We're entering mid-June, and Blue Jackets General Manager Don Waddell has not done a whole lot of work with his pending free agents. Should we be concerned about the lack of news in Columbus?
As the offseason got under way for the team, we were quick to point out just how busy Don would be. At season's end, the entire organization had only 28 players signed for next season. Now, they have just 29 after re-upping Charlie Coyle for the next six years.
Right now, they still have 12 pending unrestricted free agents, and 10 pending restricted free agents. The latter list includes defenseman Egor Zamula, who looks to be heading back to Russia next season.
All of this means that the Blue Jackets barely have enough players to ice an NHL team at this moment-let alone fill out an AHL roster. Still, we aren't concerned. Not yet.
In this case, no news makes sense.
Consider two things: first, the Stanley Cup Final series is still ongoing. Usually, teams don't start wheeling and dealing until all 32 teams are finished for the year. Traditionally, we don't see big roster moves made during the playoffs, even from the teams who have been eliminated.
Second, for the Blue Jackets, not filling out their roster right now makes a lot of sense. They missed the playoffs again this year, and as we previously pointed out; bringing everyone back does not allow Waddell the freedom to make other moves.
As an example, look at the players who are already signed for next season. Now, sprinkle in all of the free agents that had any major role with the team this year. Quickly, the roster fills up and there are no jobs available.
Running it back with the same group is not the best answer, in my opinion. Waddell needs the roster and salary cap flexibility to go out and acquire another player to play on the first or second line.
They can always pivot again.
I do expect the Blue Jackets to keep around all of the meaningful RFA players they have. That group includes Adam Fantilli, Cole Sillinger, and Jet Greaves. Barring any offer sheets, he has all summer to figure them out without too much worry.
When it comes to the pending UFAs, the deadline is June 30th. That's less than three weeks away, but I'm still not worried. This has happened before.
In fact, it happened last summer. Waddell tried to swing deals around the draft. He got one done, bringing in Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood. He was in the Noah Dobson sweepstakes, but lost out.
Then, when all other options were exhausted, he pivoted back and re-signed Ivan Provorov and Dante Fabbro to round out his defense corps. I think we will see him act in exactly the same way this summer.
I expect Waddell to be deep into a lot of meaningful conversations over the next few weeks. Then, if all else fails, he can always swing back to Mason Marchment, or Boone Jenner, or any of his other pending UFAs with a contract offer.
After all, he certainly knows by now what their requests are. We know they all want to come back, and if he has to, he will get the deals done. It's not time to panic just yet.
