Blue Jackets Reassign Dysin Mayo
Oct. 22: The Blue Jackets announced they’ve loaned Mayo back to Cleveland. He was rostered for last night’s 5-1 win over the Stars but did not play. The team is hoping for Gudbranson to be available for their game against the Penguins on Saturday, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports, so Mayo’s services as a healthy extra are no longer needed.
Oct. 19: The Blue Jackets announced they’ve recalled defenseman Dysin Mayo from AHL Cleveland. They’ve been operating with an open roster spot since their initial submission earlier this month, so no corresponding transaction is required.
The move is spurred by an injury to veteran righty Erik Gudbranson, who’s sat out the last three games with an upper-body injury and remains day-to-day. Two of those three games were at home. They’re now headed to Dallas on a mini road trip and would presumably like Mayo around as extra insurance in case another injury arises.
If Mayo plays, it will be his first NHL appearance since February 2023 with the Coyotes. The 29-year-old signed a two-way deal with the Blue Jackets in the offseason. The depth defender cleared waivers during the preseason and has recorded two assists, four PIMs, and an even rating through his first four appearances for Cleveland.
His NHL work is hard to gauge since it all came on a patchwork Arizona defense corps in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. He logged 82 appearances in those two years, including 67 as a rookie after spending five seasons with their AHL affiliate in Tucson. He’s been a decently stable two-way presence in the minors and even managed a 4-8–12 scoring line for the Yotes, but his defensive stats are understandably subpar. Overtaxed out of the gate (he played over 20 minutes per game in 2021-22), he has a career -30 rating with a CF% of just 40.1 and an xGF% of 37.8 at even strength.
Mayo, a 6’0″ righty, plays a similar physical brand to the injured Gudbranson. His 129 hits actually led Arizona’s defensemen in 2021-22. Summoning him ahead of higher-ceiling youngsters like Corson Ceulemans and Stanislav Svozil is no accident. Inserting him in the lineup would give Columbus an even lefty/righty balance again after dressing four lefties and two righties in Gudbranson’s absence. Jake Christiansen, who started the year as the Blue Jackets’ healthy extra but was forced into action with Gudbranson’s injury, has a -1 rating through three showings and has skated just 8:37 of ice time per game, absurdly low for a defender.
Mayo can remain on Columbus’ NHL roster for up to 30 days or play 10 games until he needs to clear waivers again to return to Cleveland.
Wood Could Return By The End Of The Month
- There’s a chance that Blue Jackets winger Miles Wood could return by the end of the month, reports Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription link). The 30-year-old was injured a little more than a week ago after taking a high stick to the eye. GM Don Waddell indicated that Wood is now able to see out of that eye but that further testing is required once all of the blood clears. That testing will ultimately determine if he’s able to come back quickly or if he’ll be out longer term.
Summer Synopsis: Columbus Blue Jackets
With the regular season now upon us, the bulk of the heavy lifting has been done from a roster perspective. Most unrestricted free agents have found new homes, the arbitration period has come and gone, and the trade market has cooled. Accordingly, it’s a good time to take a look at what each team accomplished over the offseason. Next up is a look at the Columbus Blue Jackets.
The Blue Jackets were a heartwarming story last year after being underestimated, as they made a playoff push before narrowly missing out. The team improved by 23 points from the previous year, and while they likely won’t see that same jump again, only a slight improvement is needed to make the playoffs. Such progress boosts internal confidence, but it also raises expectations for the group, which could add pressure for the young players to handle.
Draft
1-14 – D Jackson Smith, Tri-City (WHL)
1-20 – G Pyotr Andreyanov, Krasnaya Armiya Moskva (MHL)
3-76 – D Malte Vass, Färjestad BK J20 (J20 Nationell)
5-160 – F Owen Griffin, Oshawa (OHL)
6-173 – D Victor Hedin Raftheim, Brynas (SHL)
7-198 – F Jeremy Loranger, Sherwood Park (BCHL)
The Blue Jackets drafted Smith with the 14th overall pick and are hoping that he fills out and can continue to develop on the defensive side of his game to become a top-four defenseman. Smith is a natural athlete and a very talented skater who could become a two-way defender at the NHL level. He has good patience with the puck and shows a lot of good instincts on the offensive side of the game. Defensively, his gap control and defensive instincts need some work, but if the Blue Jackets are patient in his development, he should be an NHL defenseman.
