Blue Jackets To Re-Sign Erik Gudbranson
The Columbus Blue Jackets are bringing back a familiar face to their defensive corps. According to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic, the Blue Jackets are signing veteran defenseman Erik Gudbranson to a one-year, $1.75MM contract.
Gudbranson, 34, will now have a fifth season in Columbus. The former third-overall pick of the 2010 NHL Draft signed a four-year, $16MM contract with the Blue Jackets ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.
He didn’t get off to a horrific start with Columbus, but it wasn’t great. In his first two years, Gudbranson scored seven goals and 39 points in 148 games with a -36 rating, blocking 307 shots and delivering 211 hits. He had some decent defensive metrics at even strength, but Gudbranson wasn’t necessarily the shutdown defenseman that the Blue Jackets thought he would be.
However, beginning in the 2024-25 season, it came off the rails. Due to significant injury concerns over the past two years, Gudbranson has been limited to 53 games, quickly making his $4MM salary a sunk cost. Still, in an odd twist, Gudbranson’s defensive play has actually improved over the past two years, albeit in far fewer appearances.
Regardless, even if he suffers another injury, the Blue Jackets have much less to lose on a $1.75MM salary. He will be a fine option for Columbus on the right side of their bottom pairing and should be a quality penalty killer, as well.
What This NHL Season Showed Us About Small Players
For years, a subset of NHL general managers has steered clear of drafting small players, fearing they would not be able to physically handle the grind of the NHL playoffs. That line of thinking may finally be dead after this past season, as three of the players who led the Carolina Hurricanes in the playoffs were under 6’0” and the team ranked 25th in average height in the NHL. Seth Jarvis, Logan Stankoven and Jackson Blake were key contributors for the Hurricanes in their run to the Stanley Cup and were all drafted within the last six years. The Hurricanes are hardly the only team to have embraced smaller, skilled players, but this year may have given the entire league enough evidence that selecting smaller players is a worthwhile gamble if they have the skill to play in the NHL.
For years, teams such as the Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues and New York Islanders favored size and physicality in their prospects, often opting for brawn over skill. It’s hard to say definitively whether that was a successful line of thinking, as the Kings and Blues combined for three Stanley Cups during the 2010s, but for the Flyers, it certainly didn’t pan out.
You don’t have to look far to find additional proof of this thesis, as the team Carolina beat to reach the Stanley Cup Finals has also followed this roadmap. The Montreal Canadiens featured a lineup in this year’s playoffs led by Lane Hutson, Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield, three players who are all under 6’0”. Montreal has wholeheartedly bought into drafting the best available talent rather than concerning itself with size, which probably suits their head coach, Martin St. Louis, just fine, given that he is one of the pioneers for small players, having gone undrafted before eventually making it to the NHL and becoming a Hart Trophy winner and Hall of Famer.
Staying on the topic of smaller players, it is interesting to see former NHLer Daniel Briere at the helm in Philadelphia, given that he, too, was a smaller player and seems to have embraced selecting prospects on the smaller side. This has not historically been the Flyers’ strategy, but as more evidence of small players’ success has emerged, teams have adapted and changed their philosophies.
Looking strictly at first-round defensemen drafted from 2005 to 2020, the results for those over 6’4” and those 6’0” and under aren’t dramatically different. In terms of Norris Trophy winners, Victor Hedman is the only defender at 6’4” or taller to have won the award, while Quinn Hughes and Cale Makar are both Norris Trophy winners in the 6’0” and under category. That tiny shred of evidence doesn’t prove the thesis, but as you go down the list of taller defenders, it isn’t exactly a list of household names. Dougie Hamilton is in there and has had a great career, but beyond that there are Tyler Myers, Jamie Oleksiak, Erik Gudbranson, Nikita Zadorov, and Jared Cowen.
On the shorter players’ side, we mentioned Makar, but for every Makar you get a Ty Smith, and that is true of the taller group as well, since you could be drafting Hedman or a bust such as Mirco Müller. The list of defensemen 6’0” and under includes Ryan Ellis, Tony DeAngelo, Cameron York, Rasmus Sandin and Jamie Drysdale. While that is a solid list of defenders, there is a case to be made that more smallish players don’t make the NHL when drafted in the first round, such as the aforementioned Smith, Ryan Murphy, Ryan Merkley, and Nicolas Beaudin.
There could also be an argument that smaller defensemen don’t get afforded the same amount of leeway as their much larger contemporaries, which limits their chances of becoming full-time NHLers. It’s hard to fault NHL coaches, who are in a results-based business and likely see smaller players as potential liabilities as they try to break into the NHL full-time.
