- The Blue Jackets will look into signing defenseman Dante Fabbro to a contract extension, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports in his latest 32 Thoughts column. The 26-year-old has fit in quite nicely since being claimed off waivers in November, putting up 13 points in 37 games with Columbus while logging over 21 minutes a night. Fabbro will be an unrestricted free agent this summer and with how well he has played with the Blue Jackets, he could be in line for a small raise on his current $2.5MM price tag.
Blue Jackets Rumors
Blue Jackets Reassign Dylan Gambrell
Feb. 5: Gambrell is back with Cleveland today, per a team announcement. He didn’t play in last night’s loss to the Sabres.
Feb. 3: The Columbus Blue Jackets have utilized an emergency recall on forward Dylan Gambrell following news that star forward Kirill Marchenko suffered a broken jaw. Gambrell hasn’t played in the NHL since the 2022-23 season, when he recorded 10 points, 35 penalty minutes, and a minus-four in 60 games with the Ottawa Senators.
Gambrell was a routine NHL fixture from 2019 to 2023. Through two seasons with the San Jose Sharks and one additional year in Ottawa, he totaled 30 points in 162 games. He signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Marlies last season, and his 36 points in 66 AHL games were stout enough to convince the Blue Jackets to sign him to a two-way deal this summer. That’s proven to be a sound bet, with Gambrell now ranked seventh on the Cleveland Monsters in scoring with 20 points in 31 games. Two of the six players above him are already on the Blue Jackets roster – Denton Mateychuk and Luca Del Bel Belluz.
Gambrell likely won’t join his peers in the Blue Jackets lineup right away, instead set to serve as the team’s extra forward in their three remaining games before the upcoming 4-Nations break. If he does get into the lineup, it will be over one of Mikael Pyyhtia, Kevin Labanc, or Zach Aston-Reese – who have each posted no scoring in their last 10 games.
Gambrell will be eligible to stay with the Blue Jackets roster for 10 games or 30 days under the conditions of his emergency recall. After that, the team will have to use a formal recall to keep him on the lineup. Columbus could also opt to recall one of Trey Fix-Wolansky, Rocco Grimaldi, or Owen Sillinger. All three have outscored Gambrell in their minor league appearances.
Blue Jackets’ Kirill Marchenko Out Indefinitely With Broken Jaw
12:34 p.m.: Marchenko underwent successful surgery to repair the break, per a team announcement. He’s been placed on injured reserve and is out indefinitely.
7:52 a.m.: During an ill-fated moment in last night’s loss to the Dallas Stars, the Columbus Blue Jackets also lost arguably their top forward. In an article from Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, he shared that a team source confirmed that forward Kirill Marchenko suffered a broken jaw.
Portzline adds that an errant puck hit Marchenko in the jaw during the second period of yesterday’s game, and he quickly went to a hospital near the American Airlines Center. The Blue Jackets haven’t disclosed a timeline for Marchenko’s recovery, but a broken jaw typically keeps a player out between six and eight weeks.
The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for Columbus. Factoring in center Sean Monahan’s long-term wrist injury, the Blue Jackets have lost two of their top forwards and most of their top line as they jockey for playoff positioning in the competitive Eastern Conference.
Not only has Marchenko been a bright spot for Columbus this year but he’s been a bright spot for the entire National Hockey League. He’s blown past his previous career-high of 42 points in 78 games with a 21-goal, 55-point performance through his first 53 contests this season.
His production has accelerated on the defensive side of the puck, too. Before the injury, Marchenko averaged a career-high CorsiFor% of 52.6% and a career-high on-ice save percentage of 92.1%. He was also leading the entire league with a +31 rating.
With captain Boone Jenner expected to return relatively soon, his presence should help mitigate the loss of Marchenko on the right side, though fully replacing him internally will still be a challenge. Fortunately for Columbus, neither Marchenko’s nor Monahan’s injuries are expected to linger for the remainder of the regular season. The Blue Jackets can, theoretically, strive for a strong finish despite having a depleted forward group.
Still, with more cap space than many of their contending peers, Columbus could look to add a small offensive piece before the trade deadline. The Blue Jackets weren’t previously expected to be an active deadline team but the injury to Marchenko could ultimately force their hand.
Blue Jackets’ Sean Monahan Expected Out Six To Eight More Weeks
The Columbus Blue Jackets will remain thin down the middle for the foreseeable future. Columbus announced that center Sean Monahan is expected to miss an additional six to eight weeks due to the wrist injury he suffered on January 7th.
The injury update will likely change the Blue Jackets’ plans for the trade deadline. They had been looking forward to captain Boone Jenner’s return, which would have significantly boosted the team. However, now they will be without a top-six center until mid-March.
Despite missing the last three weeks, Monahan is still the third-highest-scoring player on the team. He’s tallied 14 goals and 41 points in 41 games for Columbus since signing a five-year, $27.5MM contract as an unrestricted free agent last summer.