With their second first-round pick, the Blue Jackets drafted a goaltender. There’s a lot to like about Andreyanov, who has been dominant in the MHL thanks to his athleticism and tracking skills. Andreyanov is aggressive in the crease but stays calm under pressure, making tough saves look easy. He’s not very tall at 6’1″, which could limit his potential, but it’s not completely disqualifying. Goaltenders are hard to predict, which makes taking one in the first round a gamble, but for a team that has struggled to develop goalies, it’s a worthwhile risk for Columbus.
The Blue Jackets selected another defenceman in the third round, choosing Vass from Sweden. The stay-at-home defender isn’t flashy, but he plays with high energy, can hit, block shots, and kill penalties. He has solid instincts in the defensive zone and effectively defends in front of the net, which should make him a favorite among his goales. His skating might be an issue in the NHL, but if he can improve there, he could become an NHL regular.
Trade Acquisitions
F Charlie Coyle (from Colorado)
G Ivan Fedotov (from Philadelphia)
F Brendan Gaunce (from Minnesota)
F Miles Wood (from Colorado)
The Blue Jackets acquired both Coyle and Wood from the Colorado Avalanche in what was essentially a cap dump. Columbus was more than happy to add the two veterans to their roster and can now slot them in alongside their young up-and-comers. Coyle is a solid middle-six forward who isn’t afraid to go to the net or get physical. While his defensive impact isn’t significant, he possesses good offensive instincts and some skill to back it up. He is in the final year of a six-year contract and is counting $5.25MM against the salary cap. Based on his level of play, Coyle is expected to get a slight raise in free agency next summer, with AFP Analytics projecting him to earn a three-year deal worth $5.28MM.
Wood was a more long-term acquisition since he still has three years remaining on his contract after this season at $2.5MM annually. Wood is a bottom-six player and won’t score many goals; he’s also not exactly an analytics darling, but he has endured pretty tough deployments for much of his career. On the positive side, the 30-year-old skates with a lot of pace and is a strong forechecker. The length of his original contract (six years) that he signed with Colorado was a bit of a head-scratcher, and it was no surprise to see the Avalanche cut ties this summer.
Columbus acquired Fedotov to serve as backup for Jet Greaves and Elvis Merzlikins. The Blue Jackets clearly had worries about their goaltending entering this season, and although Fedotov has some flaws, he provides Columbus with a third option.
UFA Signings
F Hudson Fasching (one year, $775K)*
D Dysin Mayo (one year, $775K)*
D Christian Jaros (one year, $775K)*
F Isac Lundestrom (two years, $2.6MM)
F Owen Sillinger (one year, $775K)*
*-denotes two-way contract
The Blue Jackets didn’t make much noise in free agency, opting to sign depth players and make trades for players like Coyle and Wood. Fasching faced a lot of bad luck last year and is a reasonable gamble on a two-way contract. He probably won’t score much and may not see much NHL ice time, but since the risk with his contract is minimal, Columbus thought it was worth taking a chance. He’s 30 years old, so at this point in his career, he’s unlikely to surprise anyone, but he makes a decent, versatile option in Columbus and will likely be used as such.
Lundestrom is another worthwhile gamble given the low cost to acquire. He isn’t likely to make a significant impact offensively, which is a generous way to describe his scoring contributions. He has one season with 16 goals, but it’s unfair to expect him to post more than 20 points a season. He plays with a lot of pace and can play center, but his faceoff skills aren’t great, and his underlying numbers are an eyesore. Columbus hopes that a change of scenery can help the 25-year-old unlock more in his game, but it seems like wishful thinking at this point. Again, the cost is low, and having speedsters in the bottom six never hurts, so we’ll see if this works out for the Blue Jackets.
RFA Re-Signings
D Daemon Hunt (one year, $775K)*
D Mikael Pyyhtia (one year, $775K)*
F Dmitri Voronkov (two years, $8.35MM)
F Hunter McKown (one year, $800K)*
*-denotes two-way contract
The Blue Jackets only signed one notable RFA in Voronkov, who is still developing towards his NHL potential after a solid season last year that saw him score 23 goals and 24 assists in 73 NHL games. The 25-year-old is under contract for two more years, and if he continues to improve, he might cash in during the summer of 2027. Voronkov is big and skilled, with pretty good hands for a player who can play a remarkably rugged style. He certainly looks the part of a top-six forward, and if he can work a bit on his mobility and consistency, he could become a regular 60-point player.
It seems Voronkov will see plenty of first-line minutes this season, including significant time on the top-unit power play, which should help him continue to build his value in the first year of his new contract. If all goes well this year, Voronkov could very likely sign a big multi-year deal next summer.
