COLUMBUS, Ohio — A collection of notes, insights, ruminations and did-you-knows gathered throughout the week that was for the Columbus Blue Jackets:
Item No. 1: The Jiricek return
Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell kept telling his rival GMs that he wasn’t dead-set on trading defenseman David Jiricek. This wasn’t like the Patrik Laine trade months earlier, where the best offer would get him.
“We had some pursuers (on Jiricek) immediately, yes,” Waddell told The Athletic. “But I was not there with any of the offers. So I told (Jiricek’s agent, Allan Walsh) that if we get a deal, great. But if we don’t, we’ll keep plugging along.”
Waddell spoke with Walsh and Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin almost daily throughout the process, as the Wild were relentless in their pursuit of Jiricek. It wasn’t until this weekend when other clubs made offers similar to Minnesota’s that the Wild were forced to up their ante.
The Jackets traded Jiricek and a fifth-round pick in 2025 to Minnesota for defenseman Daemon Hunt, a first-round pick in 2025, a second-round pick in 2027 and third- and fourth-round picks in 2026. Hunt was immediately assigned to AHL Cleveland.
Waddell and Guerin have known each other for years — they worked together in Pittsburgh before Waddell joined the Carolina Hurricanes front office — but there are no favors among GMs.
“It took a while,” Guerin told The Athletic. “Donny, he played with me a bit. He’s one of my old mentors, but he made me work for it. He’s the best.
“It’s a lot like working with (longtime NHL GM) Jim Rutherford. You just have to work through it. And it takes time. And if you come up with something fair, and it makes sense for both sides … there’s a lot of give and take, and that takes time. I love the process. It was great.”
The Blue Jackets were initially looking for a trade partner with a prospect similar to Jiricek’s age and pedigree that they’d be willing to swap. Failing that, Waddell wanted a first-round pick, a depth defenseman with some promise and a series of additional draft picks.
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Hunt, 22, can probably help the Blue Jackets this season, more than they felt Jiricek could. He’s a left-side defender, which could make it easier to trade veteran Ivan Provorov, a pending UFA next summer, if Waddell gets the right offer ahead of the trade deadline.
But the picks are what Waddell wanted.
The Wild’s first-round pick is protected in the event that it’s a top-five pick this summer, but that’s highly unlikely barring a historic collapse by Minnesota. The Wild are currently tied with the Winnipeg Jets for the most points (36) in the league.
Chances are that first-round pick from the Wild will be in the 20s, but it could be paired with the Blue Jackets’ own first-round pick to move higher in the order. Or it could be used in a draft-floor trade to acquire an established player. The second-round pick, while still three drafts away, is a nice chip, too.
Waddell made significant changes this past summer even though he wasn’t hired until late May. There will be more moves next summer, especially now that Waddell is getting a better read on his young players and the nucleus of the Blue Jackets roster.
“Draft picks, whether we use them to take players or use them as assets to add players, those are good to have,” Waddell said. “Players are always available at the draft, and you need assets to acquire those players.
“It’s not like July 1, where it’s just straight-on free agency. Some of the best shopping I’ve done as a GM has been at the draft.”
Item No. 2: Fantilli’s focus
Adam Fantilli was 0-for-November in goal scoring before he netted two on Friday in the Blue Jackets’ 5-2 win over the Calgary Flames in Nationwide Arena.
Dean Evason and the entire coaching staff have stressed to Fantilli, who recently turned 20, that his performance this season isn’t being measured by goals and points, but in how he defends and how he plays within the Blue Jackets system.
Still, the 13-goal drought was weighing on him. Asked if it felt good to get the “monkey off his back,” Fantilli made it sound as if it was more like a gorilla.
“Pretty huge,” he said. “It was tough to think about (the scoring drought). I’m glad to get it off.”
Fantilli has 5-7-12 and a minus-1 rating in 22 games. He’s playing 16:48 per game, most often in a No. 2 center’s capacity, and drawing time on both the power play and penalty kill. He’s winning only 44.5 percent of his faceoffs, but that’s up from 43.6 percent as a rookie.
