UFA signee Ryan Lomberg is an interesting addition made by the Blue Jackets this offseason. He brings some traits this team was sorely lacking at times last year, and it's bound to make him a fan favorite at Nationwide Arena pretty quickly.
The two best adjectives to describe his game are not really hockey terms: sandpaper and glue. This isn't a player who is in the NHL to score timely goals or make a silky deke to gain the offensive zone. He's here for energy.
The most obvious descriptor to start with is sandpaper. Despite going undrafted with a 5'9", 185 pound stature; the 31-year-old Lomberg has built an almost 400-game NHL career on a foundation of simply being a pain in the rear to play against.
He's going to get in on the forecheck and throw every single hit that he can. He's going to go to the gritty areas of the ice, drive under the competition, and grind them into the ice. That drive and his constant motor has earned him the nickname "Lomberghini" throughout his two previous stops in Calgary (twice) and Florida.
Just because the whistle blows, doesn't mean he's finished. He's going to have things to say, faces to wash, and jabs to throw in those post-whistle scrums. And I don't think that's a negative thing. In fact, I'm guessing that's part of the reason the Blue Jackets sought him out on day one of free agency in the first place.
The missing ingredient?
One of the most fun games the Blue Jackets played last season was on December 1st in New Jersey. Without their two toughest players in the lineup, the team banded together and bullied the Devils off the ice in a 5-3 win that had the 5th Line ready to run through a brick wall.
It all started because of a fight. With the Devils ahead 2-1 early in the second, Adam Fantilli hacked at Devils goaltender Jake Allen, admittedly a little bit late in the play. This led to Brenden Dillon and Dmitri Voronkov squaring off, with a decisive victory for Big Boss.
There were three more fights in the period, one of which included Fantilli, and another including Voronkov; and the Jackets seemed to rally around that excitement. They went on to win a tough road matchup, giving us one of the defining moments of their year.
It feels like that was a glimpse towards the kind of team Don Waddell has been trying to build since taking over as GM back in 2024. The problem: there have been too many nice guys on this roster. Adding Lomberg to the bottom six could be the spark this team needs to ignite the occasional powder keg. He seems well aware of the role he's taking on:
From his hair care routine to his love of boxing, get to know Ryan Lomberg! pic.twitter.com/0hIwNYTlLB
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) August 17, 2026
Which brings me to the other adjective I began this article with: Ryan is a glue guy. As we saw in New Jersey last December, this Blue Jackets team can be pretty lethal when they are all pulling in the same direction. Bringing in a guy like this, who doesn't take himself too seriously while simultaneously irking the opponent; is sure to help pull this group together on more occasions.
I have no ambition of Ryan Lomberg taking the Mathieu Olivier route and emerging as one of the game's premier enforcers (while simultaneously potting 10+ goals). He will drop the mitts from time to time, just in a lower weight class. Ahem.
But, he is going to be a fan favorite from his first shift at Nationwide Arena. His motor never stops, even when the whistle blows. And that is something this team could certainly use more of, if they want to play big boy hockey.
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