Given the organization’s renewed playoff aspirations, the Blue Jackets should enter the market for a rental center in the next few weeks. Adam Fantilli has filled the void nicely, scoring five goals and nine points in eight games since Monahan’s injury, but they could use another center regardless. Furthermore, it would be a nice reward for a team that has shattered all preseason expectations.
Thankfully for Columbus, there should be plenty of talent available. In no particular order, Trent Frederic, Ryan Donato, Jake Evans, Yanni Gourde, and Alexander Kerfoot all come to mind as potential options. The Blue Jackets have both an abundance of draft picks and cap space which conceivably puts them in the market for any available player if they’re willing to meet the price.
Blue Jackets Notes: Jenner, Mateychuk, Sillinger, Monahan
Blue Jackets center Boone Jenner took to the ice today as he continues to work his way back from a shoulder injury sustained back in training camp, relays Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers (Twitter link). It’s the first time the captain has skated with the team since suffering the injury. Jenner has been a key middleman for Columbus for more than a decade when healthy although he has missed time with injuries for five straight years now. Considering he’s just starting to skate with the team now, it’s fair to suggest Jenner is still several weeks away from returning but with the Blue Jackets hanging around the playoff battle in the East, it’s possible that their big trade deadline addition to boost their roster could simply be getting him back in their lineup.
More from Columbus:
- The Blue Jackets will welcome defenseman Denton Mateychuk back to the lineup tonight against Los Angeles, notes Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 20-year-old had missed three straight games due to illness. Mateychuk has played in 12 games since being recalled late last month and has held his own in his first taste of NHL action with three points along with 21 blocked shots while averaging a little over 18 minutes a night of playing time. Mateychuk had gotten off to quite a strong start before that in the minors, collecting 25 points in 27 contests with Cleveland before being brought up.
- While they’re getting Mateychuk back, the same can’t be said for center Cole Sillinger. Team reporter Jeff Svoboda mentions (Twitter link) that the 21-year-old didn’t take the morning skate and thus is expected to miss his third straight game with an upper-body injury. Sillinger had a solid first half with 23 points in 45 games while seeing his playing time jump up to 17:40 per night.
- Compounding Jenner’s absence is that Sean Monahan (wrist) has also been out of the lineup for the past three weeks, weakening their already relatively thin center depth. Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch mentions that while Jenner is hoping to be back after the 4 Nations Face-Off, Monahan is expected to be back before him so Columbus may not have to deal with being down their top two centers for too much longer.
Blue Jackets Unlikely To Trade Pending Free Agents At Deadline
The Blue Jackets have “little interest” in selling off their pending unrestricted free agents for mid-round picks at the trade deadline, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet writes Thursday. A big splash from the surging but still rebuilding club is unlikely, but Columbus won’t be in selling mode amid a tight Eastern Conference wild-card race.
Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell has recently completed work to retain UFA-to-be Zach Aston-Reese and potential RFA Jake Christiansen on low-cost extensions. Other names, like Justin Danforth, Sean Kuraly, Mathieu Olivier up front, and Dante Fabbro and Jack Johnson on the back end, seem likely to stay in Columbus for the rest of the season regardless of how productive extension talks are.
Of course, the Jackets’ highest-value pending UFA is defenseman Ivan Provorov. The 28-year-old lefty has 20 points through 48 games this season while logging over 23 minutes per night but is believed to be interested in signing an extension to keep him off the open market, Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic said last month.
Nonetheless, Provorov ranked third on The Athletic’s latest trade board and 21st on TSN’s. His trade candidacy is likely exempt from Friedman’s report as he’d cost quite a bit more than a mid-round pick to acquire, even as a rental option.
After the Blue Jackets defeated the Maple Leafs 5-1 on Wednesday, they moved into what’s effectively a three-way tie based on points percentage for the two Eastern Conference wild-card spots with the Senators and Canadiens. Columbus has 53 points through 48 games for a .552 points percentage, while the Sens and Habs have 52 points through 47 games for a .553 mark.
As Friedman points out, the Jackets will be buyers in effect with the expected addition of captain Boone Jenner to the active roster in the coming weeks. He’s yet to play in the regular season after sustaining a shoulder injury during training camp that required surgery, but has resumed skating and is looking at a potential return in February/
Jenner, 31, would likely rank among the top 10 targets available at this year’s deadline in terms of roster impact. He’s coming off a 22-goal, 35-point campaign in 58 appearances last season
Sillinger Scratched With Upper-Body Injury
- The Blue Jackets were without center Cole Sillinger for their game in Toronto. The team announced (Twitter link) that the 21-year-old is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury. After putting 32 points in 77 games in 2023-24, Sillinger is on pace to eclipse that output relatively soon as he already has seven goals and 16 assists through his first 45 outings this season.
