Where Frank Nazar took steps forward this season — and where there’s room for more
It wasn't a true breakout season for the 2022 first-round pick, but there's reason to believe one could be on the way.
Blue Jackets
Latest news and updates about the Blue Jackets
Blue Jackets Received Enormous Trade Interest In Charlie Coyle
Charlie Coyle had options. Lots of them. Don Waddell made that clear when he announced that the Columbus Blue Jackets had signed the veteran center to a six-year, $36 million extension through the 2031-32 season. "I've had probably 10-12 calls in the last couple of weeks about what our plans were with Charlie and would we consider trading his rights," Waddell said. The answer was no every time. Newly re-signed #CBJ Charlie Coyle joined the show to talk about his team's head coach Rick ...
Pending UFA Charlie Coyle Signed to Long-Term Deal
In yet another major hit to the free agent market this summer, the Columbus Blue Jackets have re-signed one of the top remaining pending UFAs, Charlie Coyle, to a long-term deal. Breaking: The Blue Jackets have signed Charlie Coyle to a six-year, $36M contract through the 2031-32 season, the team announced. pic.twitter.com/ERTB3a73SP — ESPN (@espn) May 12, 2026 Coyle gets a six-year, $36 million contract, for a $6 million AAV, and is now a Blue Jacket through his age 40 season in 2032.&n...
3 Free-Agent Destinations for Blue Jackets' Charlie Coyle
Charlie Coyle had a big 2025-26 season with the Columbus Blue Jackets, posting 20 goals and 58 points in 82 games. He chose a great time to have a strong campaign, as he is now entering the summer as a pending unrestricted free agent. If the Blue Jackets are unable to re-sign Coyle, expect these three teams to target him in free agency. Los Angeles Kings The Kings desperately need to add at least one center this offseason, with Anze Kopitar retiring. With Coyle being the top center...
Columbus Blue Jackets moving on from 2 veterans
There's some roster changes coming for the Columbus Blue Jackets. After Rick Bowness took over behind the bench and went on a magical run, the Blue Jackets fell short of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Bowness wasn't shy to speak out about the culture of the team, and called out the entire roster at his end-of-season media availability, that they've become to accept losing. GM Don Waddell is going to make significant changes to their roster and the summer of trades is expected across the league. Wad...
Oilers’ Evan Bouchard not among finalists for 2026 Norris Trophy
Despite a regular season that saw him lead all defencemen in scoring by 14 points, Evan Bouchard’s tremendous 2025-26 season won’t earn him a Norris Trophy. The Edmonton Oilers defenceman was not named among the three finalists named for the award Thursday morning. Instead, Colorado Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar, Columbus Blue Jackets defenceman Zach Werenski,…
Report: 'Foundation Rattling Trade' Could Be Coming for Blue Jackets
Everyone watched as the Columbus Blue Jackets collapsed down the stretch to fall out of a potential playoff berth. And certainly, everyone saw what head coach Rick Bowness thought of it, in one of the most epic coaching rants in recent memory . The head coach (who has since been re-signed to return next year) later explained that he wanted his troops to " spend the summer being uncomfortable." This latest suggestion from Columbus beat writer Aaron Portzline in The Athletic should a...
Blue Jackets Willing To Make Big Move This Summer
The Columbus Blue Jackets are not standing pat this summer. GM Don Waddell has made clear through multiple conversations with media and insiders that the organization's first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft is available if the right deal presents itself. The Blue Jackets are open to trading their first-round selection, which is projected at No. 14 overall heading into the May 5 lottery. The willingness to move that pick is not new information exactly, as Waddell told Mark Scheig of The ...
3 Free-Agent Destinations for Blue Jackets' Erik Gudbranson
Erik Gudbranson is among the most notable pending unrestricted free agents (UFAs) on the Columbus Blue Jackets. If the Blue Jackets end up not re-signing him, he should be a pretty popular target as a free agent on July 1. Due to this, let's look at three teams that could sign Gudbranson this summer if he ends up hitting the market. Florida Panthers Could the Panthers reunite with Gudbranson? When looking at their roster, it is clear that they could use more experienced depth...
The Blue Jackets Will Have To Empty Their Wallets For Top RFA
Selected 3rd overall in the 2023 NHL Draft, the Columbus Blue Jackets have found a piece to build their future around in Adam Fantilli . This season, he's played 82 regular-season games for the Blue Jackets, scoring 59 points (24-35) as the team's top-line center. Fantilli's development has ticked upward every year since he arrived in Columbus, proving that the choice of Fantilli was right. During the 2024-25 season, he scored 57 points, and in 2023-24 scored 27 points. ...
Blue Jackets Projected to Lose Key UFA
The Columbus Blue Jackets have some notable free agents on the docket this offseason, and it sounds like they want to bring most of them back. From captain Boone Jenner to newcomers this season in Charlie Coyle and Mason Marchment, to defenseman Erik Gudbranson, they'll have some decisions to make. But according to insider Elliotte Friedman, speaking on NHL Morning Skate on NHL Network Radio on SiriusXM, he projects the Jackets will likely lose at least one of those UFAs—whether th...
Penguins Trip To The Playoffs Confirms The Worst For Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell
The Columbus Blue Jackets traded forward Egor Chinakhov to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the end of December. The Blue Jackets let Chinakhov languish in the bottom-six, and at times was a healthy scratch. The 21st overall selection in 2020 has skyrocketed in production after being placed under the leadership of head coach Dan Muse. In the last 43 games of his career, he's scored 36 points (18-18), being given the responsibility as a top-nine forward in the Penguins' lineup. A s...
