The chaos is about to begin.
With the NHL draft in the rearview mirror, that means free agency is right around the corner.
Set to get underway at noon ET on Tuesday, July 1, all 32 teams will be able to start adding unrestricted free agents. We've been hearing the rumblings that the Columbus Blue Jackets are primed to make an off-season splash, and that President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Don Waddell would love to add a top-six forward to the club.
A defenseman is on the wishlist, too — and here, we cover some of the potential free agency targets for the blueline.
The draft was relatively quiet on that front outside of Friday's trade with the Colorado Avalanche that netted the Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood. Before the trade with Colorado went down, the Jackets were said to be in on 30-year-old forward Mason Marchment before the Dallas Stars traded him to the Seattle Kraken. They were also in on defenseman Noah Dobson before he was traded from the New York Islanders to the Montreal Canadiens on Friday.
On Sunday, the Blue Jackets re-signed defenseman Dante Fabbro to a four-year, $16.5 million deal. Still, there's plenty of cap space for what's next.
Now with free agency set to begin in just over 24 hours, who could the Blue Jackets be after on the forward front?
Mikael Granlund
The 33-year-old, 13-year veteran center is coming off a 66-point campaign last year, split between the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars.
In 52 games for the Sharks, he had 45 points (15 goals, 30 assists) before the trade to Dallas where he scored 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in 31 games for the Stars. He added 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 18 playoff games.
The Stars would like to keep Granlund but they have to battle their salary cap situation.
Nikolaj Ehlers
While he might not be closing the door on Manitoba entirely, the long-time Winnipeg Jet appears to be on the move.
Ehlers put up 63 points (24 goals, 39 assists) last season, just missing out on his career-high of 64 in 2016-17. After sustaining a foot injury in April, he missed the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs. In the playoffs, he co-led the Jets with five goals.
Among all the teams that could be after Ehlers' services, especially with the potential of a Mitch Marner sign and trade between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vegas Golden Knights, Ehlers is a likely serious target for a number of teams including the Carolina Hurricanes. You wonder how much something like that plays into president and general manager Don Waddell's thinking of how much to offer but also to steal away from his old team and a division rival.
Columbus has the cap space to make almost anything work if the right player is available.
Gustav Nyquist
We heard about a possible reunion for Nyquist and Columbus last season before the trade deadline. Then the soon-to-be 36-year-old was traded to the Minnesota Wild.
A 13-year veteran, Nyquist had an impactful Blue Jackets tenure from 2019-23 before being traded to the Wild. He compiled 117 points (43 goals, 74 assists) in 200 games in Columbus. In Nyquist's first year as a Nashville Predator in 2023-24, he scored a career-best 75 points and added a high watermark of 52 assists to go with 23 goals.
Last season between the Predators and the Wild, he scored 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists).
Andrew Mangiapane
Could there be another former Calgary Flame in the fold?
Mangiapane spent last season with the Washington Capitals after a trade from the Flames last June. Before that, Mangiapane spent seven seasons in Calgary, playing with Johnny Gaudreau, Erik Gudbranson, and Sean Monahan.
Availability is the best ability and Mangiapane has been available to play in just about every season of his career, playing in 376 of a possible 410 games. In 81 games for the Capitals, his point totals slipped to 28 points (14 goals, 14 assists), after putting up 40–14-26 the season before.
Mangiapane's best season came in 2021-22 when he set career highs in points (55) and goals (35), to go with 20 assists.
Brock Boeser
We're probably reaching the no-chance, very unlikely phase of the free-agent targets. But...
The Athletic's Aaron Portzline wrote about Boeser as a Blue Jackets free-agent target, and of course, right? — though it'd probably be quite the shock if that signing happened in Columbus — and he would certainly be a big piece. The 28-year-old Boeser is a near certainty to be on the move out of Vancouver, where he's spent all nine seasons of his career. Leading the Canucks in goals with 204 since entering the league, he put up 50 points (25 goals, 25 assists) last season. His best season was 2023-24 when he set career highs in points (73) and goals (40) and had 33 assists.
Mitch Marner
The Blue Jackets would love to have Marner. But as recent chatter indicates, a possible sign and trade is happening with the Vegas Golden Knights any time now.
Marner, 28 years old, set a career-high with 102 points last season with 27 goals and a new high mark for assists with 75. On June 20, Ed Francis, Dan Dukart, and I chatted about the unlikely yet possible acquisition of Marner by the Blue Jackets.
Blue Jackets’ Free Agents
It seems like Sean Kuraly's time in Columbus is probably up. The 32-year-old finished up the four-year deal he signed with the Jackets before the 2021-22 season. But his impact throughout that tenure won’t be forgotten. Having grown up in Dublin, Ohio, Kuraly was one of four Blue Jackets to play all 82 games last season (Adam Fantilli, Mathieu Olivier, Ivan Provorov).
Kuraly added 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in 2024-25 but the Jackets can likely find another bottom-six forward to bring more of a scoring impact. The additions of Coyle and Wood likely signify the end of Kuraly's Columbus tenure.
Kuraly was always one who was not shy to throw the body around, with 163 hits last season, and led the team with 746 over his four years in Columbus.
James van Riemsdyk was a pleasant free-agent addition late last summer. Signed to a one-year deal for $900k, the 36-year-old, 16-year veteran did what he always did, adding a dependable lineup presence and scoring depth with 36 points (16 goals, 20 assists). We’ll see what this all means for a possible reunion for van Riemsdyk, but as last year out of necessity showed, a bargain deal could prove to park quite the punch.
Justin Danforth, 32 years old, has spent four seasons with the Blue Jackets, scoring 64 points (31 goals, 33 assists) in that span. Last year, he scored 21 points (nine goals, 12 assists).
The other Blue Jackets' unrestricted free agents include Christian Fischer, Luke Kunin, and Kevin Labanc. Restricted free agents include Jordan Harris, Mikael Pyyhtia, and Dmitri Voronkov.