Blue Jackets Activate Justin Danforth From Injured Reserve
The Blue Jackets activated forward Justin Danforth off injured reserve Monday, general manager Don Waddell announced. He’ll play for the first time in 18 games when Columbus takes on the Islanders tonight.
Danforth, 31, sustained a lower-body injury at some point during a 5-3 loss to the Flyers on Dec. 10. He also missed the first three games of the campaign while recovering from offseason wrist surgery, limiting him to 25 of Columbus’ 46 games this season.
Now firmly established as a regular in the Blue Jackets lineup when healthy, the diminutive Danforth has three goals and five assists for eight points with a minus-seven rating. The natural winger has frequently factored in down the middle for Columbus this season, winning 48.2% of his 280 faceoffs, and sees the most average time on ice per game while shorthanded of any Jackets forward.
A late bloomer, Danforth didn’t make his NHL debut with Columbus until 2021-22, his age-28 campaign. In 147 career appearances with the Jackets, he has 25 goals and 26 assists for 51 points. He’s slated for unrestricted free agency this summer after completing a one-year, $1.1MM extension he signed in October 2023.
Danforth has overcome his small frame by playing an aggressive, high-speed game. His 63 speed bursts over 20 mph rank in the 70th percentile among skaters this season, according to NHL EDGE, and he finished fifth on the Jackets in hits last season with 109.
While not a significant impact piece at even strength, his return nonetheless aids a Columbus offense that’s still dealing with injuries to top-six forwards Yegor Chinakhov and Sean Monahan, as well as captain Boone Jenner. The club has still managed a 7-2-1 record in their last 10 games and sits in the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference based on both standings points (51) and points percentage (.554).
The Blue Jackets opened up a roster spot last week when they demoted goaltender Jet Greaves, so no corresponding transaction for Danforth’s activation is necessary. PuckPedia projects that he’ll likely re-enter the lineup in a fourth-line role alongside Sean Kuraly and Mikael Pyyhtia while Kevin Labanc heads to the press box.
Blue Jackets Open To Holding Onto Pending UFAs
- Earlier this week, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported (Twitter link) that the Blue Jackets are open to the idea of holding onto their pending unrestricted free agents. Widely expected to be near the bottom of the division this season, Columbus instead has been on a nice run as of late to get into a Wild Card spot. The sustainability of that position will be challenged over the next couple of months but given the value of a young core playing meaningful games down the stretch, it seems it might not be a given that their rentals will move if they slide back in the standings over the coming weeks.
Blue Jackets Sign Jake Christiansen To Two-Year Extension
The Blue Jackets signed defenseman Jake Christiansen to a two-year, $1.95MM contract extension Friday, per a team announcement. The deal, which will count $975K against the cap beginning next season, keeps him in Columbus through the 2026-27 season and off this summer’s restricted free agent market.
Christiansen, 25, is logging full-time usage on the Blue Jackets blue line this season for the first time. The two-time AHL All-Star has leapfrogged players like Jordan Harris and Jack Johnson on the Columbus depth chart, appearing in all 45 games this year in a bottom-pairing role.
An undrafted free agent signing by the Jackets out of the WHL’s Everett Silvertips in 2020, Christiansen has routinely lined up to the left of Damon Severson this year. The duo has outscored opponents 17-11 at even strength and boasts a team-high 56.1 expected goals percentage, per MoneyPuck.
While those are substantial underlying numbers, Christiansen’s lack of outright point production and minimal usage limited his earning potential on his next deal. He has a goal and six assists for seven points, but he isn’t a significant part of the Jackets’ special teams units.
Christiansen was a restricted free agent last summer and lasted 10 days on the market before agreeing to a two-way deal with a $400K guarantee to return to Columbus. The minor-league structure hasn’t been relevant, though, as he’s remained on the NHL roster all year and collected his league-minimum $775K salary. Christiansen would have had to clear waivers to head to the AHL at the beginning of the season, but after he posted a career-best 46 points in 62 games for Cleveland last year, the team wasn’t sure he’d go unclaimed after he passed through to begin the 2023-24 campaign.
Christiansen could have chosen to take the Blue Jackets to arbitration this summer but will instead lock in an average of a $200K raise for the next two years, even if things turn sour and he ends up on waivers and back in the minors. His salary breaks down as $950K in 2025-26 and $1MM in 2026-27, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports. He joins his partner Severson, Zach Werenski, and Erik Gudbranson as Columbus defenders under contract next season on a one-way deal.
The extension walks Christiansen to UFA eligibility in the summer of 2027. A one-year pact would have given Columbus one more opportunity to negotiate with him as an RFA.
He’s the second depth player who’s established or re-established himself as an NHL regular with the Jackets this season to ink an extension in the past few days. Veteran winger Zach Aston-Reese put pen to paper on a one-year, $775K extension on Monday after resurfacing in Columbus as a bottom-six fixture.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.