There is no better evidence that the NHL as a whole is much less concerned with size than the scoring leaderboards, where three of the top five scorers in the league were 6’0” or shorter, and 10 of the top 20 were as well. This aligns with a major shift in drafting philosophy that Sports Illustrated reported on in 2024, citing 15 years of draft data showing teams selecting smaller players on average than in previous years. That doesn’t mean teams still don’t value size, but the NHL is moving in a direction where teams will gamble on a highly skilled player, even if that player is undersized.
There is perhaps no better example of this than the Pittsburgh Penguins, who took undersized center Benjamin Kindel 11th overall in last year’s NHL Entry Draft and were criticized for selecting him so high, with many pundits calling it a reach. Kindel was marvellous for the Penguins this season, despite being just 5’11” and 182 lbs. Drafting a smaller player didn’t preclude the Penguins from going big later in the first round, as they drafted 6’2” Bill Zonnon 22nd overall, 6’5” Will Horcoff 24th overall and Peyton Kettles 39th overall.
With so many teams finding success by building around smaller players, the next few years will be particularly interesting to see whether more teams embrace this line of thinking or whether a few select teams continue to target size and toughness earlier in the draft. Just like with anything else in the NHL, it’s hard to forecast what the game will look like in a few years, but with the focus on speed and skill increasing, it could prompt teams to look for size and toughness in the later rounds and try to hit on slightly high-end skilled players.
East Notes: Gudbranson, Malenstyn, Xhekaj
Among the pending unrestricted free agents the Columbus Blue Jackets have on their roster, few are more experienced than veteran defenseman Erik Gudbranson. Earlier this month, Anthony Di Marco of Daily Faceoff reported that the Blue Jackets will part ways with Gudbranson, but today The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reported that such a decision is premature. Both Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell and Gudbranson’s agent Pat Morris of Newport Sports Management told Portzline that “no such conversation has taken place.” Furthermore, Portzline wrote that “The Blue Jackets are hoping to sign Gudbranson” though actual negotiations on a deal have not yet begun.
Gudbranson, 34, has been with the Blue Jackets for the last four seasons, playing out a four-year, $4MM AAV free agent contract he signed with the club in the summer of 2022. A veteran of over 800 NHL games, Gudbranson has struggled to stay healthy in each of the last two campaigns. Shoulder surgery limited him to just 16 games played in 2024-25, while hip and upper-body injuries kept him to just 37 games this past year. It’s likely that if Gudbranson does re-sign in Columbus, it’ll be on a contract with a pay cut from the $4MM AAV he earned on his last deal.
Other notes from the Eastern Conference:
- Buffalo Sabres forward Beck Malenstyn was fined $3,515.63, the maximum allowable under the collective bargaining agreement, for goalie interference against Montreal Canadiens netminder Jakub Dobes. The play in question happened midway through the second period of last night’s game three. Malenstyn crashed the net hard and barrelled into Dobes, making seemingly little effort to avoid significant contact with the goalie. He was assessed a minor penalty on the play and Montreal scored on the ensuing power play to make it a 4-1 contest. Malenstyn, a physical fourth-line forward, scored 14 points in the regular season and led all Sabres players with 282 hits.
- Canadiens defenseman Arber Xhekaj was fined $3,385.42, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for roughing Buffalo Sabres forward Sam Carrick. The play in question came at the end of the game, during a scrum. While the players were tussling, Xhekaj delivered a punch straight to Carrick’s head, dropping the veteran forward to the ice. The game was Carrick’s first in the lineup since March 31, as he was sidelined with an arm injury. Like Malenstyn, Xhekaj is one of his team’s most physical players, leading the Canadiens in hits this season with 178 in 65 games.
Blue Jackets Not Expected To Re-Sign Erik Gudbranson
After a late-season collapse ultimately cost them a playoff spot, Columbus head coach Rick Bowness talked about changing the culture, assuming he would still be with the team in 2026-27. That question went away rather quickly and Bowness will now get a chance to really put his mark on the team.
It appears one of the changes will be coming on the back end. Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco reports that pending UFA defenseman Erik Gudbranson is not expected to return to the Blue Jackets next season.
The 34-year-old had a tough showing both on and off the ice this season. Felled by three separate injuries (including a hip issue that kept him out for 38 games), Gudbranson only suited up in 37 games. While that was an improvement on 2024-25, that games played total was still the third-lowest of his 15-year career. In those outings, he had three points along with 64 blocks and 45 hits in 17:46 per night of playing time.