Do you know how rare it is for a just-turned-20-year-old to be able to play center in the NHL, much less eat almost 17 minutes per night? Evason does, which is why he’s ecstatic about Fantilli’s development.
And it’s why he’s tried to give Fantilli more ways to measure his play, rather than just offensive production.
Mo’s second goal in last night’s epic win earned him the @FanaticsBook Goal of the Game! pic.twitter.com/1l1HtvJqHZ
— Colu❌bus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) December 1, 2024
Fantilli scored a power-play goal in the first period on Friday to give the Jackets a 1-0 lead. He also scored a crucial third-period goal off a two-on-one with Kirill Marchenko that pushed the lead to 4-1.
After the game, Evason literally shrugged when asked how delighted he was to see Fantilli finally get off the schneid. Before the two goals Friday, he last scored Oct. 28 vs. Edmonton.
“It’s great,” Evason said. “But it’s not necessarily great that Fantilli did it. It’s just great that the Columbus Blue Jackets did.
“Fantilli has been committed to doing the right things in the right areas. Has he sacrificed a little bit of risky offensive play to be a good, defensive, sound player? Maybe. But we know in the long run — he knows in the long run — if he continues to play like he has played literally all year … the scoring will come.
“It came (Friday). Maybe it won’t next game. Maybe it won’t be super consistent, but it will be there because he has that natural ability. His work in the other areas has been fantastic.”
Much was made of the top of the draft board in 2023, when Connor Bedard went No. 1 to Chicago, Leo Carlsson was Anaheim’s surprise No. 2 pick and Fantilli landed in Columbus at No. 3. All three players have endured challenges in their second seasons.
Bedard has 4-13-17 and a minus-5 rating in 23 games with the Blackhawks. He is playing 19:25 per game, is winning just 28.7 percent of faceoffs and was recently moved to the wing.
Carlsson has 6-5-11 and an even rating in 20 games with the Ducks. He’s playing 16:43 per game and winning 31.5 percent of draws.
Item No. 3: Take 5 with Johnson
Take 5 will be a new weekly feature within the Sunday Gathering; a quick, five-question sitdown with a Blue Jackets player, coach or front-office staffer. We start this week with Kent Johnson:
1. What part of Columbus is home and why?
I live in the Short North. I wanted to be close to the rink and live in an apartment. (Former Blue Jacket Nick) Blankenburg suggested the building ’cause he was there. It seemed like a good building. I’ve been there … this is my second season living there.
2. Favorite restaurant in Columbus.
Lindey’s in German Village. I like the steak and a bunch of the appetizers — the calamari, especially.
3. What do you do on an off day Sunday?
Just hang out with some of the guys. We go to church in the morning and then go get some lunch and watch football. We do have a lot of Sundays off, it seems.
4. Favorite CBJ memory.
I feel like that game in Colorado, our second game of the season (a 6-4 win). That was a good moment for our team. There was a little feeling like, ‘Wow, we can be a good team!’ We finally beat a really good team on the road. That was a big one for me.
5. Which teammate should have a podcast?
(Laughs) Good question. Ollie (Mathieu Olivier) could have one, for sure. He could just talk about sports, especially the UFC. Christy (Jake Christiansen), I think, is hilarious, but he wouldn’t want to have a podcast. I’d go with Ollie, and I’d listen to that one.
Item No. 4: Snacks
• The Blue Jackets were off on Saturday other than a mid-day flight to Chicago, where they open a five-game road trip on Sunday at 3 p.m. You may recall that the five-game roadie at the start of last month did not go well. The Jackets went 0-4-1, the only point an overtime loss in San Jose. They’ll face tougher competition on this trip. After playing today in Chicago, they play Calgary (Tuesday), Edmonton (Thursday), Vancouver (Friday) and Winnipeg (Sunday). Those final four clubs are a combined 54-30-9 and all sit in playoff spots as of today.
• Here’s Olivier on the challenge ahead: “It wasn’t that we were playing badly (on that trip) except for the Seattle game (a 5-2 loss on Nov. 12). We actually were playing decent hockey, we just weren’t scoring and a couple of mistakes were costing us games. When we’re at home, we score. Now we have to do it on the road.”
