What a difference a year can make.
Last year at this time, the Columbus Blue Jackets were dealing with the absolute unimaginable. Tragedy struck just a couple weeks before Training Camp.
The feeling was somber and heavy. Not only did the Blue Jackets have to process what happened to Johnny and Matthew Gaudreau, they had to try and focus on the upcoming hockey season.
Thanks to the words of Meredith Gaudreau telling the Blue Jackets to play hockey because that’s what Johnny would have wanted, the team played their hearts out. The result was both exciting for what happened but disappointing they fell just short.
Now as the Blue Jackets embark on the 2025-26 season, the feeling is much different. There is an excitement and anticipation for what’s to come. With a full offseason behind them, they are ready to show everyone that the playoffs are a real possibility.
The Blue Jackets held their annual media day on Monday at Nationwide Arena in advance of the start of training camp. GM Don Waddell, head coach Dean Evason, Boone Jenner, Sean Monahan, Zach Werenski and Adam Fantilli all spoke about the upcoming season.
There is a certain level of excitement around them that is clear when you hear the players speak. That’s where we start our takeaways from the day. Even “playoffs” was mentioned.
Excitement Over This Season
Jenner described the feelings of the new season in one word on Monday. “Excitement,” the Blue Jackets captain said.
“It’s just being back here with the guys. Just getting excited to get going here. It’s been a fun couple weeks having everyone back to town, skating together and getting ready to go. That’s just what I’m looking forward to is getting back and competing with that group.”
Given the way last season ended, the team is hungry to get over the playoff hurdle. Jenner expressed how pleased he was with the work his teammates put in over the summer.
“I think you can tell right away the guys were prepared to come in,” Jenner said. “The guys put the work in this summer. I know last year with the way it ended, we were a hungry group. We wanted to take that this summer. I trust everybody in that room that they go and do the right things and come back in great shape. And that’s what I noticed.”
Jenner’s teammates expressed the same excitement.
“Been here for a couple of weeks now and you feel the excitement around the rink from the guys, the staff,” Monahan said. “I think expectation wise, we got to every time we step on the ice for a game, we got to be ready to get two points.”
“I’m just excited to be back,” Werenski said. “It’s been a long offseason. I feel good. I feel like our team’s in a good spot right now. The last few weeks here have been really good for our group. I think guys are working hard. Guys are pushing each other. I feel like we have an idea of what we want to be to start the season and how we want to play.”
“I was saying how grateful I am to have come to this team at the time that I did,” Fantilli said. “Obviously in my rookie year, we weren’t in a best position possible. A year before that, it was kind of similar. I feel like since I’ve gotten here, it’s been a progression. It’s been really great to see and be able to build that confidence in ourselves and our locker room and kind of prove a lot of people wrong with how we performed last year especially not having Johnny and the injuries that we did. We’re all extremely disappointed we didn’t make the playoffs.
But it’s great. I couldn’t be more excited. I don’t even know the best way to put it into words but we’re a confident team now. We expect to make the playoffs.”
Every team is excited coming into training camp. These Blue Jackets are no different. But after how last season ended coupled with the work they put in, they come into the 2025-26 season with belief and confidence. As Werenski said, “I think we’re in a good spot, but the hardest part’s doing it again. So we’ll see what happens.”
Six Other Takeaways
- GM Don Waddell gave some injury updates. Denton Mateychuk will not skate this week and is considered day-to-day. Jordan Dumais suffered an injury in Buffalo at the Prospect’s Tournament and is day-to-day.
- Waddell completed the trade with the Philadelphia Flyers to acquire Ivan Fedotov. Why make this trade now and why Fedotov? “We really liked Ivan. He’s a young NHL player but an older player. (He) had great numbers in Russia. We just felt that because his contract with his cap hit that he was a guy that if he doesn’t make our club, then it will be a great insurance policy for us.”
- Waddell said that he doesn’t anticipate adding to the team right now as he’s happy with where they are. This was in response to if the team would consider adding any of the five players recently acquitted in London. “We haven’t talked at great length about it…We’re very happy where we are with our team right now. So I don’t see any changes at this point. And again we haven’t internally even discussed whether we’d even have interest in the players.”
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- Werenski talked about his experience and the Men’s World Championships and how that could help boost him and his teammates this season. “It was super important for me to be there. The US hasn’t won that tournament in 92 years so that was super special. It’s something I’ll always remember. In terms of a boost, it’s a different team, different teammates, different situation. But I think individually, it reminded me speaking of winning on the first question, how fun it is to win. It definitely makes me hungrier in areas like that where I kind of have missed that feeling of winning, haven’t had enough of it and just want to bring that here and be part of the solution here and be part of the reason why we bring a Cup to Columbus.”
- Fantilli got to the chance to play with several superstars at the Men’s Worlds. What will he take most from that experience? “That is something I’ll remember forever even with the disappointing result. Being in a locker room with guys like Sid, Nate, Fleury, O’Reilly is something that’ll probably never happen again for me with Fleury retiring and guys moving on. I just took everyday as a gift and I was super excited to be there, super grateful. You’ll learn so much watching Sid and Nate. These guys go through their everyday routines and watch them in practice and games, the way they interact with each other, the way they work and make sure their bodies are ready to go. It teaches you a lot about being a pro. Those are two guys that I think anybody in the league would want to follow. So seeing them up close was great.”
- With seven preseason games, Evason confirmed that everyone will play at least three games with some playing more if they are fighting for a roster spot. They have a template already made out and will adjust based on certain factors. This will be the last season of this many preseason games before it reduces to four starting in 2026-27.
