense prospect Joona Väisänen has committed to Western Michigan University, the school announced. Pittsburgh selected Väisänen, 20, as an overage pick in the seventh round of this year’s draft. The puck-moving Finn is coming off his first season in North America, posting 40 points and a team-leading +31 rating in 53 games with the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League. The right-shot blue-liner will suit up for WMU as a freshman this fall.
Blue Jackets Notes: Laine, Sillinger, Lindstrom, Tryouts
While the Blue Jackets have taken care of most of their offseason business, there are a couple of matters for them to still attend to. The biggest one is the Patrik Laine situation. The winger has made it known that he would like to be traded and has been cleared from the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. However, GM Don Waddell indicated in an interview with Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers that they are not particularly close to finding a change of scenery for him:
Well, he’s still a Blue Jacket today and as we speak, I don’t have anything (newsworthy of) interest, but nothing that I had to make a decision on yet. Just some teams do their homework and trying to talk with Patrick and his agent and he thought about giving full permission to talk to teams. So, but as we are talking, I don’t have anything that on the table that would even make any sense for the Blue Jackets to make that deal.
The 26-year-old was limited to just 18 games last season where he had six goals and three assists before being shut down due to shoulder surgery in December; he entered the assistance program just over a month later. For someone who has a cap hit of $8.7MM, that’s far from a great return.
However, Laine has a track record of being a productive scorer. He has three 30-goal campaigns under his belt and three more of at least 22, two of which came in 2021-22 and 2022-23, seasons where he missed at least 26 games due to injury. With that in mind, there is some recent success which should be of some value for interested teams. But until they can make the money work (either with Columbus retaining money, taking a pricey contract back, or both), it doesn’t look like this is going to come to a quick resolution.
One element that might be resolved quickly, however, is Cole Sillinger’s next contract. A report from The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline surfaced a little more than a week ago that the two sides were close on a new deal. That still hasn’t been made official yet but Waddell acknowledged that an agreement is nearly done:
Yeah, we’re real close. His agent has been very, there’s been lots of talks going on, all very positive talks. We’re all within the striking distance. It’s just a matter of they have a position, we have a position and there’s no doubt in my mind it’ll get worked out.
The 21-year-old was the 12th overall pick in 2021 and made the jump to the NHL right away, notching 31 points in his rookie year before struggling considerably in his sophomore season. However, Sillinger was able to rebound somewhat last season, notching 13 goals and 19 assists in 77 games while logging over 16 minutes a night of ice time. That said, this appears to be a situation where a short-term second contract makes sense for both sides to better assess what Sillinger’s true offensive upside will be.
Meanwhile, Waddell provided an injury update on prospect Cayden Lindstrom. The Blue Jackets drafted the middleman with the number four pick in June following a strong, albeit injury-riddled, WHL season with Medicine Hat where he had 27 goals and 19 assists in just 32 games. Lindstrom has been working his way back from a back injury but has not yet been cleared to resume skating. Accordingly, the GM suggested that he might not participate in next month’s rookie tournament unless he is deemed fully recovered at that time.
Lastly, Waddell didn’t rule out the possibility of giving out one or two tryout agreements in the coming weeks. However, he noted that his preference is to have smaller groups for training camps and with an overhaul of the coaching staff, having the smaller group makes more sense this time around. That said, with eight exhibition games in an 11-day stretch, having a veteran or two to help meet the minimum quota probably wouldn’t hurt.
Blue Jackets Nearing Deal With Cole Sillinger
The Blue Jackets are close to handling business with RFA forward Cole Sillinger. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports Columbus and Sillinger are within “striking distance” on a two-year contract.
Sillinger has been a staple on Columbus’ roster for the past three seasons after going 12th overall in the 2021 draft. The 6’1″ pivot’s 220 career appearances lead the class.
With his three-year entry-level contract going into effect immediately upon his post-draft season, this was the first summer that anyone selected in 2021 could have been eligible for restricted free agency. Other 2021 draft class RFAs this summer were Columbus’ Kent Johnson, who went seven picks ahead of Sillinger, and Lightning defenseman J.J. Moser. Kraken pivot Matthew Beniers, who went second overall, is also an RFA this summer and remains without a deal.
Last season, Sillinger seemed to get himself back on track after a major sophomore slump that saw him demoted to AHL Cleveland for a brief period. The 21-year-old set career-highs with 19 assists, 32 points and a -4 rating while averaging 16:07 across 77 games.
