It's been a rough past two years for Erik Gudbranson, health-wise. He's in the final year of a 4-year, $16 million dollar contract. Will the Blue Jackets keep the injury-prone vet around?
After playing in just 16 games in the previous campaign and putting up a 0-4-4 line, “Guddy” has only dressed up in 14 this year, with another 26 left to go in the year, while slashing a 1-2-3 line. He’s guaranteed to have played in just 34% of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ regular-season games since the beginning of 2024. That’s an extremely rough stretch for a club that, oddly enough, desperately relies on the skillset that he brings.
Erik Gudbranson, at his best at this point in his career, is a shut-down defensive defenseman who cannot be relied upon to bring much offense. He’s best deployed in minutes against the team’s bottom-six forward groups and bottom four-defensive pairings.
He is still effective at zone exits from his own end, and this skill brings plenty of value during his PK minutes, when called upon. This is a skillset that the team has desperately needed, and Gudbranson’s lack of availability often, while earning $4m AAV, means he has not lived up to his contract, by any stretch.
Erik is a great guy to have in the room, who adds a veteran presence, checks hard, and earns his minutes when he’s deployed on the ice. But the simple truth is that he has been injured for an overwhelming majority of the past two seasons, and it is unfortunately difficult to believe that he will be healthy long term.
He suffered from a shoulder injury in early 2024 that required surgery and sidelined him for 66 games, and this year, he was put on IR for 38 games due to hip problems that were described in the media as “chronic.”
Despite all of these long-term injuries that suggest he might be hitting the end of his time in the NHL, all indications from insiders like Dan Pagnotta in the media are that the Columbus Blue Jackets are attempting to re-sign him for next season at least.
David Pagnotta: Re Blue Jackets: I think there's a good chance Boone Jenner sticks around, Erik Gudbranson likely as well, but I'm curious to see what happens between [Columbus] and Charlie Coyle once they start those discussions - Inside Sports (2/5)
— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) February 7, 2026
So, what comes next? Given Erik’s injury history and place firmly in the bottom two for Columbus, it’s difficult to see a situation where he replicates his 4-year, $4m AAV contract that he signed in the 2022 offseason with the club. I would guess his next is likely half of that, a 2-year, $2m AAV deal that puts him in Columbus through 2028.
Whether or not he earns that extension and can play a vital role in the team’s structure moving forward is anyone’s guess, but I have to have my doubts at this point in his career.