Departures
F Justin Danforth (signed with Buffalo, two years $1.8MM)
F Christian Fischer (retired)
D Jordan Harris (signed with Boston, one year $825)
D Jack Johnson (unsigned free agent)
F Luke Kunin (signed with Florida, one year $775K)
D Sean Kuraly (signed with Boston, two years $3.7MM)
F Kevin Labanc (signed in KHL)
F James van Riemsdyk (signed with Detroit, one year $1MM)
G Daniil Tarasov (traded to Florida)
F Trey Fix-Wolansky (signed with New York Rangers, one year $775)*
*-denotes two-way contract
The Blue Jackets didn’t experience any significant losses this past summer, mostly losing depth players through free agency. One of the more effective players Columbus lost was van Riemsdyk. His exit was a bit surprising since he was a good fit and was very valuable in limited minutes last season, recording 16 goals and 20 assists in 71 games. While no one will mistake JVR for a speedy skater, he remains an effective net-front presence and is expected to score around 0.5 points per game while playing about 12 minutes each night.
Kuraly was another more well known player who left Columbus. The 32-year-old won’t put up many points, with just six goals and 11 assists in 82 games last season, but he will make an impact and often faces tough zone starts. Kuraly has only surpassed 30 points once in his career, but in Boston, he will probably play fourth-line minutes most of the season unless the team suffers major injuries. He isn’t a significant loss for the Blue Jackets and was one of several low-scoring forwards Columbus let go this offseason.
Speaking of low-scoring forwards, Kunin left the Blue Jackets this summer and found that the demand for his services as a free agent was tepid at best. The Blue Jackets acquired the 27-year-old at the NHL Trade Deadline, sending a fourth-round pick to the San Jose Sharks in the deal, which, in hindsight, was an overpay. Kunin’s contributions were relatively limited in 12 games with the Blue Jackets; he registered no points and was a -4. He did throw 24 hits during that time, but didn’t leave enough of an impression to warrant a longer look. With Florida, Kunin won’t be asked to do too much and should settle into a fourth-line role where he can play to his strengths.
Goaltender Tarasov will join Kunin in Florida after being traded to the Panthers for a fifth-round pick. The Blue Jackets did well to get anything for the goalie, as they were likely to non-tender the 26-year-old. Tarasov has been below league average during his brief NHL career, but has shown signs of being a dependable backup, which is what the Panthers are counting on. He will back up Sergei Bobrovsky, whom he idolized growing up, creating an interesting dynamic this season and offering Tarasov some comfort and motivation. He has good size and mechanics, and now he has a chance to put everything together behind a much stronger team.
Salary Cap Outlook
The Blue Jackets enter the season with just under $15MM in available cap space, which roughly amounts to $65MM at the NHL Trade Deadline. While it’s unlikely they’ll use all of that, they will certainly retain flexibility whether they’re in contention or not. Columbus is positioned well for the long term, as it’ll have plenty of room to re-sign Cole Sillinger next summer.
Key Questions
How will the goaltending perform?
Jet Greaves seems to be on the verge of becoming a solid NHL starter, and the Blue Jackets need that. Columbus hasn’t had reliable goaltending since 2021-22, and although Greaves has shown above-average performance in the last three seasons, his sample size is small. Heading into this season, Greaves has appeared in 21 NHL games, with a .924 SV% and a 2.62 GAA, along with a 10-9-2 record. The limited sample size makes it hard to judge, but it will be interesting to see how he performs over a full NHL season. If he can keep up these numbers in 40-50 games, the Jackets could stay in the playoff hunt for much of the year.
Will the young core step up?
Columbus has a group of talented young players on the verge of NHL stardom. Kirill Marchenko, a sizable forward, has consistently improved over his three NHL seasons and nearly reached a point-per-game pace last year with 74 points in 79 games. If he continues to develop this season, he could become an 80–90-point scorer.
Besides Marchenko, the Jackets have Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, and Voronkov, who all scored around or over 50 points last season. If each of those players takes another step, the Blue Jackets could improve on their seventh-ranked offense from last season.
Is the defense good enough?
The Blue Jackets know what they have in Zach Werenski and Ivan Provorov, but beyond that, they face many questions. Damon Severson has been a disappointment since signing a big deal in the summer of 2023, Jake Christiansen and Denton Mateychuk are still figuring out how to be regular NHL players, and Dante Fabbro was a waiver wire pickup less than a year ago. It’s a strange mix, and one that could leave many questions that will be answered over the next six months.
