The Blue Jackets are 36 days from opening night at Nationwide Arena, and jersey No. 36 has seen a little bit of everything in Columbus: one-game cameos, short stays, a couple of trade-deadline moves, and one name that still stings for plenty of fans.
Sean Selmser was the first to wear it for the Jackets in this rundown, appearing in one game during the 2000-01 season - the only NHL game of his career. The Pittsburgh Penguins had drafted him in the 1993 NHL Draft, and after that lone Columbus appearance, he spent the rest of that season with the Syracuse Crunch, putting up 26 points.
By 2002, he was out of North America and headed to Europe, where Scotland was his first stop before he spent nine of the next 10 seasons in Poland. He retired in 2012.
Donald MacLean followed in 2004. Drafted by the LA Kings in the second round of the 1995 NHL Draft, he signed with Columbus as a free agent on July 17, 2002.
His time with the Blue Jackets was brief - four games, one goal - but he did most of his scoring damage with Syracuse, where he recorded 68 points in 77 games. After leaving North America in 2007, MacLean played in Switzerland, Poland, Denmark, Sweden, and Croatia, then retired in 2011 and coached in Croatia until 2015.
Mathieu Roy wore No. 36 in 2010 after signing a one-year deal with Columbus on July 14, 2009. The Edmonton Oilers had drafted him in 2003, and in Columbus he produced 10 points in 31 games while also seeing time with Syracuse that season.
On March 3, 2010, he was traded to the Florida Panthers. Roy later took his game overseas in 2012, playing in Germany, Poland, and France before returning to North America for the LNAH.
He retired in 2023 and moved into coaching.
Then there’s Jonathan Marchessault, the one many Blue Jackets fans still label “The one who got away.” He was undrafted out of Cap-Rouge, Quebec, but signed with Columbus just before the 2012-13 season and played only two games for the club.
The rest of his time that year was spent with the Springfield Falcons, where he piled up 67 points in 74 games. Columbus traded him to the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 5, 2014, and his career took off from there.
He signed with the Florida Panthers in 2016, was left exposed in the 2017 expansion draft, and the Vegas Golden Knights claimed him. Marchessault then spent seven seasons in Vegas, scoring 192 goals and totaling 417 points, before moving to the Nashville Predators in 2024 on a five-year, $27.5 million contract.
Michael Paliotta’s run with the number came in 2016. A third-round pick in the 2011 NHL Draft, he was acquired by Columbus on June 30, 2015, in the deal that sent Jeremy Morin, Marko Dano, Artem Anisimov, Corey Tropp, and a fourth-round draft pick to Chicago with Brandon Saad coming the other way.
Paliotta played just one game for the Blue Jackets and spent that season with the Lake Erie Monsters. He wasn’t tendered a contract in 2016, signed elsewhere, and hasn’t played since the end of the 2020 season.
Jussi Jokinen took over in 2018 after the LA Kings placed him on waivers on January 16, 2018. Columbus claimed him, and he appeared in 14 games for the Jackets.
He was then traded on February 26, 2018, along with Tyler Motte, to the Vancouver Canucks for Thomas Vanek. Jokinen returned to Europe and played three more seasons before retiring on May 18, 2021.
Justin Richards wore No. 36 in 2023. The Orlando, Florida, native went undrafted and played four years with the Ohio AAA Blue Jackets before signing with Columbus on December 19, 2022.
He played two NHL games and spent all of his time with the Cleveland Monsters, appearing in 61 games in his only season there. Before last season, he left for Europe and played in the DEL, then played in Italy in 25-26 and will play in Austria this season, with both teams in the ICEHL.
Most recently, Christian Fischer had the number in 2025. Drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2015 NHL Draft, he arrived in Columbus at the trade deadline in 2025 from the Detroit Red Wings, played one game for the Blue Jackets, and was scratched for the rest of the season. Fischer later announced his retirement from professional hockey to pursue a business opportunity in golf.
In Other News...
Blue Jackets Suddenly Face A Marchenko Question Fans Wont Ignore
Kirill Marchenko has spent the last three seasons at the center of Columbuss scoring picture, giving the Blue Jackets a reliable offensive presence even as the roster around him has continued to evolve. Any discussion about the leagues next wave of trade chatter tends to start with players who can still move the needle, and Marchenkos name belongs in that conversation for the simple reason that he has been one of the most consistent finishers on the team.
What makes the situation worth watching is that the speculation is not limited to Columbus alone. Around the league, several notable names are being floated as possible trade candidates for the 2026-27 season, and Marchenko is part of that broader list alongside players such as Dylan Larkin, Elias Pettersson, Ryan ORielly and Connor Hellebuyck. Nothing is confirmed, but for a club trying to keep its long-term picture clear, the mere fact that a player of Marchenkos profile is drawing that kind of attention is the sort of wrinkle fans will keep circling. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jackets Still Have A National Respect Problem
The NHLs 2026/27 national TV schedule offered another reminder of where the Blue Jackets sit in the leagues pecking order. Columbus landed just a pair of appearances across TNT and ESPN combined, a total that puts it near the bottom among U.S. teams and leaves it sharing that lowly spot with Nashville. For a franchise trying to widen its footprint beyond Ohio, it is not the kind of signal that helps.
The disparity becomes starker when the rest of the Eastern Conference is laid alongside it. Carolina drew 12 national broadcasts and Florida was given 15, a gap that speaks to how much more attention some contenders command before a season even starts. For the Blue Jackets, the schedule is less about marquee exposure than another measure of how much national respect still has to be earned. [Read more 🡒]