Speculation: Armchair GM - 2025 Offseason Thread

[majormajor]

Quite possibly. It can be a solid top 6 if they can move the puck well enough. I just worry about depth with injuries because if those 6 don't play 70 games we've got issues.

Whoever is the best out of Richard, Hunt, Svozil, etc... do we think that player is going to be NHL caliber? My guess is that within a year two the answer will be yes.

 

[Banana duck]

I also don’t believe Tarasov will be on the opening night roster.

I didn’t think so either until he said in an interview they were negotiating his contract.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

I didn’t think so either until he said in an interview they were negotiating his contract.

Is he worth his QO? Not at this point.

I think we mostly suspect they are negotiating for a lesser contract and a potential 2 way deal. Evason had zero trust in him last season. He rode Elvis for game stretches longer than he should have and played Jet over him every time he got recalled. He may still be in the organization but he has to be 3rd in line at this point.

I'm not sure anyone wants to pay him his QO and maybe his trade value goes up if a deal diferent than his QO is signed. Still lots up in the air. We could still decide to walk away and not even offer his QO if they can't agree.

 

[Banana duck]

Is he worth his QO? Not at this point.

I think we mostly suspect they are negotiating for a lesser contract and a potential 2 way deal. Evason had zero trust in him last season. He rode Elvis for game stretches longer than he should have and played Jet over him every time he got recalled. He may still be in the organization but he has to be 3rd in line at this point.

I'm not sure anyone wants to pay him his QO and maybe his trade value goes up if a deal diferent than his QO is signed. Still lots up in the air. We could still decide to walk away and not even offer his QO if they can't agree.

I still think there’s a good goalie in there. He's young and didn’t get much time to develop in the minors between call ups and his own health issues. Maybe he clears waivers and gets that chance.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

I still think there’s a good goalie in there. He's young and didn’t get much time to develop in the minors between call ups and his own health issues. Maybe he clears waivers and gets that chance.

Maybe, They've held on to him for this long for some reason that most of us don't see. I think there is some stuff we probably never heard about too. I still don't understand why he declined the conditioning assignment the first time. I know its within his right to do so but it still would have been good for him to do so instead of just siting there not playing.

I think there is a disconnect/disagreement of some form on what the team wanted him to do versus how he wanted to approach things. Maybe the had a moment with him as the season wrapped up and said "If you want to be an NHL goalie this is what we need to see from you."

If they don't see it in training camp, then he goes on waivers and goes to Cleveland but as far as I can tell he's got an uphill battle to prove it. Jet still needs to prove it too but I think he's got the lead for that other spot right now.

 

[koteka]

Zacha as your #1C, your top D injured so Lohrei and Peeke are playing big minutes, Korpi is your better goalie in net. Why is there any surprise? It's not a good roster.

They somehow were turning themselves into the Jackets circa 2022-23. Really good wings but no top 6 centers with a disappointing D group (top guy is injured and you have Peeke) and goalie issues.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Columbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell not weighing buyouts for Merzlikins, Severson

Contract buyouts are not of interest to Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell this offseason, including Elvis Merzlikins and Damon Severson.

www.dispatch.com

 

[alphafox]

Columbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell not weighing buyouts for Merzlikins, Severson

Contract buyouts are not of interest to Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell this offseason, including Elvis Merzlikins and Damon Severson.

www.dispatch.com

I don't see why Severson is even in the buyout conversation, he's still a quality player in other situations particularly with RD being the weakest position in the league. We might have to pay to move him off our books but even retaining half for the rest of his deal in the newcap world isn't much to sacrifice and at 50% retained we probably get some kind of quality asset back.

 

[MissADD]

Columbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell not weighing buyouts for Merzlikins, Severson

Contract buyouts are not of interest to Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell this offseason, including Elvis Merzlikins and Damon Severson.

www.dispatch.com

Not a shock. I figured Elvis would be more of a trade candidate, bad contract for bad contract situation. And while he still isn't worth the money he is paid Severson looked better last year now that the defense had some sort of structure.

 

[Perratrooper]

Would Jackets fans be interested in Necas and if so, what sort of pieces would they be willing to trade to acquire him?