• To Olivier’s point: The Jackets are 8-3-1 in Nationwide Arena, averaging 4.25 goals per game. They’re 2-6-2 away from Nationwide, the worst road record (and fewest points) in the league, and averaging just 2.6 goals per game.
KJ BURIES OUR SECOND🔥 @FanaticsBook | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/1A67FftvRj
— Colu❌bus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) November 29, 2024
• Johnson has scored at least a point in all eight games he’s played this season, totaling 5-6-11 with an even rating. It doesn’t count as an eight-game point streak because Johnson missed 14 games from mid-October to mid-November (the middle of the streak) with an injury. But one way to look at it: Johnson had just 6-10-16 in 42 games last season before he suffered a shoulder injury.
• Upon arriving in Chicago on Saturday, Johnson was planning to meet up with Bedard, his longtime friend from back home in British Columbia, for a Friendsgiving version of Thanksgiving.
• The Gordie Howe hat trick — a goal, an assist and a fight in the same game — is named after the legendary Detroit Red Wings power forward who played 1,767 games over 25 NHL seasons. You may be surprised to learn, however, that Howe had only two Gordie Howe hat tricks in his illustrious career. That’s the same number Blue Jackets’ Zach Werenski has after his big night last week against Montreal. Werenski and Rick Nash, who had three Gordie Howes with Columbus, are the only players who’ve had more than one with the Blue Jackets. Fedor Tyutin is the only other Jackets defenseman to accomplish the feat.
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• Sunday Gathering trivia question: The trade of Jiricek on Saturday made him the 10th Blue Jackets first-round draft pick to move on without having played the equivalent of two NHL seasons (164 games) with the club. Which first-round pick who is no longer with the organization played the fewest games in a Columbus sweater?
• After missing Friday’s game with an illness, goaltender Daniil Tarasov is back to health and traveled with the Jackets to Chicago on Saturday. Goaltender Jet Greaves, called up in Tarasov’s absence, was returned to Cleveland.
• The Blue Jackets must be delighted with AHL Cleveland. The Monsters’ 2-0 win over Toronto on Friday marked their 10th consecutive win, a franchise record. Plus, Cleveland has three players within the league’s top five in scoring, including first-year-pro defenseman Denton Mateychuk, the No. 12 selection at the 2022 draft. Mateychuk, 20, is third in the AHL — not among defensemen, but all players — with 6-15-21 in 19 games. He has 3-7-10 during a six-game point streak. The other top scorers are Rocco Grimaldi (6-17-23, plus-10 in 15 games) and Trey Fix-Wolansky (10-10-20, plus-3 in 19 games). Not far behind is Luca Del Bel Belluz, who, at 10-9-19 in 19 games, has already surpassed his goal total (nine) from last season (58 games).
• Joseph LaBate, who signed a player tryout agreement with AHL Cleveland in early October, was signed to a two-way contract by the Blue Jackets on Friday, a one-year deal that would pay him $775,000 in Columbus or $100,000 in Cleveland. Immediately after the signing, LaBate was placed on waivers. He cleared on Saturday and was “sent” to Cleveland, even though he never physically left Cleveland. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound forward is a veteran of 410 AHL games. He spent last season in Russia’s KHL.
• Grimaldi, who turns 32 in February, is not on a PTO. On Saturday, the Monsters announced they’d signed him to an AHL contract for the remainder of the season.
• The Blue Jackets’ win on Friday improved their record vs. Calgary to 36-24-8 (.588). There are only two franchises — Detroit (46) and Chicago (40) — against whom the Jackets have more wins, and only one against whom the Jackets have a higher points percentage. That’s Buffalo (.622).
• Trivia answer: Kerby Rychel, the No. 19 pick in 2013, played only 37 games for the Blue Jackets before he was traded to Toronto at the draft three years later for defenseman Scott Harrington. There’s plenty of competition here, though. Marko Dano, taken eight spots after Rychel in 2013, played only 38 games in two stints with Columbus. Others: Nikita Filatov, No. 6 in 2008, played only 44 games, while Jiricek, taken at No. 6 in 2022, played in 53.
(Top photo of David Jiricek: Aaron Doster / Imagn Images)
