The Blue Jackets are back on the ice, and with the sheet down at Nationwide Arena and the Zamboni making its rounds, the countdown to puck drop is officially on. After a long summer, Columbus heads into the 2026-27 season with clear goals and plenty to sort out over what is now an 84-game grind that it hopes stretches deep into spring.
At the center of it all is Zach Werenski, who had a summer packed with milestones. On May 6, he became a father when he and his wife Odette welcomed their son Hudson.
Less than a month later, on June 2, he became the first Blue Jacket ever to win the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman. Then on July 1, with trade rumors swirling, he made his commitment to Columbus plain.
After a season that already included history and an Olympic Gold Medal, the question now is how much more he can give. If the Blue Jackets are going to reach the playoffs, he figures to be the biggest reason.
The most important position on the roster also looks settled. In his first full NHL season, Jet Greaves took hold of the No. 1 goalie job and quickly looked like one of the league’s most promising young netminders.
Columbus rewarded him on July 23 with a three-year, $15 million contract, his first major NHL deal. Greaves backed it up with production that showed up in both the standard numbers and the analytics, finishing 9th in the NHL in goals saved above expected.
At 25, he gives the Jackets a long-term answer in goal.
There’s also a chance for Columbus to attack the schedule early. The Jackets know better than most how costly slow starts can be after back-to-back seasons of watching points slip away before spring arrives.
This year offers a better setup, with seven of the first nine games at Nationwide Arena. Their first long West Coast trip doesn’t come until January, giving them a real shot to stack points in October and November.
Behind the bench, Rick Bowness is back for a full season after arriving on January 12 and immediately sparking the kind of turnaround that became known as the “Bones Bump.” Columbus went 19-3-4 in his first 26 games, and Bowness capped the year with a Game 82 postgame message that he wanted the players to be “uncomfortable” heading into the summer. Now he returns on a new contract and enters his 37th NHL season as either an assistant or head coach, a run that has already covered more than 2,750 games.
There are also two young forwards worth watching closely. Kent Johnson and Dmitri Voronkov both have bounce-back potential after seasons that didn’t unfold the way they wanted.
Two years ago, they combined for 47 goals, with Johnson scoring 24 and Voronkov 23 in 2024-25. Last season, both found themselves out of the lineup at times.
The Blue Jackets have seen what they can do, and both bring traits that can’t be taught.
Bowness will also have two new assistants working with him, though neither is exactly unfamiliar to Columbus. Trent Vogelhuber, a Dublin, Ohio native, moves up from Cleveland.
Don Granato, a former Columbus Chill forward and coach, brings a long coaching resume across multiple levels. One of the biggest questions around the staff is whether the new group can help the Blue Jackets improve on special teams.
If Columbus is going to get where it wants to go, the power play and penalty kill have to be much better.
In Other News...
Adam Fantilli Contract Talks Are Still Hanging Over Blue Jackets Camp
Chris Kreiders next stop is Montreal after his contract with the Ducks was terminated, and Mark Stone is locked in with Vegas on a new two-year extension, but in Columbus the focus remains much closer to home. Adam Fantilli and the Blue Jackets are still working through a contract agreement, and the talks have become one of the quiet but significant storylines hanging over the start of camp.
The hope around the organization is that something gets done before players report, keeping the spotlight where the Blue Jackets want it as training camp approaches. For now, Fantilli remains in the middle of negotiations, and the situation is still open enough to leave a familiar late-summer tension around a young core piece the club would prefer to have settled soon. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Still Have A Blue Line Need Worth Watching
The Blue Jackets added another name to their preseason blue-line mix by bringing in veteran defenseman Carson Soucy on a professional tryout agreement. Soucy, 32, split last season between the Rangers and Islanders and appeared in 76 games, giving Columbus a late look at a player with recent NHL mileage as the club sorts through its defensive depth.
For a team still trying to firm up the back end before facing Detroit, the timing matters. Soucy is not in the fold on a guaranteed deal, which keeps the opportunity open but also makes the coming preseason games especially relevant as Columbus evaluates where the last roster spots should go. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Face Growing Adam Fantilli Pressure Before Camp
Don Waddell had sounded hopeful this summer that Adam Fantilli could be locked up before training camp, but the Blue Jackets still do not have an extension in place for their young center as camp draws closer. Columbus wants to keep building around one of its most important pieces, yet the restricted free agent situation has lingered longer than the club likely expected, especially with the rest of the roster already being squeezed by a tight salary-cap picture.
Fantillis side is believed to be aiming for a contract in the range of the deals signed by Leo Carlsson and Connor Bedard, two players drafted ahead of him in 2023, which only raises the stakes for Columbus. The Blue Jackets would prefer to get this done before camp opens, and a resolution still appears likely at some point, but the gap between where the team wants to land and where Fantilli's camp sees his value has kept the process from moving quickly. [Read more 🡒]