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Would Jackets fans be interested in Necas and if so, what sort of pieces would they be willing to trade to acquire him?

Not unless he’s signing a contract extension, which he wouldn’t do last year when we almost got him for 4th overall, so who knows if that’s changed.

 

[majormajor]

Necas is an interesting one.

Gaudy point totals this year but I checked and his 5v5 scoring rate was lower than like 6 or 7 forwards on our team. He really only broke out on the PP and I'm not sure how replicable that is or if the cost justifies moving KJ or Marchenko off whatever half wall Necas fits in on.

5v5 he is a rush and perimeter guy, he wheels the zone a lot. We've yet to see him use his size in the middle the way he would have to to have playoff success.

 

[hockey17jp]

Necas is an interesting one.

Gaudy point totals this year but I checked and his 5v5 scoring rate was lower than like 6 or 7 forwards on our team. He really only broke out on the PP and I'm not sure how replicable that is or if the cost justifies moving KJ or Marchenko off whatever half wall Necas fits in on.

5v5 he is a rush and perimeter guy, he wheels the zone a lot. We've yet to see him use his size in the middle the way he would have to to have playoff success.

Agree. I like Necas but he isn't worth losing any of the players we'd have to give up to get him.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

He really only broke out on the PP and I'm not sure how replicable that is or if the cost justifies moving KJ or Marchenko off whatever half wall Necas fits in on.

marchenko is better suited for one of the interior positions than the flank imo. so adding necas wouldn’t really be an issue.

5v5 he is a rush and perimeter guy, he wheels the zone a lot. We've yet to see him use his size in the middle the way he would have to to have playoff success.

it doesn’t all have to be bruisers or netfront guys — you can win with pace, too.

imagine a chinakhov-fantilli-necas line, for example, that can play at breakneck speeds (through necas) to compliment a more methodical kj-monny-marchy top line.

that’d put jenner, voronkov and olivier all in the bottom six (along with sillinger + others, if here) to bring toughness while improving scoring depth.

i don’t think necas is necessarily a perfect fit (forsberg, if available, would qualify) — but he and marner would both improve the roster and give them a clearer target to hit when building the rest of the roster.

 

[majormajor]

marchenko is better suited for one of the interior positions than the flank imo. so adding necas wouldn’t really be an issue.

I could see Marchenko also making a good bumper, but Monahan is also a very good bumper, and Fantilli could get off a shot there in no time, we want to get him on PP1 if we can. No matter how you cut it, you'd be moving a good PP guy off the unit.

 

[Xoggz22]

Would Jackets fans be interested in Necas and if so, what sort of pieces would they be willing to trade to acquire him?

I like Necas, but if he's hell bent on playing center, I don't think that's the biggest position of need for Columbus. Unless the thought was to push Fantilli down to 3C and Necas play 2C (pushes Sillinger to 4C). Now if he's willing to play on the wing... might be worth a discussion. I suck at trade options so...I'll just leave it at that.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

stray thought here: i wouldn’t be surprised if voronkov signs an offer sheet this summer.

seems like the team was unhappy with his conditioning. if a team offers him a big contract, maybe they balk at matching it.

I could see Marchenko also making a good bumper, but Monahan is also a very good bumper, and Fantilli could get off a shot there in no time, we want to get him on PP1 if we can. No matter how you cut it, you'd be moving a good PP guy off the unit.

marchy’s super skilled and is a gifted goal scorer, but i don’t view him as a great fit as a flank guy in a 1-3-1. having a right shot netfront guy opens some stuff up for them.

and good units have some interchangeability/fluidity. he and monahan could both be in interior spots and they could have some different looks off of that than what they were able to show this year.

kent’s not coming off the unit — he was one of the best entry guys in the league last year and the unit ran through him. but the unit as a whole also needs to improve. moving marchenko to a different position if they get a better flank isn’t a problem.

 

[Perratrooper]

I like Necas, but if he's hell bent on playing center, I don't think that's the biggest position of need for Columbus. Unless the thought was to push Fantilli down to 3C and Necas play 2C (pushes Sillinger to 4C). Now if he's willing to play on the wing... might be worth a discussion. I suck at trade options so...I'll just leave it at that.

