Speculation: Armchair GM - 2026 CBJ Offseason Roster Moves, Rumors, and Discussion

[Aaaarrgghh]

i’ll do you one better: if waddell has overseen a roster build that results in both Z and marchenko being unwilling to commit, he’s not the right GM to orchestrate their exits, either.

the roster is much older and less flexible, and he’s added zero top-end talent despite inheriting a top farm system and top five pick.

if Z and marchenko won’t commit, why should waddell be the guy to negotiate their trades? ownership should have zero faith in the guy at this point.

also, he spent all summer last year talking about extending fantilli, which still hasn’t happened. why should they expect a long term commitment from fantilli now, if marchenko and werenski are leaving?

absolute disaster of a GM hire. meanwhile jarmo is crushing it in buffalo. john davidson (who pushed for the babcock hire) is still our alternate governor too.

pure failure by ownership, who has continuously backed the wrong horses, every chance they’ve had, for the last quarter century minus a few years with torts.

I would much sooner blame Waddell's roster construction and Bowness' d**king around with the lines for the collapse than say that Marchenko is "not made for the playoffs."

 

[ColumbusTrill]

I guess you do kind of have to wonder if maybe some of these players are the guys Bones is thinking are the issue.

Marchenko doing the 6-7 meme in his exit interview was questionable. Z admitting that the team stopped caring as much when they were in a playoff spot was alarming and not what you want to hear from a future captain.

Coyle and Sillinger were the two who fully agreed with Bones.

 

[majormajor]

He's a very happy go lucky guy who on the surface may look like the kind of guy who doesn't care about winning. I'm not saying that he doesn't but he seemed clearly frustrated at the end of the year when other teams brought a really physical approach at him.

I don't know if he was injured or not but I think the whole league now knows how to limit his effectiveness.

I don't believe it. I think this is a 100% bullshit theory.

There's a lot of late season games that aren't even physical. And Marchenko can handle it better than most forwards. He's very big, very strong, and ultra competitive. It should be obvious to you that he has a higher battle level than most players.

His game took a steep drop off with injury.

 

[Ice9]

14OA and someone(s) for Larkin tomorrow.

DW and SY pull a coup on the media and fans.

 

[KJ Dangler]

Bowness' rant was cathartic, but it was still bullsh*t. If that leads to them trading Marchenko because of a month's worth of games, that's beyond bullsh*t.

Big assumption here … And honestly if Marchenko got his panties in a bunch over that , I’d move him as well , that’s about soft as you can get .. I would note that Z and Marchenko probably let us down the most down that stretch ..

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

I don't believe it. I think this is a 100% bullshit theory.

There's a lot of late season games that aren't even physical. And Marchenko can handle it better than most forwards. He's very big, very strong, and ultra competitive. It should be obvious to you that he has a higher battle level than most players.

His game took a steep drop off with injury.

And I'm not sure I'm buying your hypothesis.

Bowness himself said there are guys in this team that need to learn how to play the hard games.

I'm not saying I'm right and you are wrong even though you think I'm wrong but I'm open to the possibility that either is true.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

“I think, for right now, there are some matters we’re dealing with that should probably stay internal,” Waddell said. “My plan is still to meet with Zach in the near future and see where he’s at.

“We’ve had conversations with his agent, but there’s been no definitive plan for sure.”

Werenski has made it clear in public comments that his successes playing for the United States internationally — at the 4 Nations Face-Off, the IIHF World Championships and, most recently, at the Olympics — has rekindled his passion for winning, especially at the NHL level.

The Blue Jackets made the playoffs in Werenski’s first four NHL seasons, but have missed the postseason for six straight seasons, tied for the third-longest active streak in the league.

Maybe Werenski is waiting to see what improvements Waddell is able to make this offseason before committing beyond his current contract?

“That plays a part in it,” Waddell said. “(The meeting is) more of ‘Do you want to play here long term?’

