For all of the buzz and excitement surrounding the Columbus Blue Jackets as they competed for a playoff spot late in the season, one thing that may have gone unheralded was the much improved play of Jordan Harris right at the end of the season. This stretch for Harris just so happened to correspond with the late momentum the team had into the end of the campaign.
Harris became a member of the Blue Jackets over the 2024 off-season following the trade of Patrik Laine and Columbus’ 2026 NHL Entry Draft second round pick to the Montréal Canadiens for the young defenseman in return. The 5’11” now 24 year old defenseman seemed to have a clear spot on the roster as the Club’s 6th defenseman, playing on either side on the bottom defensive pairing; especially after the near season ending injury to RHD alternate captain Erik Gudbranson.
Then, however, the season actually started. Harris would play in just 33 games over the 2024-25 campaign, 23 of which would come during the first three months of the season. Jordan played in just 10 games during 2025, and four of those were the final four games of the season. It’s not clear why he fell out of favor in the lineup in Columbus, but it’s possible that he regained some of that faith with Dean Everson and the coaching staff with his contributions in four of Columbus‘s final six game winning streak to end the year.
Harris put up a 1-4-5 line in those 33 games, just 6 PIM and a surprising -1 rating. Personally, I liked a lot of what I saw from Harris over the course of the year. Just like any other young defenseman, he was prone to make mistakes from time to time, but I saw him do a lot of the small things correctly. He put himself into good positions in the defensive end on a common basis and was one of the better defensive defenseman at times on the team’s roster. Harris has never been much of a points producer, but as a defenseman, that’s not something that he necessarily needs to be; especially in a third pairing role.
Jordan is a restricted free agent this off-season, and his rights do not expire for another few years. It will be interesting to see if he receives a qualifying offer from the club when the deadline comes up to have those submitted around the end of June.
Don Waddell has not tipped his hand much since the trade last August about his interest in keeping Jordan as a part of the club. If I was in the general manager seat, I would certainly give him a contract myself. I feel that he has earned a full-time shot on the roster.
Harris was commonly scratched for Jack Johnson or Gudbranson, who are now 39 and 33 respectively and Johnson is now a UFA and Erik is in the final year of his contract. I don’t know if the Jackets necessarily gave Jordan a full shot to get his game working this year, especially in 2025 with him playing in so few games. I would love to see him in the union blue again next season and see what he can really do with a full season’s body of work in Columbus.