The Blue Jackets’ summer picture is getting a lot cleaner, and Don Waddell has managed to do it without boxing himself in.
In the span of a couple of weeks, Columbus locked up two key young pieces in Jet Greaves and Cole Sillinger on separate three-year contracts. That matters on its own. It matters even more because the deals came in well below what many around the league expected.
Most analytics had the pair landing somewhere in the $12 million to $13 million range combined for more than the next two seasons. Waddell got both done for less than $10 million against the cap. That’s a major win, especially with Adam Fantilli’s next deal looming and headed sharply upward.
Greaves took until the 12th hour to get across the finish line, and once the conversation got past the $5 million mark, the rest apparently came down to wording. After the goaltender signed, Sillinger’s deal followed quickly.
That sequence says plenty about where this roster is headed. The Blue Jackets have been building toward more continuity, and these are exactly the kind of players they needed to keep in place.
The idea here isn’t that Columbus had to go shopping for outside fixes. The bigger answer is internal growth.
By getting Greaves and Sillinger signed to what look like team-friendly contracts, Waddell has preserved flexibility without needing to make any other major moves. The Blue Jackets now have more than $15 million available to get Fantilli under contract next.
That should be enough. The expectation is that Fantilli, or “Mo” as referenced here, lands somewhere in the $13.5 million to $14 million range on a four- or five-year deal. Once that gets done, the roster should be set for next season without any additional required changes.
And there may still be a little room left over. If the right opportunity comes along, Columbus could still act. That becomes even more true if Isac Lundestrom starts the season on injured reserve.
For Waddell, it’s been a quieter summer than many around the team probably wanted. But the silence has started to make sense. The contracts are getting done, the plan is taking shape, and the front office hasn’t been pushed into a rash move just to fill space.
The result is a roster that no longer looks like it has obvious holes to patch. Now the emphasis shifts to what the group can become from within. If the Blue Jackets get that growth, they’ll be in good shape next season.
In Other News...
Blue Jackets Just Made Their Decision On Cole Sillinger
Cole Sillingers next chapter in Columbus is settled, giving the Blue Jackets another piece of their forward group locked in for the long haul. The restricted free agent has agreed to a three-year contract after spending his entire NHL career with the club since being taken 12th overall in 2021, a move that keeps one of the organizations younger regulars in place as the roster continues to take shape.
For Columbus, the decision also clarifies where Sillinger fits in the lineup. He is expected to remain in a third-line role, giving the Blue Jackets a dependable middle-six option they can continue to develop without having to revisit his status again anytime soon. The deal carries him through the 2028-29 season, so the next question is less about whether he stays and more about how much his game can grow in the role the team has mapped out for him. [Read more 🡒]
The Cam Atkinson Trade Still Hits Blue Jackets Fans Hard
The Cam Atkinson trade still lands with a thud in Columbus, even years later, because it marked the end of one of the most recognizable stretches of the franchises modern era. On July 24, 2021, Atkinson was dealt to the Philadelphia Flyers for Jake Vorek, a move that sent a longtime Blue Jackets face out the door and brought back a player with his own well-established track record.
Voreks stay in Columbus ended up being brief, and the aftershocks of the deal never really faded for fans who had spent years associating Atkinson with the teams identity. Atkinson eventually came back to close the loop in October 2025, signing a one-day contract so he could retire as a Blue Jacket, a final touch that only underscored how much that trade had altered the emotional shape of the roster and the fan base. [Read more 🡒]