The season is over for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Out of 25 seasons in club history, this is the 24th time we’re saying that before the end of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. And yet, in a franchise defined by strife, heartbreak, misery, and pain: this particular failure feels like it’s near the top of the barrel.
What other season even comes close? 2011–12? Probably. That year had the failed Jeff Carter trade, the Rick Nash departure, and a full-on reset from the bottom. But 2025–26 is right there in the conversation.
So now the question becomes: where does the Union Blue go from here?
Is it time to tear it all down and start another long rebuild? I don’t think ownership, the front office, the coaching staff, the locker room, or the fans could stomach that right now — not after coming so close to the postseason the last two years.
What about selling off veterans and leaning harder into the “young core”? Well, most of that young core is already past their ELCs and will be due raises soon — Adam Fantilli most of all. And we all saw how “just play the kids” worked during the final years of Jarmo Kekäläinen’s tenure. A team without meaningful veteran depth is a team built to fail in this league.
Can the franchise add a few key pieces this offseason and come back stronger? Maybe. But who are those pieces, and what’s the cost? The Jackets have cap space and a few picks, but the prospect pool is thinner than it used to be.
If they go big-game hunting — Robert Thomas, Jason Robertson, Dylan Larkin — they won’t be the only ones in line. Are they ready for a bidding war? Are they ready to sacrifice pieces of the young core or future picks to go “win now”? And is this even the right moment to make that kind of push?
Free agency doesn’t offer much relief either. As of this writing, the top UFA by points is…Darren Raddysh. Charlie Coyle — a guy many CBJ fans want Don Waddell to bring back anyway — isn’t far behind. What once looked like a deep UFA class has evaporated as teams used the rising cap to lock down their own players. Columbus will be doing the same with its pending UFAs.
So what’s the right answer? Honestly, I don’t have one. And that’s the most frustrating part.
When this team executed the way it was built on paper, they were one of the most dangerous groups in the NHL for months. Then, almost overnight, they forgot how to play hockey together. Selfish entries, sloppy possessions in all three zones, lazy passes turning into brutal turnovers — it all came roaring back at once. The wildest part is that their defensive zone work actually held up down the stretch. It was the scoring that evaporated.
Re-hiring Rick Bowness was the right first step, but not the only solution they need. They need more finishing talent. They need a third defensive pairing that can reliably eat 15 minutes a night and take pressure off the top four. How they get there, I don’t know.
But I do know this: the Union Blue faithful are fed up. It’s time for a winner on the ice in Columbus.
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