The 2025 NHL offseason is about to kick into overdrive. Once the madness of the draft goes by this weekend, it will be just days until the free agency period opens.
For the Columbus Blue Jackets, they have a lot they would like to accomplish in the next week. Ideally, they would like to add a top-six forward, remake their defense and perhaps even address their goaltending. That’s a lot of business to handle in a condensed amount of time.
The Blue Jackets will be in on a lot of trade possibilities. Whether it’s at the draft involving their two first-round picks or soon thereafter, the team is monitoring several situations around the league.
Then come Tuesday at noon eastern, they can start signing unrestricted free agents. That leads us into today’s discussion.
Path to Becoming a Destination
When it comes to free agents, it’s anyone’s game. Players can pick and choose where they want to play for a specified amount of time.
If a team hopes to have the best chance at landing the top free agents, they need to make sure everything is line for them to be a premier destination. Each market is in a different place with different things to offer.
It’s no wonder we hear about the same teams being linked to top free agents. For example, there’s a belief that the Vegas Golden Knights are a serious contender to land Mitch Marner. Why are the Golden Knights usually in these kind of conversations? It’s easy. It’s Vegas. They have a reputation of doing whatever it takes to try to win. Sure, the no-tax thing helps. But it’s not the main driver.
Winning is the main driver. Most free agents will get their money. But players have one thing on their mind. They want to win the Stanley Cup. Ideally, they’d like to pick a market that will consistently have the chance to win championships.
Look at the Florida Panthers. They have several players who want to stay. They’d even stay for less than what they could get on the open market. Winning is a powerful drug. Being in South Florida doesn’t hurt either.
Why are the Panthers a premier destination? The top answer is they are winning Stanley Cups. They’ve always had the weather and location factor. But winning ultimately brought out the best in all of that.
It took the Panthers decades to get to this place. Between the mid 1990’s when they made the Stanley Cup Final and now, they struggled mightily. It wasn’t until the right people got into leadership while making shrewd business decisions before the Panthers became the premier destination they are now.
It took years of hard work to make it all happen in South Florida. If the Blue Jackets even hope to want to become a premier destination, they have to start winning. The rest will eventually work itself out.
Blue Jackets Have Hard Work Ahead
The 2024-25 Blue Jackets were the darlings of the NHL. They made a great effort trying to make the playoffs before falling short in the end. While that was a great story, they still didn’t reach their goal.
It was yet another season of no playoffs in Nationwide Arena. This is the realization of where the Blue Jackets are at. They have a great core in place. But they also have significant questions too namely on defense and in goal.
Imagine being a free agent. How would they view the Blue Jackets in the grand scheme of things? There’s a reason you don’t hear them in the same breath as teams like the Carolina Hurricanes, New York Rangers and others. These teams are more established for winning (Hurricanes) or their track record of wanting to win (Rangers).
The Blue Jackets want to win. They just haven’t done it consistently enough to be mentioned in the upper echelon of teams. This is why the 2025 offseason for them is of utmost importance. If they hope to ultimately become a premier destination, they have to make moves to unlock the potential we always seem to be talking about with them.
GM Don Waddell appears to not be messing around. He has a boatload of assets at his disposal in order to make the team better. He has the desire to make the team better knowing cap space isn’t a problem. What could still be an issue though is convincing free agents that the Blue Jackets are their best option.
The Blue Jackets are not the Panthers. They’re not like anyone located in New York or Los Angeles. However, they have a list of positives that make them an attractive place to sign.
Take Sean Monahan for example. He said at last season’s exit interviews he views Columbus as his forever home. Several other players have either said the same or are living there now after their careers are over.
Columbus is quiet. The media attention isn’t as much as a lot of places. It’s a great city for families to be raised in. It has its share of great activities. Its location is ideal in the east as one of the biggest cities in the country yet you are still close to a lot of places.
But to this day, the Blue Jackets have never fully unlocked their true potential as a destination despite all the things the city offers. Why? They lack the winning most free agents crave.
Blue Jackets Will Be Put to Test
There is no question progress has been made on the corner of Front and Nationwide in downtown Columbus. The center depth has never been better. The Blue Jackets have a Norris-caliber defenseman who loves playing there. There is young talent that project to be great players in the coming years.
This promise will now be put to the test. How do free agents view the situation in Columbus? Do they see a path to consistent winning soon?
The hockey world is watching. If free agents feel the goals against are still going to be a problem, they may elect to choose a more stable situation if given the choice. Every aspect of the team on and off the ice need to be on point to really start being able to attract top free agents to sign.
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The Blue Jackets have promise and a bright future. However, that alone isn’t good enough. Results are what matter. They have to start winning soon. That is the catalyst of them becoming a premier destination in the NHL.
Otherwise, we’ll continue hearing the same teams over and over when it comes to where free agents want to sign. The process isn’t going to be overnight. This 2025 offseason for the Blue Jackets could go a long way to helping them start on the path of consistent winning.
This is where Waddell’s decisions this offseason go beyond just making some changes. He’s being put to the test. What he does will ultimately affect the Blue Jackets’ perception to future players when deciding if they want to sign.
Progress has been made in Columbus in trying to become that premier destination. But there is a lot of hard work ahead. We’ll see this offseason how far they’ve really come in that regard.