Photo by Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Erik Gudbranson Expected To Return From Concussion
- The Columbus Blue Jackets could be returning a veteran presence to their blueline relatively soon. Team reporter Jeff Svoboda reported this morning that defenseman Erik Gudbranson is skating with the team this morning, the first time he’s skated since going down with an concussion on October 11th. Still, there may not be much hope he’ll have a lot of staying power in the Blue Jackets lineup. Gudbranson has faced numerous injuries recently, playing only 16 games with Columbus last season.
[SOURCE LINK]
Blue Jackets’ Miles Wood Out At Least One Week
The Blue Jackets announced that winger Miles Wood will miss at least a week with an apparent eye injury, according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.
Wood sustained the injury on Monday. He left their loss to the Devils after taking a high stick from New Jersey defender Dougie Hamilton while attempting to cross in front of the Devils’ crease (video via B/R Open Ice). Injury troubles are nothing new for Wood, who missed over 30 games due to an upper-body issue while he was with the Avalanche last year. He had just eight points in 37 games when healthy, causing Colorado to part ways with him two years into a six-year, $15MM contract and trade him to Columbus in the Charlie Coyle deal to clear some cap space.
The Jackets don’t need to place Wood on IR unless they need his roster spot for a corresponding recall, which they haven’t made yet. Even so, they only had 22 players on their active roster and could make a recall without removing Wood from the roster. He’s eligible for a placement with his return timeline being at least seven days.
In fact, a recall is destined to come before they take on Wood’s former team tomorrow. With defenseman Erik Gudbranson also sidelined day-to-day with an upper-body injury, Wood’s injury means Columbus is down to the bare minimum of 18 healthy skaters. Making his season debut in Wood’s place will be Yegor Chinakhov, Portzline reports. The 2020 first-round pick will be slotting directly into Wood’s vacant spot on the fourth line alongside Isac Lundeström and Zach Aston-Reese. Chinakhov was a healthy scratch for the first three games of the season after making a formal trade request over the summer following a dispute with head coach Dean Evason. He said at the beginning of camp that he was open to staying with Columbus, but his preseason usage was limited, and he changed his representation last month as a result.
Wood averaged just 7:58 through his first three appearances as a Jacket, although that’s dragged down by his leaving Monday’s game early. He’s managed a +1 rating and two hits and scored his first goal in a Columbus jersey last weekend in their only win of the season to date, a 7-4 victory over the Wild.
Upper-Body Injury For Wood
- Blue Jackets winger Miles Wood left tonight’s game against New Jersey with an upper-body injury, the team announced (Twitter link). He took a high stick from Dougie Hamilton in the first period and did not return. Wood is in his first season with Columbus after being acquired from Colorado in the offseason and scored in his second game of the campaign.
Brendan Smith Agrees To PTO With AHL Cleveland
Oct. 13th: Although his professional tryout with the Blue Jackets proved unsuccessful, Smith will remain in the organization for the time being. The AHL’s Cleveland Monsters announced they’ve signed Smith to a PTO. Smith will play in his first AHL contest since the 2017-18 season.
Aug. 19th: Defenseman Brendan Smith has signed a PTO with the Blue Jackets, according to a team release.
Smith, 36, was once a fringe top-four option but has slid into a definitive No. 7 role in recent years, even sometimes slotting in as a fourth-line winger. He spent 2024-25 with the Stars on a one-year, $1MM deal, spending most of the year in the press box and averaging a career-low 13:13 per game. He logged 32 appearances, recording six points with a -9 rating and 41 hits. The 6’2″, 200-lb lefty didn’t see any playoff action for Dallas, either.
After long stretches with the Red Wings and Rangers to begin his career, he’s now played for three teams, the Hurricanes, Devils, and Stars, in the last four seasons. Smith’s best years came in Detroit, where he topped out with 19 points in 71 games during his first full-time season in the NHL back in 2013-14. He also went his entire career with the Wings without having negative possession impacts at even strength, even once, proving there was some definite defensive upside there when they selected him in the first round in 2007.
When he moved to the Rangers, though, those possession metrics took a hit that they never really recovered from. He even ended up on waivers during the 2017-18 campaign and had a brief demotion to AHL Hartford, although he hasn’t played in the minors since then.
With Columbus, Smith now competes for a contract in a decently crowded mix of depth forwards and defensemen. His ability to jump up on the wing will certainly help his case when doing roster math. He’s not a threat to unseat a name like Erik Gudbranson or Damon Severson for a bottom-pairing role, so his best-case objective would be to unseat the more offensively gifted Jake Christiansen as an extra defender or beat out a name like the newly-signed Hudson Fasching for the 14th forward spot and be used as a flex.
