Hockey is right around the corner.
So to help get you ready for the Columbus Blue Jackets 2025-26 season, we give you the first of a quick, two-part series to help get you acquainted with the new faces on the team. Our Will Chase will have part two — the defenseman — on Thursday.
First: the forwards.
Long an area of opportunity for the franchise, the Blue Jackets' forward groups flipped the script in 2024-25 and had long stretches where they could essentially score at will. They finished with a club-record 267 goals, tied for 7th with the Toronto Maple Leafs amongst NHL clubs last season. Make no mistake about it: aside from Jet Greaves' sensational last two weeks in net, it was Columbus' offense that propelled them to be one of the league's biggest surprises.
Still, the Blue Jackets made several changes to their group of 12 (or more). Gone are veterans Sean Kuraly, James van Riemsdyk, and Justin Danforth. All three had regular spots in the lineup, and with no obvious answer of who comes up from the AHL's Cleveland Monsters to replace them, president of hockey operations and general manager Don Waddell played an active role in acquiring replacements for all three.
Here's a look at those faces — and more — in part one of Meet Your New Jackets:
Charlie Coyle
Coyle gives the Blue Jackets something they sought after this offseason: a veteran, middle-six center with a right shot who can find the back of the net.
The 33-year-old was acquired just before the draft in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche and further strengthens the Blue Jackets up the middle. (That's a sentence that's been a long time coming, isn't it?)
There's little question where the 6-foot-3, 215 lb will be inserted: Coyle has third-line center written all over him. Who he plays with is still a question without an answer, but it's hard not to see Cole Sillinger on one side of him. Yegor Chinakhov, Dmitri Voronkov, and Boone Jenner are possible options to play on the other side — probably in that order.
Coyle scored 17 goals and had 18 assists for 35 points last season, his fifth straight season (minus the Covid year) of 15-plus goals and 35-plus points.
This was a good addition by Waddell and company, and gives the Blue Jackets an upgrade at center over Kuraly.
Coyle has one year remaining in a six-year, $31.5 million contract. His average annual value this season checks in at $5.25 million.
Miles Wood
In that same trade with the Avalanche, the Blue Jackets also acquired winger Miles Wood.
Injuries soured Wood's 2024-25 campaign, where he scored just four goals and added four assists in 37 games. But Wood, who spent the first eight seasons of his NHL career with the New Jersey Devils before departing for Colorado two years ago, is looking for a bounce-back in a Blue Jackets sweater.
That will almost certainly come as the team's new fourth-line left winger. The fourth line can (and will) be a bit of a revolving door, but it shouldn't come as a surprise when he's playing opposite of Mathieu Olivier and centered by Isac Lundestrom, another new Jacket who is previewed next.
The 6-foot-2, 195 lb Wood has four years left on his contract, with an average annual value of $2.5 million per year.
Isac Lundestrom
As previously mentioned, Lundestrom appears most likely to take the spot of Kuraly as the team's primary fourth-line center.
In 2024-25, the 25-year-old had 15 points (four goals, 11 assists) in 79 games.
A former first-round pick, Lundestrom spent the first seven seasons of his NHL career with the Anaheim Ducks, picking up 35 goals and 49 assists (84 points) in 337 career games. His best season was undoubtedly in 2021-22, when he scored 16 goals and added 13 assists for 29 points in a total of 80 games.
"Lundestrom is a center who skates very well, is strong on the puck, and plays a sound two-way game," Waddell said after announcing the signing. "He will provide additional depth to our forward group, and we are very pleased to welcome him to the Blue Jackets family.”
Hudson Fasching
Of this group, it's Fasching who signed a two-way deal, meaning that he can rotate between Cleveland and Columbus without concern.
Fasching, 30, has spent the last three seasons with the New York Islanders organization. The 6-foot-3, 210 lb winger has two goals and two assists (four points) in 43 games with the Isles in 2024-25.
His best NHL season came in the 2022-23 campaign, when the Apple Valley, Minnesota native scored 10 goals and added nine assists (19 points) in 49 games with a +10 plus/minus.
With youngsters like Luca Del Bel Belluz and Jordan Dumais needing to play big minutes to continue their development, a player like Fasching has "13th forward" appeal. He'll certainly play some games with the Blue Jackets this season, but could find himself in the "mostly healthy scratch" role.
That said, Waddell was clear about why he was brought into the organization.
"Fasching is a hard-working, responsible winger with size who plays with a great deal of energy," Waddell said. "His high character, experience, and versatility strengthens our organizational depth up front."