“Obviously, we can’t get into contract (talks) because he still has two years left, but I want to get a good sense of where he’s at. We’ll see where he’s at and take it from there.”

Neither Werenski nor his agent, Judd Moldaver, responded to The Athletic’s request for comment.

Waddell did not indicate when exactly the meeting with Werenski will be held, but the fact that it’s set for after this weekend’s NHL Draft is curious. The draft is always a rich opportunity for NHL GMs to swing deals, and the build-up to this year’s event has been especially chaotic.

But that’s not how Waddell sees it.

“I’ve told everybody we’re dealing with that we’re not talking about draft picks at this point,” Waddell said. “If we’re going to trade any players off our team, we need players.

“To trade any player for a first-round pick, that may sound good. But it doesn’t do us any good for the next three years. I don’t think the draft, in this case, has any impact on what we do with (Werenski).”

It’s not just draft picks being moved this weekend, though. Several key NHL players have changed clubs, and that trend is expected to continue — or likely increase — over the next few days.

If the Blue Jackets get to Sunday and realize that Werenski doesn’t want to stay in Columbus beyond his current contract, the musical chairs of players changing teams may slow to a slow, sad waltz.

Again, Waddell pushed back.

“If you’re, hypothetically, talking about trading the Norris Trophy winner,” Waddell said, “I don’t think the players who are being shopped around right now … this type of player (Werenski) doesn’t get traded very often.

“If he would hit the market, the players that teams aren’t shopping, the ones they’d like to keep, would be the ones that are available. If we go that direction.”

“I’ve mapped it out where if we add one forward, say, at approximately $5 million, and at a defenseman that’s $2 million or $2.5 million, we’re at $100 million. One thing you don’t want to do is take yourself to the cap ($104 million) on the first day of the season.”

Waddell seems to be moving forward, doing his math, as if Werenski will be part of the Blue Jackets this season. There’s not much else he can do, really, pending a clear answer or clear direction from No. 8.

 

[Indy18]

“I’ve mapped it out where if we add one forward, say, at approximately $5 million, and at a defenseman that’s $2 million or $2.5 million, we’re at $100 million. One thing you don’t want to do is take yourself to the cap ($104 million) on the first day of the season.”


What forward can you get a $5mil?

McCann

McCann is their prime target?

Whose the 3L/R at 2.5mil? That's not FA pricing

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Elliotte Friedman? It’s not like it’s Seravalli.

I’m trying to understand what you mean by “shopping him” and I’m not getting any closer unfortunately.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

“I’ve mapped it out where if we add one forward, say, at approximately $5 million, and at a defenseman that’s $2 million or $2.5 million, we’re at $100 million. One thing you don’t want to do is take yourself to the cap ($104 million) on the first day of the season.”

To me this implies he wants 7-8 year term for Fantilli. Sillinger and Greaves are going to get paid more than people (me) think.

And probably means Marchment is gone.

Also shows that I appear to be correct in that Waddell is only targeting a top 9 upgrade and a third pairing defenseman. Quiet summer (planned) indeed, prior to the Werenski drama.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

And I'm not sure I'm buying your hypothesis.

Bowness himself said there are guys in this team that need to learn how to play the hard games.

I'm not saying I'm right and you are wrong even though you think I'm wrong but I'm open to the possibility that either is true.

And a couple guys pushes back at the implication that we have guys who don’t care. And Bowness walked his comments back a little. I’m going to need a lot more to jump on the “Bones meant Zach and Kirill” train.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Note: this interview was prior to Waddell's conference

 

[ClevelandJacketFan]

To me this implies he wants 7-8 year term for Fantilli. Sillinger and Greaves are going to get paid more than people (me) think.

And probably means Marchment is gone.

Also shows that I appear to be correct in that Waddell is only targeting a top 9 upgrade and a third pairing defenseman. Quiet summer (planned) indeed, prior to the Werenski drama.

