The Columbus Blue Jackets don’t look good on paper, or at least at first glance. They mustered just 66 points this past season and finished a distant eighth in the Metropolitan Division. So when NHL free agency rolls around at the beginning of July, you may find it tough to believe that some star players would even be remotely interested in playing in Columbus.
Or maybe they will, as there won’t just be a good deal of talent for the Blue Jackets to seriously consider in the free agent market, but potential rentals from this past year’s trade season will also be available.
These players may look beyond the 66 points accumulated and realize that Columbus seems a little bit better when one checks out their overall lineup. They got a few excellent players who have yet to hit their respective primes in Adam Fantilli, Zach Werenski, Dmitri Voronkov, Kirill Marchenko, and Daniil Tarasov, so that could be an enticing to potential signees.
Blue Jackets could land a previous trade deadline rental in NHL free agency
Plus, Johnny Gaudreau is still in town, as is Boone Jenner, so if this team finds the right guidance for once, they are a much more attractive group than the average fan may believe. So if they end up signing one of the recently traded free agents named in this article or even some of those left out, it shouldn’t be too much of a shocker.
When compiling this list of players, I didn’t want to be unrealistic, however, so you won’t see the biggest stars like Jake Guentzel mentioned. Not saying it’s impossible to bring a player of his caliber to Ohio, but solid top-six and role players are the likeliest ones to join the organization.
Of all the recently traded potential rentals out there, here are four that I’d like to see in a Blue Jackets uniform. They won’t sign them all, but landing just one will shift this team in the right direction.