The Blue Jackets’ push toward the 2026-27 season is going to hinge on more than just roster tweaks. If Columbus is going to get back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2020, it needs several of its young building blocks to stop hinting at upside and start cashing it in.
That’s where Denton Mateychuk, Adam Fantilli and Kent Johnson come in. Each one has already flashed real skill.
Each one has already shown enough to make you believe there’s another level coming. And each one now has to turn promise into production.
Mateychuk is already doing a lot for a young defenseman. He’s on the second pairing with Ivan Provorov and logs minutes on the second unit of both special teams, which tells you the Blue Jackets trust him in a lot of different spots. But if Columbus wants its 2022 first-round pick to match the billing, there’s still more to unlock.
The skating is there. The puck vision is there.
The offensive instinct has shown up in bursts. In the WHL with the Moose Jaw Warriors, he put together three straight seasons with at least 51 assists, including 58 in 2023-24, when he added 17 goals for 75 points in 52 games.
In Columbus last season, he started to show that same kind of upside, finishing with 13 goals and 18 assists in 75 games.
There’s also a defensive base to build on. Mateychuk took only four minor penalties, the fewest of any defenseman who played at least 50 games.
He earned a spot on the NHL’s All-Rookie Team in 2024-25 after appearing in just 45 games and making a major impression. Still, the Blue Jackets need more than flashes.
They need another shutdown defenseman, and he’ll have to keep growing on that side of the puck to become that player.
Fantilli’s case is a little different, but the pressure is just as real. He’s already scored 30 goals in the NHL, and he comes with the kind of pedigree that makes people expect a lot more.
He’s a Hobey Baker Award winner. He’s shown he can look like a top-line center.
But through two and a half seasons, the full package hasn’t shown up often enough.
The issue isn’t talent. The issue is consistency, and maybe a little too much patience when the game is there to be taken.
He has had moments where the skill jumps off the ice, including a goal against the Detroit Red Wings in April that tied the game with 16 seconds left. But head coach Rick Bowness made it clear what he wants from him: stop searching for the perfect play and start shooting.
Fantilli also has to clean up the defensive lapses. There are times when he gets caught puck-watching, and that can swing a night in a hurry.
Offensively, the ask is simple: be more aggressive, create on his own, and make the game easier for himself. His puck vision is good, but there’s another gear to reach if he’s going to drive the Blue Jackets’ attack the way they need.
Then there’s Kent Johnson, whose name belongs on this list for two reasons: the drop in production and the cost it took to get him. As the fifth overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, he’s supposed to be one of the players who helps define where this thing is headed.
Johnson looked like he was finding his stride after 2024-25, when he finished with 24 goals and 33 assists and played just shy of a point-a-game pace. Then came a rough 2025-26 season that raised questions about one of the organization’s expected offensive pieces of the future.
The skill is obvious. Johnson can do things with the puck that most players can’t.
But Columbus needs more than highlight-reel moments. He has to produce at 5-on-5, and he has to give more on the defensive side too.
Under Bowness, the soft approach won’t fly. He doesn’t need to throw huge hits, but he does need to get in the way, make opponents work, and stop relying on the “ole” defense.
For Johnson to become what the Blue Jackets need, he has to grow into a top-six forward who can handle contact, play through it and still make plays. If that turns into a true 60-70 point season, Columbus suddenly has a much more dangerous offense. If it doesn’t, the margin for error gets a lot thinner.
That’s the bigger picture here. The Blue Jackets need all three of these first-round picks to take a step. If they do, the playoff drought that has stretched six years could finally end.
In Other News...
The Day Columbus Landed The Free Agent Nobody Thought Would Come
The summer of July 13, 2022 still stands as one of the most stunning days in Blue Jackets history, when Columbus landed Johnny Gaudreau in free agency and instantly changed the mood around the franchise. For a fan base used to watching bigger markets and brighter lights win those kinds of battles, the signing felt like a line had been crossed in the best possible way, with a star winger choosing Columbus and giving the organization a jolt it had been chasing for years.
Gaudreau spent two seasons in Columbus and gave the club exactly the kind of skill and playmaking it had hoped to add, producing 21 goals and 74 points in his first year before following with 60 points the next season. The memories are still tied to the excitement of his arrival and the ways he fit into the lineup, even as the story of what came afterward has left the franchise and its fans carrying a very different kind of weight. [Read more 🡒]
Jet Greaves May Be The Answer Blue Jackets Fans Need Most
Jet Greaves has already given the Blue Jackets something they have spent years chasing, a sense of stability in goal. After finishing his first full NHL season as Columbus starter, he did it with career-best numbers, including 55 games played and a 2.60 goals-against average, and the organization is now leaning into the idea that its goaltending can be built from within rather than chased on the open market.
There is still work to do before that vision becomes reality. Greaves is headed toward a new contract, Elvis Merzlikins is still in the mix for the top job, and Columbus is betting that internal development and dependable goaltending can finally help push the club into playoff position next season. For a team that has been searching for a long-term answer in net, the next few weeks could say a lot about whether Greaves is merely part of the plan or the centerpiece of it. [Read more 🡒]