Rick Bowness Opens Up About 'The Rant'—And Doubles Down
Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Rick Bowness went viral last week for his now-infamous rant in which he tore his team to shreds for their performance down the stretch. But after re-upping for another go-round with the Jackets , he will be back. Bowness appeared on The Fan Hockey Show on Tuesday to discuss not only his return behind the bench in Columbus, but yes, also to reveal what went into his Rant — and to essentially double-down on it. For some players , anyway. There's nothing wro...
Blue Jackets Have a Lot of Work to Get Done This Summer
The Columbus Blue Jackets announced on April 16 that head coach Rick Bowness has signed a one-year contract extension, returning for the 2026-27 season. That is a significant item crossed off GM Don Waddell's list, and it clears the way for him to focus on what is shaping up to be one of the more complicated offseasons in recent franchise history. Bowness did not go quietly into the summer. After a season-ending 2-1 loss to Washington that knocked Columbus out of playoff contention for the...
Report: Blue Jackets Rejected Maple Leafs Early-Season Trade Offer
The Toronto Maple Leafs were looking to make a move but the Columbus Blue Jackets weren't interested. Reports have surfaced stating the Maple Leafs were looking to trade Nick Robertson heading into this season and reached out to the Blue Jackets for Yegor Chinakhov, but Columbus wasn't sold that Robertson was the move. Siegel/Johnston/Mirtle: At one point, the Leafs discussed a Nick Robertson for Egor Chinakhov swap with the Blue Jackets, but their offers fell short - The Athletic (4/15) The B...
Pens Points: Chinakhov the Maple Leaf?
Here are your Pens Points for this Friday morning… In an alternate universe, Egor Chinakhov might be wearing blue and white and playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs reportedly tried to trade for Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets, including discussions around a swap involving Nick Robertson. They couldn’t finalize a deal before […]
NHL Notebook: First round of Oilers’ playoffs to begin Sunday or Monday, Blue Jackets sign Bowness to extension
The NHL released its 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs schedule today with the Edmonton Oilers’ playoff position up in the air ahead of tonight’s matchup against the Vancouver Canucks. Teams in the top three seeds of each division have received the start date of their first-round playoff schedule Thursday. However, the Pacific Division still remains almost…
Big Decision Revealed on Rick Bowness's Future in Columbus
It was one of the all-time epic coaching rants. In an exceptionally emotional postgame news conference after the Columbus Blue Jackets' season finale, Rick Bowness absolutely tore into his players . Now, he will be rewarded for his honesty and emotion, as the Blue Jackets have confirmed that the head coach will be re-signed to a new deal. Rick Bowness and Don Waddell are meeting the media at 2ET Expect am extension announcement for Bowness He will return as head coach of the Blue Jackets...
Watch: Alex Ovechkin Drops Huge Hint About His Future
Everyone in Washington, and around the hockey world, wants to know if Alex Ovechkin played his final NHL game against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Capitals' season finale Tuesday night. He was asked the question on Thursday morning. And his answer, while not the exact response we've all been hoping for, certainly dropped a strong hint: “I’m pretty sure it’s not my last game. I hope it’s not my last game, against Columbus.”—Alex Ovechkin in his final media availability of the 2025-26 season...
A pair of former Ohio State Buckeyes are part of this year’s NHL playoffs
The NHL regular season wrapped on Wednesday night. Unfortunately for hockey fans around central Ohio, the Columbus Blue Jackets fell just short of making the postseason for the first time since the 2019-20 season where the playoffs were held in the bubble. This marks the second straight season where the Blue Jackets were officially eliminated […]
The Maple Leafs reportedly almost got Egor Chinakhov from Columbus
The Athletic had a tremendous piece about the dreadful season that Toronto endured off the ice this year and the organizational problems from top to bottom that have turned the top team that Kyle Dubas built into one of chaos and dysfunction. The whole thing is wildly entertaining as an outside observers to watch the […]
Video: Rick Bowness Destroys Blue Jackets Players: ‘These Guys Don’t Care!’
It was just a few weeks ago that there were talks about Rick Bowness potentially being a coach of the year candidate for the job he did in taking over the Columbus Blue Jackets mid-season and pulling them up from the bottom of the standings into second place in the Metropolitan Division at one point last month. But needless to say, things have imploded. A 2-7-1 late-season collapse, including six straight losses on home ice, left them well back of a Wild Card spot and has, to put it ligh...
3 Free-Agent Destinations for Blue Jackets' Mason Marchment
After a big collapse during the final stretch of the season, the Columbus Blue Jackets have officially missed the playoffs for the sixth year in a row. This is certainly tough news for Columbus, and they now have several questions heading into the summer. Mason Marchment is one of their top pending UFAs. Given how well he fit in following being acquired by the Blue Jackets, it would make sense if they tried to extend him. However, if he ends up hitting the free-agent market, look for these thr...
Blue Jackets Sign 2x NCAA Champion Defenseman
The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed former University of Denver defenseman Boston Buckberger to a two-year entry-level contract beginning with the 2026-27 season, GM Don Waddell announced. Buckberger isn't a name that ever dominated draft boards (he went undrafted), but he spent three seasons quietly building a case that someone was going to sign him, and Columbus had been watching closely. He attended the Blue Jackets' development camp in July 2025, was re-invited to training camp that fall...
NHL Rumors: 3 Free-Agent Destinations for Blue Jackets’ Charlie Coyle
The Columbus Blue Jackets' push for a playoff spot is officially over, as they have officially been eliminated from contention. Now, they are facing a big offseason and have multiple pending UFAs. One of them is Charlie Coyle, who has 20 goals and 58 points in 81 games this season. If Coyle ends up not re-signing with the Blue Jackets and tests the market after his strong campaign, he will generate plenty of interest. Due to this, let's look at three teams that could target Coyle if he b...
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