There likely won't be much of a showing by the Columbus Blue Jackets when free agency opens at noon Wednesday.
But that's not necessarily a bad thing.
Despite a decent start to the season, the Blue Jackets were never truly in playoff contention last year. But the team finished with a franchise-record 262 goals — and did so as a club that bounced back-and-forth with the New Jersey Devils between being the youngest and second-youngest team in the league.
That was with key players such as Patrik Laine and Boone Jenner missing significant playing time — they missed a combined 49 games, or 30% of the season. Alexandre Texier was in the midst of a break-out season, but missed more than half the year with an injury and a subsequent personal leave of absence.
Those three players are a near-lock (never say never in the NHL) to be back in the fold for the 2022-23 season, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Then you've got veterans like Jakub Voracek, Sean Kuraly, and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Pending a trade, which is always a possibility and often an out-of-the-blue move from general manager Jarmo Kekalainen, those are three more spots that are certainly spoken for. The steady presence of Gus Nyquist, too.
Jack Roslovic signed a multi-year extension and closed the season on an incredible pace, so he's back in the Blue Jacket saddle for 2022-23.
One week before the draft, the Blue Jackets traded a fourth-round draft pick to the Nashville Predators to acquire Mathieu Olivier. He's not going to bring much of a punch to the lineup in the scoring department, but was assuredly brought it to provide a literal punch to a lineup that got bullied too often last season.
With youngsters Cole Sillinger, Yegor Chinakhov, Kent Johnson, and Kirill Marchenko all expected to be a part of the roster this season, that's four more spots.
That brings us to a total of 13; already more spots than openings, and look who isn't on that list. Speedy winger Eric Robinson, the recently-extended Justin Danforth, young forwards like Emil Bemstrom and Liam Foudy.
It's a fairly clear signal that the Blue Jackets aren't likely to pursue much, if any, in the way of free agent forwards beginning Wednesday. Just the opposite seems far more likely — Columbus could find themselves unloading at least one or two of the above-mentioned players.
The NHL Draft was the start of an interesting summer for the Blue Jackets — but almost certainly not the end.