A veteran of 842 career NHL regular season appearances across eight different organizations, Gudbranson has 35 goals and 105 assists to his name, along with 1,157 blocks and 1,757 hits. He has predominantly played a fourth or fifth role on depth charts throughout his career although his grit and coveted right-hand shot have always resulted in him having plenty of suitors. That demand landed him a four-year, $16MM pact from Columbus back in 2022.
Given his age and injury-riddled campaigns, it’s fair to say that Gudbranson won’t be able to command another deal in that range this summer. AFP Analytics projects a near-50% pay cut, with a one-year, $2.012MM deal. Notably, by missing so much time this season, Gudbranson is eligible for a one-year deal with performance incentives, an option that otherwise wouldn’t have been available to him for one more year. Assuming he’s amenable to signing such a deal, that should open up options with more cap-strapped teams.
While a decision has been made on Gudbranson (and Brendan Smith, who Di Marco also reports won’t return), Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell has some work to do with his other pending unrestricted free agents. The team has some of the more prominent unsigned veterans heading into the summer, headlined by centers Charlie Coyle and Boone Jenner along with winger Mason Marchment. In the short term, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the team concentrating on trying to get one or more of them locked up on a new deal in the coming weeks.
Metro Notes: Duclair, Hurricanes, Gudbranson, Varlamov
In a post-deadline roundup, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period indicated that the New York Islanders put forward a strong effort to trade Anthony Duclair. Pagnotta didn’t articulate if the Islanders got close, but he did say that Duclair was unwilling to waive his no-trade clause to facilitate a trade.
Although nothing came together at the deadline, Pagnotta did report that the Islanders attempted to trade Duclair earlier this year, which he used his no-trade clause to block. If New York is intent on moving on Duclair in the summer months, his trade protection will drop to a 16-team no-trade list, offering increased flexibility.
There’s no questioning why the Islanders want to move on from Duclair. The team is operating fairly close to the upper limit of the salary cap, and dealing away Duclair’s $3.5MM salary would provide some breathing room. Despite an injury-riddled 2024-25 campaign, Duclair has made up for his value this year, scoring 12 goals and 27 points in 57 games, averaging 13:19 of ice time per game.
Other updates from the Metropolitan Division:
- There are a few question marks for the Carolina Hurricanes’ lineup tomorrow night. According to team reporter Walt Ruff, forward Andrei Svechnikov wasn’t at practice this morning. Moreover, Cory Lavalette of the North State Journal reported that defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere was also absent from practice. In all fairness, each could have had a maintenance day as the Hurricanes prepare for the playoffs.
- After missing the last three games with an upper-body injury, it appears that veteran blueliner Erik Gudbranson could be close to returning for the Columbus Blue Jackets. According to team reporter Jeff Svoboda, Gudbranson was a full participant at practice this morning. Gudbranson has faced significant injury limitations over the past two seasons, playing only 25% of the potential games.
- Back in Long Island, head coach Patrick Roy provided an update (via regional reporter Brian Compton) on injured netminder Semyon Varlamov earlier today. According to Roy, Varlamov has undergone two knee replacements in the last two years, resulting in nearly two full seasons of lost playing time. Even though he is signed through next season at a $2.75MM salary, it has become more unlikely that Varlamov will continue his professional career.
Injury Notes: Timmins, Kaiser, Gudbranson
After adding two defensemen from the Winnipeg Jets at the trade deadline, the Buffalo Sabres are set to add another defenseman to a blueline that is rapidly crowding: Conor Timmins. Head coach Lindy Ruff told the media, including Buffalo Hockey Beat’s Bill Hoppe, that Timmins is about seven to ten days away from being ready to return to the lineup. Timmins has been on injured reserve since late December with a leg fracture.
With the additions of Luke Schenn and Logan Stanley at the deadline, the Sabres already have eight healthy defensemen on their active roster. Once Timmins is activated, they will have nine, and it’s not immediately clear where Timmins would slot into the Sabres’ lineup. When he was last in the lineup, Timmins played on the right side of the second pairing, next to Bowen Byram. The spot next to Byram is currently occupied by captain Rasmus Dahlin, and the right-handed slot on the second pairing next to Owen Power is taken by Michael Kesselring. It seems most likely that Timmins will enter into a rotation with Schenn on the right side of the third pairing. In that sort of arrangement, Ruff would have the option to dress the defenseman best suited for the night’s opponent – with Schenn playing when more muscle is needed, and Timmins when Ruff wants to maximize the skating ability of his defense. In 33 games this season, Timmins is averaging 19:14 time on ice per game, including 2:59 per game on the penalty kill.