My understanding is that he just wants the first line, first pp minutes, but he might want $10m. The $10m I think is what the sticking point is for the Avs.

Most beat writers for Colorado say that the Kypreos rumor is unfounded.

 

[CBJx614]

Waddell is tasked with improving the roster to be both competitive next season and structurally sound for years to come – a “five-year plan,” he says.

“As the GM of the team, you always have to look to see how you can make yourself better,” Waddell said. “I think we have great leadership on this team. We proved that last year, with all the things that happened to this franchise.

“We want to be better at every position we possibly can, particularly if we can land the top-six forward (and) a defenseman. If it's not one of our own unrestricted free agents, somebody else in the marketplace.”

“I've been to probably 15 or 20 combines. (This year) there was by far the most talk ever about trades because of the draft being decentralized,” Waddell said. “I hadn't been to the combine the last couple years, but I felt it was important to be there. Almost every agent and GM was there, (and) you always get more accomplished face to face. So I took those three days as an opportunity to meet with a lot of people, including the players.”

“I told everybody that my picks are in play,” Waddell said. “We're willing to trade some players. It's part of the business. You don't trade players for any other reason, unless you think you're making your team better. So we look at all possibilities.”

Why do I get the feeling we're gonna sign Fabbro and Provorov and Waddell is gonna pull the " we looked at signing both of the guys as our free agent moves"

 

[majormajor]

Why do I get the feeling we're gonna sign Fabbro and Provorov and Waddell is gonna pull the " we looked at signing both of the guys as our free agent moves"

There's precious little out there on the market, so wouldn't be super surprising, though I don't think we are going to give Provorov the term he's looking for, and he'll head to FA.

 

[alphafox]

Why do I get the feeling we're gonna sign Fabbro and Provorov and Waddell is gonna pull the " we looked at signing both of the guys as our free agent moves"

I think this is the most probable outcome on the back end. Ekblad is the only guy in UFA clearly better than Proverov and Fabbro proved he could make a top tier pairing with Werenski. What we need is a D on the right side and its slim pickings across the league so I would bet the prices are keeping DW from actually taking the swing in the back end. My curiosity is on the top six forward he keeps referencing. There is the trade angle for a major winger as well as the UFA play for someone either and on the UFA front there is everything from major pieces( Marner or Boeser) on the wing vs going super deep up the middle (Bennet) or just experienced producing Vets (Marchand, Granlund).

Personally I would like to see us really swing for Peterka (Sign for 8M trade Both 1sts and Chinakov) and then sign Marchand (9M) for a short term overpay. I think the team needs at least one guy that has been through the playoff wars to help guide the roster. If we can pull that off and find a goalies somewhere I think we are set to be in the playoff conversation for a long time even if we simply resign Fabbro (6M) and Proverov (7). Assuming my math is correct that would leave us with something in the neighborhood of 10M in cap with a lot of options to clear cap and pay whatever the core becomes over the next two to 3 seasons. Icing a Top-9 like the below would make us one of the deepest and most challenging teams in the league to shut down.

Peterka-Fantilli-Marchenko
Voronkov-Monahan-Johnson
Jenner-Sillinger-Marchand

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Marchand won't come here.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

Marchand won't come here.

if he wins a cup this year (sure looks likely) i bet he’d be open to taking a big payday to sign with a young team with an agreement that if things go south he’ll get shipped off to a contender of his choosing.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

He's going to get a 4x8 offer from someone.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Seems like the Blue Jackets are going to try to bring back Dante Fabbro and Ivan Provorov. If so, how do they upgrade the defense from last season? — Finn M.

Great question, and one I posed to Waddell last week. He acknowledged the issue, and said that he’d be happy to add to last year’s group and let training camp and the early season decide who plays and where. But there’s only so much he can say at this point because there’s (probably) only so much he knows at this point. There’s a reason he’s trying to mine the trade market first, because that doesn’t have to wait until July 1, which is when Provorov can sign elsewhere. If he can swing a trade now, he’ll have a better sense of what he has — or doesn’t have — heading into free agency. He didn’t say this, but that could also be a reason talks with Provorov have been exceedingly slow. If he makes a trade for a right-side top-four defensemen, the urge to re-sign Provorov may not be as urgent.