It was an important step to show that Sillinger likely still has a top-six ceiling, although his poor showing in the faceoff dot and middling possession metrics to date suggest he may be better served as a winger. Among Blue Jackets who took at least 100 faceoffs last season, Sillinger’s 46.3 FO% ranked fifth.
While he hasn’t established himself as a bonafide core piece for the Jackets yet, he is working his way into the conversation as a valuable role player at a young age. His 74 blocked shots tied captain Boone Jenner for the most among Columbus forwards in 2023-24, and his 119 hits ranked fourth on the team, as did his 157 shots on goal. His possession metrics trended in the right direction, too, yielding career-highs of 48.4 CF% and 46.6 xGF% at even strength.
Sillinger, who was born in Columbus while his father, Mike Sillinger, was playing for the Blue Jackets, would be an RFA upon expiry of a two-year contract. He’d only be 23 years old in the 2026 offseason and well-positioned to cash in on a long-term deal if he takes a significant step in his development.
The Canadian national will be part of a continued youth movement in Columbus this fall with a forward group that also includes the aforementioned Johnson, Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Kirill Marchenko, and Dmitri Voronkov.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Blue Jackets Hire Scott Ford, Mike Haviland As Assistant Coaches
The Blue Jackets have hired Scott Ford and Mike Haviland to serve as assistant coaches under new bench boss Dean Evason this season, the team announced Thursday.
They replace the outgoing Josef Boumedienne and Mark Recchi, who Aaron Portzline of The Athletic previously reported would not be returning. The club’s other two assistants from last season, Jared Boll and Steve McCarthy, will be back in 2024-25 as expected.
Ford, 44, will jump behind an NHL bench for the first time. The British Columbia native had spent the last eight seasons in the Predators organization as an assistant coach with their AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals.
Before transitioning to coaching, Ford played 522 AHL games across 10 seasons, 378 of which came with the Admirals. A burly right-shot defenseman in his playing days, Ford had played or coached for Milwaukee in parts of every season since 2008-09.
Ford also spent six seasons with Evason in Milwaukee as a player and coach. He played out the final three seasons of his career with the Admirals with Evason at the helm and began coaching as Evason’s assistant for three seasons before Evason departed in 2018 to take an assistant coaching role with the Wild.
Haviland, 57, brings considerably more coaching experience to the Columbus bench than his new colleague. He’s technically an internal promotion, having spent the last two seasons with their AHL affiliate in Cleveland as their associate coach.
Before that, the Middletown, New Jersey native was named the AHL’s Coach of the Year in 2007 with the Norfolk Admirals and later won the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks as an assistant in 2010. Prior to joining Cleveland in 2022, Haviland spent seven years as the head coach of Colorado College.
Blue Jackets Coaching Notes: Dorsett, Recchi, McCarthy, Boll
The rippling effects of the regime change in Columbus are beginning to be felt by multiple members of the organization’s coaching staff. Although no positions have been filled up to this point, we know of a few coaches who will not be on the bench with Dean Evason and the Columbus Blue Jackets next season.
Covering all of the departures, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic begins with Derek Dorsett who had been serving as the team’s development coach for the last few years. As his only professional coaching role to date, Dorsett became a development coach with the Blue Jackets and Cleveland Monsters for the 2021-22 season. Portzline outlines that Dorsett’s departure may not have as much to do with the head coaching change as it has to do with not having the necessary time to commit to the coaching role as a new father.
Dorsett may eventually return to the Blue Jackets organization as he lives in the Columbus area with his family. He made his professional debut with the Blue Jackets in the 2008-09 season and scored 27 goals and 65 points in 280 regular season games as a tough-nosed winger.
Other coaching notes:
- The only assistant coach officially terminated by Columbus’ brass according to Portzline was Hall of Fame forward Mark Recchi. The long-time NHL forward began his coaching career relatively soon after his lengthy playing career ended after the 2010-11 season. Recchi began work as a development coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2014-15 before transitioning to the team’s assistant coach in 2017-18. After a brief two-year stint as an assistant coach with the New Jersey Devils, Recchi’s only year as an assistant coach with the Blue Jackets will be last season.
- As reported a few days ago, Portzline confirms that assistant coach Jared Boll will be back with the organization next year. Additionally, Portzline notes that assistant coach Steve McCarthy will be back on the bench next season leaving Columbus with only one assistant coach vacancy heading into the 2024-25 campaign. The vacancies must get filled relatively quickly though as the league is quickly approaching the start of training camp in late September.