The Blue Jackets may have finished with the 17th-best record in the NHL last season, but that didn’t buy much goodwill with their own crowd. If anything, the annual front office poll from The Athletic made the mood in Columbus look even colder.
In Dom Luszczyszyn’s survey, which gave fans from all 32 teams a chance to grade their organization and explain why, the Blue Jackets landed 28th in the league in fan opinion. And this time, it wasn’t mostly outsiders dragging them down. The 5th Line came in hard on its own team.
That matters, because Luszczyszyn noted that only three fanbases had more of their own supporters respond to the poll: Montreal, Toronto and Minnesota. For once, the Blue Jackets drew a more favorable read from outside voices, mostly in the form of C grades, than from their own fans, who handed out D grades.
One fan quote captured the frustration bluntly:
"Between a brutal summer of rumors (Werenski, Marchenko, no Fantilli extension) and laying off two of the team’s most beloved voices in team media, the front office had a very poor Summer 2026 as far as instilling confidence in the near future."
Unnamed 5th Liner
That kind of response fits the feeling around Columbus right now. The sense from the fanbase is that this roster didn’t need a full overhaul - just one real move, one clear step forward. Last season had its maddening stretches, but there was still enough talent and enough depth to believe a modest upgrade could have changed the conversation.
Instead, Don Waddell’s biggest swing was bringing in Valeri Nichushkin, who could fill the top-line left wing opening. Whether that’s a real upgrade over Mason Marchment is still an open question. Beyond that, the work has looked more like maintenance than transformation.
The Blue Jackets are set to roll with the same two goaltenders and the same seven defensemen from last season. They added Ryan Lomberg, a move the source text says it likes, but the broader picture still looks like a team that hasn’t moved far enough to feel meaningfully better.
That uncertainty bleeds into the bigger names, too. Zach Werenski and Kirill Marchenko have both balked at signing beyond their current contracts. Boone Jenner is gone, leaving the club without a captain and without an obvious answer for the role, which ties directly into Werenski’s long-term future.
And the questions keep piling up. As of August 20th, the franchise center still hadn’t been re-signed.
The team also took its budding star goaltender all the way to the start of an arbitration hearing before finally putting an acceptable deal on the table. On top of that, it let go of two of the most beloved faces in team media.
"Don't even get me started on their drafting."
That line from the fan reaction says plenty about how little patience remains. The larger complaint isn’t just about one summer’s moves. It’s about a pattern - a belief that every time the Blue Jackets get close, they veer off course instead of taking the next step.
For a fanbase that’s watched this script before, the reaction was predictable. Confidence is low because the front office hasn’t given anyone much reason to think this summer is different.
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