Other notes from around the NHL:
- Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Wyatt Kaiser will be held out of tonight’s contest against the Vegas Golden Knights as he manages an upper-body injury, reports Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times. Head coach Jeff Blashill indicated Kaiser would be fit to return to the lineup in time for Tuesday’s game against the Minnesota Wild. According to Pope, Kaiser’s absence tonight “seems mostly precautionary.” It’s a notable loss for Chicago, even if it’s only a brief one, as Kaiser has been the team’s No. 3 defenseman in terms of time on ice per game this season. Through 61 games, Kaiser has scored five goals and 12 points playing an average ice time of 19:12. He’s under contract through next season at a $1.7MM AAV.
- Veteran Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson traveled with the team for their road game against the Philadelphia Flyers tonight, per team reporter Jeff Svoboda, though it is not clear whether he will be ready to return to the lineup in full. An upper-body injury has cost Gudbranson the chance to dress for each of Columbus’ last two games, crucial contests in what has been a furious playoff push by the Blue Jackets since the arrival of head coach Rick Bowness. The 34-year-old, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, has been limited to just 21 games played this season due to injury.
Blue Jackets’ Erik Gudbranson Suffers Upper-Body Injury
Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness told the media, including team reporter Jeff Svoboda, that veteran defenseman Erik Gudbranson will not travel for Columbus’ upcoming three-game road trip after suffering an upper-body injury during today’s game against the Los Angeles Kings.
The injury limited Gudbranson to just five minutes of ice time today. The 34-year-old had a late start to his 2025-26 season as he was on injured reserve until mid-January with a hip injury.
The Blue Jackets did not reveal a full recovery timeline for Gudbranson, but that is presumably because the full extent of the upper-body injury is likely still being evaluated.
Should Gudbranson miss more than just this upcoming three-game road trip, the consequences could be significant both for Columbus and for Gudbranson himself.
The Blue Jackets have turned their season around since hiring Rick Bowness as their head coach, and are in the midst of a furious push up the Eastern Conference standings. The playoffs currently look like a very realistic possibility for the team, if they can sustain their pace.
Gudbranson has been a key defensive specialist for the Blue Jackets since making his season debut, and his efforts have helped propel the stunning reversal the team has experienced in its competitive fortunes for 2025-26. He’s the Blue Jackets’ No. 3 defenseman in terms of ice time, skating nearly 21 minutes per night.
He’s also a key player on the penalty kill, sitting just a few seconds behind Ivan Provorov for the team lead in short-handed time-on-ice per game. His 2:55 short-handed time on ice per game ranks just outside the top-20 in the NHL in that metric. While Columbus doesn’t have one of the league’s better penalty kills, it’s clear Gudbranson retains the trust of Bowness in key defensive situations.
With all of that in mind, it’s clear losing Gudbranson will pose a challenge for the Blue Jackets. It could present an opportunity for Yegor Zamula or Jake Christiansen to take on some of Gudbranson’s minutes in his absence, but neither is an ideal replacement for the defenseman.
From Gudbranson’s perspective, an extended injury absence would come at an extremely inopportune time. He’s playing out the final year of the four-year, $4MM AAV deal he signed in Columbus, and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer.
While he will be able to offer interested teams a wealth of experience and some coveted traits (his size, physicality, and status as a right-shot defenseman), if he ends up missing even more time this season, his free agent case will be presented with questions attached. More specifically, Gudbranson’s trip to free agency (assuming he does not sign an extension in Columbus) could be dogged with questions over whether teams can trust him to stay healthy as he progresses deeper into his thirties.
It’s Gudbranson’s upcoming free agency, combined with his team’s playoff chase, that gives this development a clear set of stakes. The hope will be, for all parties involved, that the extent of Gudbranson’s absence is limited to just the team’s upcoming road trip.
Photos courtesy of Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Blue Jackets Activate Erik Gudbranson
The Columbus Blue Jackets will return a veteran defenseman to the lineup tonight. According to team reporter Jeff Svoboda, the Blue Jackets will activate Erik Gudbranson for tonight’s matchup against the Vancouver Canucks.
Gudbranson, 34, has not played in an NHL contest since shortly before Halloween. He’s been dealing with a hip injury that has cost him much of the 2025-26 campaign.
That has been the status quo for Gudbranson throughout the final two years of his four-year, $16MM contract with Columbus. The veteran defenseman also lost much of the 2024-25 season, finishing with four assists in 16 games, averaging 17:46 of ice time per game.
Given that he’s carried major injury concerns since the end of the 2023-24 season and hasn’t been particularly good when healthy, Gudbranson will likely serve in a depth role for the foreseeable future. Still, the Blue Jackets are dealing with other injuries and ailments on their blue line, which will allow Gudbranson to have consistent ice time in the near future.