Columbus already has 15 defensemen under contract, 14 of whom will staff the NHL and AHL rosters. That certainly makes it an uphill battle for Smith to land a two-way deal since his fit with AHL Cleveland would be murky.
Blue Jackets Activate, Reassign Jordan Dumais
One of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ up-and-coming forward prospects is getting back to work in the AHL. According to a team announcement, the Blue Jackets have activated Jordan Dumais from the season-opening injured reserve and have assigned him to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.
Dumais has dealt with injuries the past few years, and nothing has changed to start the 2025-26 campaign. Dumais suffered a hip strain during Columbus’s rookie showcase, preventing him from participating in the team’s training camp and preseason.
Still, he’s only a few years removed from an impressive performance in the QMJHL.
Despite being selected in the third round of the 2022 NHL Draft, Dumais was coming off an electric sophomore campaign with the Halifax Mooseheads, scoring 39 goals and 109 points in 68 games with a +7 rating. The next year, he dwarfed his previous output, leading the QMJHL in scoring with 54 goals and 140 points in 64 games, earning the league’s MVP award. Further, he registered five goals and 21 points in 15 postseason appearances.
Due to injuries, Dumais played only 21 games in the 2023-24 season, finishing the campaign with 16 goals and 47 points. He additionally played for Team Canada at the IIHF U20 World Junior Championships, tallying one goal and one assist in five tournament contests.
Again, injuries limited Dumais to 21 games throughout his first year of professional hockey. Still, he made the most of his brief time with the Monsters, collecting four goals and 11 points in his rookie campaign. The Blue Jackets are hoping that with the hip injury behind him, Dumais can participate in most of the Monsters’ games this season to get his development back on the right track.
Upper-Body Injury For Gudbranson
- Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson exited Saturday’s victory over Minnesota early due to an upper-body injury, notes Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. The injury occurred on a hit from Marcus Foligno late in the second period but while he came out briefly for the third period, he quickly returned to the dressing room. Gudbranson was limited to just 16 games last season due to a shoulder injury and an early absence this year certainly isn’t ideal, especially with this being the final year of his contract. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the team won’t be providing any updates on Gudbranson’s status today.
Blue Jackets Name Jet Greaves Opening Night Starter
Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason confirmed to reporters today that Jet Greaves will open the season as Columbus’ starting netminder, via Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.
Given how last season transpired, it’s not much of a surprise. While Elvis Merzļikins remains under contract at a $5.4MM cap hit and has been the team’s starter since 2021-22, his workload in recent seasons has been because of a lack of other quality options, not because of his performance. He had a couple of excellent showings as Joonas Korpisalo‘s backup to begin his NHL career, but hasn’t had an average showing since his first year as Columbus’ No. 1. He’s rebounded somewhat from a disastrous 2022-23 season, but still posted an uninspiring .892 SV% and 3.18 GAA in 53 appearances for the Jackets last year.
Greaves, on the other hand, has gone from unheralded prospect to one of the league’s most intriguing young goalies over the past couple of seasons. The 24-year-old has operated as the Blue Jackets’ third-stringer for the past two years and got into a career-high 11 games last year – including five straight starts to end the season as the Jackets chased a playoff berth. He went 5-0 in those games, but they’d fallen too far back in the race by that point and missed out on a wild-card spot by two points.
The undrafted netminder has logged a stellar .924 SV% in 21 career NHL appearances over the last three years, including a sparkling .938 mark and 1.91 GAA with a pair of shutouts in last season’s body of work. In those 11 games, Greaves managed to stop 14.5 goals saved above expected, per MoneyPuck – 15th in the league and more than what high-end starters like Mackenzie Blackwood, Adin Hill, and Linus Ullmark managed to produce over a full season’s worth of work.
Greaves was similarly outstanding as the starter for AHL Cleveland in 2024-25. His .920 SV% and 2.62 GAA in 40 appearances, the former of which ranked fourth in the league among goalies who saw that kind of workload.
The writing was also on the wall based on his and Merzļikins’ preseason performances. Greaves got slightly more minutes and had much better results – a .917 SV% in three outings compared to an .896 mark from his Latvian counterpart.
It remains to be seen how Evason manages Greaves’ workload this season, or whether he operates as an outright starter rather than a tandem lead. Given he’s untested in the NHL for extended periods, it will likely be the latter. The season might start with a rotation approach and, if Greaves still holds up as the clearly better option, he could be in line for more consistent usage in the back half of the year.