5 Columbus – Zach Werenski and Kirill Marchenko’s refusal to re-sign with the Columbus Blue Jackets once their contracts expire has Don Waddell juggling trade offers, roster planning, and contract decisions as free agency looms. The team also faces a small cluster of pendi
On a morning that turns into June 30, the reality for the Columbus Blue Jackets feels simple: free agency is coming whether they’re ready or not—and two of their most important players have already made their stance clear.
Zach Werenski and Kirill Marchenko have indicated they will not re-sign with Columbus once their contracts expire. That doesn’t just change the feeling in the building. It changes what Don Waddell can afford to do next. He’s likely waist-deep in trade offers for both players, while the open market keeps moving around them.
Here are five questions shaping what Columbus does next.
1) How would trading Werenski and Marchenko affect Columbus’ free agency?
Waddell has told both opposing teams and reporters that he isn’t interested in trading Werenski or Marchenko for futures. The implication is direct: if another GM calls about either player, they should be ready to offer real NHL talent along with high draft picks.
Waddell also expects the conversation to include at least one young NHL player who’s highly regarded and has multiple years of team control left on their contract.
Columbus isn’t treating this as the start of a rebuild. and Waddell won’t be pushed into one just because top offensive players don’t see themselves re-signing two years down the line as unrestricted free agents. The Jackets still believe they can get quality NHL players to keep the roster intact—and that means trades aren’t likely to create gaping holes that Waddell would then rush to fill with a thin free-agent market.
2) If they lose some of their pending UFA forwards, where does the interest come from?
When free agency begins, the Blue Jackets have three lineup regulars set up to hit the open market. Boone Jenner. the Jackets’ captain. and winger Mason Marchment are among the top available pending UFA forwards. in part because the NHL’s skyrocketing salary cap has helped more teams re-sign players.
If Jenner becomes a free agent, the expectation is interest from the Washington Capitals and the Colorado Avalanche. Marchment, meanwhile, is projected to draw looks from the Avalanche and the Montreal Canadiens.
That matters because it frames the Jackets’ upcoming decisions as a competition—not only with other teams, but with the calendar.
3) Who might Columbus re-sign to keep the lineup stable?
Depth and structure are on the table as well. The Blue Jackets could re-sign pending UFA Danton Heinen for depth up front. Coach Rick Bowness reportedly found Heinen’s versatility useful last season.
Erik Gudbranson is another pending UFA option. He’s a veteran defenseman known for size and strength. Waddell has indicated that adding an NHL defenseman in the range of $2 million per year is the Jackets’ preference to round out the blue line. so there’s a chance Columbus circles back to Gudbranson.
Gudbranson’s fit isn’t only about what he does on the ice. He’s described as a strong leader in the locker room, not shy about showing affection for Columbus and the Blue Jackets. That combination is part of why the two sides could find common ground.
With all of that in mind, the Jackets should probably consider re-signing Jenner and/or Marchment alongside Gudbranson. Jenner and Gudbranson. in particular. helped establish a close-knit atmosphere inside the Blue Jackets’ locker room despite multiple injuries the past two years. Marchment is also described as having slotted near perfectly into the lineup in a key role following a mid-season trade last season.
Waddell said term is the biggest stumbling block to re-signing Jenner and/or Marchment. But the thinking is that giving a little on term might be a better option than trying to replace one or both in a shallow market.
4) Could Columbus look at a goalie trade instead of waiting out the market?
There’s another roster question brewing beyond the skaters.
The Blue Jackets could look for a trade that gives goalie Elvis Merzlikins a fresh start for the final season of his contract before Columbus sorts through unsigned goalies for a backup.
The goal would be to create clarity at the position without forcing the team into a rushed scramble for depth.
5) What about the RFA pile—and two coaching vacancies that can’t be filled yet?
Columbus also has restricted free agents to manage through the qualifying offer process. The Blue Jackets have extended qualifying offers to restricted free agents Adam Fantilli, Cole Sillinger, Greaves, and newly acquired depth forward Luke Tuch. Tuch will likely play with AHL Cleveland.
Waddell isn’t in a rush to re-sign any of them because Columbus ultimately controls their rights, while the team’s bigger, more immediate challenges are Werenski and Marchenko as the trade market heats up.
Fantilli’s situation stands out as different because it’s his first foray into RFA territory. meaning he doesn’t have arbitration rights to bolster his leverage. His biggest leverage would be signing an offer sheet elsewhere. but the Blue Jackets would have the option of matching the offer or allowing him to leave for draft pick compensation.
The expectation is that Columbus would almost certainly match to keep its developing No. 1 center, and that going through the effort of an offer sheet might not be worth it to opposing GMs. In that scenario. Fantilli and the Blue Jackets would eventually work out a new contract that gives him a hefty raise.
Greaves, Sillinger, and Tuch all have arbitration rights, but Waddell doesn’t anticipate issues getting new deals done before training camp arrives in September.
Coaching, too, is close—but not quite ready to be filled immediately. The Blue Jackets made two moves on June 30: they promoted Cleveland Monsters head coach Trent Vogelhuber and made the promotion official, while also announcing the hire of Nick Bootland to replace Vogelhuber in Cleveland.
Even with that, there are still two NHL coaching vacancies to fill.
One is for another NHL bench assistant with experience to work with forwards and coordinate the power play. The delay in hiring that role is tied to a waiting period for NHL contract years to expire June 30. Now that coaches who’d been under contract with other NHL teams are free agents. Columbus can interview candidates and make a hire quickly.
The Jackets also need a new NHL video coach after not retaining Aron Augustitus.
In the background of every negotiation and every roster call. the same tension keeps surfacing: Columbus is approaching free agency with real decisions already shaped by Werenski and Marchenko. Everything else—UFA options, RFA rights, coaching openings—moves underneath that pressure, while the market waits for nobody.
Columbus Blue Jackets NHL free agency Zach Werenski Kirill Marchenko Don Waddell Boone Jenner Mason Marchment Danton Heinen Erik Gudbranson Elvis Merzlikins Adam Fantilli Cole Sillinger Greaves Luke Tuch Trent Vogelhuber Nick Bootland Aron Augustitus