Now that the final horn has sounded on the 2024-25 season for the Columbus Blue Jackets, General Manager Don Waddell has his work cut out for him this summer. His task: making the right adjustments to help this team get over the hump and into the playoffs next season.
He's had a full year to assess every aspect of the organization, and we expect big changes to come ahead of next season. But, before the major roster surgery can truly begin, one of the first things he will have to navigate: which pending free agents should he keep around beyond this year?
The restricted free agents are a mixed bag of mostly spare parts.
Counting the players who spent this season with the Cleveland Monsters, Waddell has 9 restricted free agents (RFAs) to work through. Make it 10, if you want to count Tim Berni, who spent his year back in Europe. It's hard to say where things are going to go with the Swiss defender, who went unsigned after spending much of his first North American season in the NHL. At this point, I wouldn't pencil him in as returning.
From the Monsters are forwards Mikael Pyyhtia and Hunter McKown; along with defensemen Samuel Knazko, Daemon Hunt, Ole Julian Bjorgvik-Holm, and Cole Clayton. Of that group, I definitely think they will definitely retain Pyyhtia, who played 47 games in Columbus this season. And probably Hunt, who was recently acquired in the David Jiricek trade.
From there, it's not as clear cut. McKown has been good for the Monsters, and he plays at a position where you can never have too much depth. Clayton is an important AHL veteran, while Knazko was once one of the top defense prospects in the organization. I could see all three of them being kept around.
On the other side of things: Bjorgvik-Holm has struggled to even stay in the AHL through his career, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him go unsigned.
If we look at the NHL roster, there is one really big piece here - from both a size and importance perspective. Getting Dmitri Voronkov signed has to be near the top of Waddell's summer "to do" list, as the big Russian has become a vital top-9 (often top line) player for this team.
There are only two other RFAs on the NHL roster at season's end. Defenseman Jordan Harris struggled to crack the lineup for much of the year, getting into just 33 games for the Jackets. Acquired in the Patrik Laine trade, it seemed like he was a good bet to become an every day player here; but he wound up buried on the depth chart.
With that said, when called upon at the end of the year, I thought he played really well. In fact, I'm not sure any other defenseman on the roster looked as good alongside Erik Gudbranson as Harris did. And, it's clear that he was a well liked teammate, who showed up and worked hard even when he wasn't seeing game time. This one feels like it could go either way.
This leaves just one more RFA: goaltender Daniil Tarasov. If you paid any attention, this one is really easy to work out. Tarry has almost certainly played his last game in the Union Blue. Whether he's part of a trade, or if the Jackets decide to just let him walk as a free agent; the two sides are clearly heading for a split this summer.
On the next slide, we'll dive into the pending UFAs.