The Blue Jackets announced their preseason schedule for next season today, featuring just four games. They will play two games at Nationwide, and two more on the road.
Preseason hockey starts with a home game on September 21st, where the Jackets will play host to the Detroit Red Wings. The next night, they will send a group to Buffalo to take on the Sabres (9/22).
Then, the Jackets return home for a game September 24th against the Pittsburgh Penguins, before closing out the preseason against the Red Wings, in Detroit on September 26th.
The NHL has shortened the preseason schedule for all 32 teams, as they shift into an 84-game schedule next season. This balances out the calendar, allowing each team to play every divisional foe four times.
Simultaneously, the league is going to get an earlier start, to allow for more flexibility and an earlier finish to the season. The goal is to have the Stanley Cup Final series end sooner than the week before the draft, which would allow more time for teams to plan for the offseason.
Blue Jackets prospects are in action, as well.
The Blue Jackets will also send their young players to a prospects tournament in Michigan, though, not Traverse City as was tradition for many years. As Mark Scheig points out, this one takes place in Detroit:
More news: In addition, #CBJ is going back to Detroit for the prospect's tournament. Except it's not in Traverse City. It's being held at Little Caesars Arena with three other teams.
— Mark Scheig (@mark_scheig) June 23, 2026
Host Detroit, #CBJ, Dallas and Pittsburgh will be there. 9/12-9/15 are dates.
This essentially means we are just a little over two months away from Blue Jackets hockey. Though, it will be meaningless preseason hockey and a shortened training camp.
Still, it's exciting to know that it's not too far into the future. We hope to see an organization revitalized and motivated to take a big step forward. Of course, a lot of that depends on what Don Waddell is able to do to improve his roster this summer.
If he can get the pieces needed to fill some of the holes on the roster, this team could be very fun to watch next year. We'll know the answer to this question one way or another, sometime within the next two months. Fingers crossed.
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