Regardless, Columbus will have to make a corresponding roster move to make Gudbranson’s activation official. That will likely result in the demotion of defenseman Dysin Mayo, whom the team recalled yesterday on an emergency basis. Mayo played in the Blue Jackets’ win over the Calgary Flames a few days ago, earning a +1 rating while playing in 8:03 of the action.
Blue Jackets Recall Luca Del Bel Belluz
The Blue Jackets announced that they have recalled center Luca Del Bel Belluz from AHL Cleveland. Defenseman Erik Gudbranson was moved to injured reserve in the corresponding move.
Del Bel Belluz’s addition to the roster comes in the wake of an injury to top center Sean Monahan, who left last night’s game against the Flames after sustaining an apparent upper-body injury late in the second period on an awkward collision into the end boards with Calgary rearguard Rasmus Andersson. Columbus isn’t expecting Monahan to miss significant time, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports, but a short-term absence still appears likely.
Del Bel Belluz is in his third season of professional hockey after the Jackets picked him in the second round of the 2022 draft, 44th overall. He’s in the second year of his entry-level contract, which carries a reduced cap hit of $859,999 because of a pair of slide years. With over $16MM in cap space, according to PuckPedia, there’s virtually no limit on the roster moves Columbus can make.
The No. 4 prospect in Columbus’ system got his first legitimate taste of NHL action last season and looked the part. He made his debut the previous season but only played in one game. That time around, he got 15 appearances in January and February, also due in part to a Monahan injury. He was given bottom-six deployment but still averaged a respectable 13:45 of ice time per game, about 50 seconds of which came on the power play. He was productive in his chance, scoring twice and adding six assists for eight points. He only won 43% of his faceoffs – as to be expected for a rookie – and he wasn’t particularly physical with just four hits. His possession impacts were undesirable as well, although the Jackets will wait for a larger sample size before making any determinations on the quality of his two-way play.
While his defensive growth remains a question mark, Del Bel Belluz’s offensive ceiling is evident. In a Columbus pool flush with up-and-coming centers, he has some work to do to stand out, but he is making a real push. Now, 21, he has three goals and five points through his first seven games for Cleveland this season. Last year, he was named to the AHL’s All-Star Game amid a 27-goal, 53-point effort in 61 showings.
Columbus already had Yegor Chinakhov sitting as an extra forward, but he’s a winger. With Monahan facing missed time, they wanted insurance down the middle. They have options already dressed on the wing who can easily slot in down the middle – Boone Jenner and Cole Sillinger, in particular – but, understandably, head coach Dean Evason doesn’t want to mess too much with a forward group that’s helping Columbus generate 32.8 shots per game, second-most in the league.
The Blue Jackets aren’t back in action until Saturday, so they have some time to make a determination on Monahan’s status. As for Gudbranson, he’s on his second multi-game absence of the season already. He hasn’t played since Oct. 25 due to a hip issue, so since he’s missed more than a week, he’s eligible for activation at any time. The 33-year-old has only made four appearances this season because of his hip problem and a previous upper-body issue. He’s averaged only 14:51 per game and has a -2 rating.
Metro Injury Notes: Romanov, Gudbranson, Soucy
Alexander Romanov missed the New York Islanders most recent game against the Ottawa Senators due to an upper-body injury. He’s not expected to miss any more time. According to Andrew Gross of Newsday, Romanov is fully particpating in this morning’s practice, indicating he’ll return tomorrow.
After the Islanders traded Noah Dobson this summer, they were expecting Romanov to shoulder more responsibility on the blueline. The team showed that expectation financially, signing Romanov to an eight-year, $50MM extension, making him their highest-paid defenseman.
Unfortunately, even before the injury, Romanov hasn’t looked like the defensemen the Islanders need him to be. He’s gone scoreless through his first four contests with a -3 rating, averaging 18:12 of ice time per game. He’s shown some early progression in his possession metrics, though his isolated defensive play has been subpar at best with a 85.7% on-ice save percentage at even strength. Still, there’s plenty of time left in the season for Romanov to correct his play, and hopefully being healthy will aid in that effort.
Other injury notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- 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.
- According to Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic, defenseman Carson Soucy shed his no-contact jersey at the New York Rangers’ practice this morning, indicating he’ll be activated off the IR relatively soon. Although he’s eligible to be activated from the IR today, Mercogliano wouldn’t go as far to confirm those are the Rangers intentions. Soucy suffered his injury in the team’s October 11th game against the Pittsburgh Penguins as he awkwardly flew into the boards after attempting to hit Rickard Rakell.