I guess this assumes no outgoing with these acquisitions as well?

Either way, this also, basically, confirms they are hot after Jake DeBrusk

 

[Aaaarrgghh]

One thing he did say that I haven't seen mentioned is that Voronkov has been in Connecticut for the last 10 days with a "well respected" strength & conditioning coach and will remain there until the end of the summer.

 

[Indy18]

To me this implies he wants 7-8 year term for Fantilli. Sillinger and Greaves are going to get paid more than people (me) think.

And probably means Marchment is gone.

Also shows that I appear to be correct in that Waddell is only targeting a top 9 upgrade and a third pairing defenseman. Quiet summer (planned) indeed, prior to the Werenski drama.

Before adding the 2.5 3rd Pairing Dman...sounds about right based on the hand tilt (just ignore the picks I was looking for cash cost)

 

[CBJWerenski8]

One thing he did say that I haven't seen mentioned is that Voronkov has been in Connecticut for the last 10 days with a "well respected" strength & conditioning coach and will remain there until the end of the summer.

I thought about posting that quote but Jason Newland had a lame Panarin joke in it so I decided not to post it, lol.

 

[Aaaarrgghh]

He also mentioned players asking out has happened before (he mentioned Buffalo) but it has "never become so media driven like other cases that we're looking at right now."

 

[Longtime Local]

Bowness' rant was cathartic, but it was still bullsh*t. If that leads to them trading Marchenko because of a month's worth of games, that's beyond bullsh*t.

Bowness' comments were not bullsh*t.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

“I’ve mapped it out where if we add one forward, say, at approximately $5 million, and at a defenseman that’s $2 million or $2.5 million, we’re at $100 million. One thing you don’t want to do is take yourself to the cap ($104 million) on the first day of the season.”


What forward can you get a $5mil?

McCann

McCann is their prime target?

Whose the 3L/R at 2.5mil? That's not FA pricing

So he thinks current RFA and UFA that resign are only going to cost about 20 million based on that math if our current spend is 71.

100-7.5= 92.5

current spend is about 71.6 million today.

 

[Indy18]

I guess this assumes no outgoing with these acquisitions as well?

Either way, this also, basically, confirms they are hot after Jake DeBrusk

Whelp...that's their battleplan (I just threw Blanks in there as a placeholder for the mystery 2.5mil dman because you are not getting that in FA and I got a meeting in 15 mins)

 

[cbjthrowaway]

so don waddell’s big plan was to pony up assets for jake debrusk, find a cheap third pairing d-man, let marchment walk, and otherwise run it back?

meanwhile almost every other team in the east is stocking up big time. the only ones moving backwards are the rangers and the red wings.

no juice. no wonder werenski doesn’t want to commit.

 

[Banana duck]

Here’s a comment from the Athletic comments that makes a good point

> Was there more internal turmoil on last years team than we realized? Star players wanting out instead of striving to improve a 92 point team to a playoff competitor? Does that explain the end of season collapse? And the Bowness tirade at the last post game press conference. I do not claim to know but this all seems symptomatic of a troubled organization.

 

[KJ Dangler]

Marchenko doing the 6-7 meme in his exit interview was questionable. Z admitting that the team stopped caring as much when they were in a playoff spot was alarming and not what you want to hear from a future captain.

Coyle and Sillinger were the two who fully agreed with Bones.

And Fantilli.. Also , let’s be clear .. Don and Bones had talked about the situation for many games leading up to that last game .. and Bones had talked to the room about it leading up to his blowup many times ..

 

[SC Cannon]

I was gonna necro bump it but there's enough going on....but go look at what people thought of Z in those exit interviews. He was so flippant and lethargic.

Fantilli, Sillinger, Olivier, Coyle, hell even Jet. Those guys inspired confidence that they want to right the ship.

I was shocked with how aloof Z and Boone came off.

I'm all for a big changing of the guard here.