{"id":92086,"date":"2025-08-18T15:02:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T15:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/92086\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T15:02:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T15:02:09","slug":"2025-blue-jackets-summer-qa-don-waddell-part-2-the-hockey-writers-columbus-blue-jackets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/92086\/","title":{"rendered":"2025 Blue Jackets’ Summer Q&A: Don Waddell, Part 2 – The Hockey Writers – Columbus Blue Jackets"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Part 1 of our 2025 Summer Q & A series<\/a>, Blue Jackets\u2019 GM Don Waddell talked about a bevy of topics including how he\u2019s spent his summer, why he made some staffing changes and some reflections on the offseason and his first season with the team. <\/p>\n

We now shift our focus to more on the ice and player specific discussion in Part 2. Between having to navigate a public trade request, some contract negotiations and the need to add to their team before the season, Waddell remains busy even though Training Camp doesn\u2019t start for a month yet. <\/p>\n

The big contract negotiation that every Blue Jackets\u2019 fan is waiting for is the one involving Adam Fantilli. He\u2019s now eligible to sign his second contract. That\u2019s where we begin as we pick up on our conversation with Waddell.<\/p>\n

Don Waddell, Part 2<\/p>\n

THW: Let\u2019s flip into more of the on-ice stuff. You have some potentially big negotiations coming up. Adam Fantilli is one of those. Has that process started yet?<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cWe\u2019ve had no talks about the contract. We actually are trying to meet face to face sometime in late August or early September. I\u2019ve had a relationship with Pat (Brisson) for twenty some years, and we\u2019ve always been able to get every deal done. We also both feel the same that we\u2019d like to get together and do it in person. We\u2019re hoping to schedule that here in the next two or three weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DonColumbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell said he hopes to start having talks about Adam Fantilli\u2019s next contract in the next 2-3 weeks. (Photo credit: Mark Scheig, the Hockey Writers)<\/p>\n

THW: Boone Jenner is somebody that just when you think of Blue Jackets\u2019 hockey, he\u2019s one of the first guys that come to mind. It\u2019s been his entire career here. You\u2019ve been able to get to know him. This is the last year of his current contract. What have those conversations been like so far?<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cI\u2019ve talked to both his agent (Joseph Resnick) and Boone himself. I\u2019ve talked a couple times with the agent. No contract again. It\u2019s something that we said, let\u2019s do our homework on both sides.<\/p>\n

I think 100% Boone wants to stay here and retire as a Blue Jacket. We want him to stay here and retire a Blue Jacket. And now it\u2019s just finding that fine line of which is always the part of, satisfy his needs and within the structure that we have. I can\u2019t say there\u2019s any reason why we wouldn\u2019t be able to get a contract done.\u201d<\/p>\n

THW: Someone who has been a very integral part of the team given the relationship that he had with Johnny Gaudreau is Erik Gudbranson. He\u2019s another one too where you didn\u2019t have him for a lot of last year<\/a>. As soon as he got back, the team seemed to turn things around. Is he another one that you\u2019ve identified as a priority?<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cWe\u2019ve talked to him. I haven\u2019t talked to his agent at all. I know Eric wants to stay here. (We\u2019ll talk more) at the right time. I don\u2019t get caught up in these contracts. You saw last year with a lot of guys unrestricted. If we want a guy to stay here and he wants to stay here, it doesn\u2019t matter if the contract gets done in September or like this year, it got done in June. I don\u2019t get caught up in that too much. The time will come and we\u2019ll see. I\u2019d like to particularly with some guys, I want to see how the year goes too and see what we got coming and what we need to keep and move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

THW: Are there any notable injuries that you\u2019re aware of? Is everyone coming in with a clean bill of health?<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cYeah. Olivier is cleared 100% now. He had his wrist surgery. Charlie Coyle had a little thing done on his wrist. He\u2019s cleared. I was talking to Boone this morning (Thursday), and we were going through it. And we don\u2019t think there\u2019s anybody coming to camp that won\u2019t be ready for camp.\u201d<\/p>\n

THW: And some players have already come back into town.<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cYeah. Zach got married here a couple weeks ago. We had a lot of guys here for five or six days. Some guys have left. But right now, you got on the ice today Elvis and Jenner and (Ivan Provorov) has been here all summer. Gudbranson\u2019s been in. (Damon Severson) has been in. Most guys you\u2019re going to see, because school starting next week, and Olivier\u2019s coming back this week. Guys are starting to come back in town. Boone and I were talking about that. He said next week to ten days, probably 75% of the guys (will be) here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chinakhov, Voronkov & Other Moves?<\/p>\n

THW: I think when anybody looks at the state of the team now, probably most of the big moves are done. But I think you\u2019ve mentioned it before about the need for potentially a third goalie and maybe some other depth if that\u2019s available. We could see some August and September moves because there really wasn\u2019t a ton of trades because everyone wants to compete.<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cRight.\u201d<\/p>\n

THW: Could there be a move or two form you upcoming?<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cYeah. 100%. Let\u2019s talk about (Yegor) Chinakhov.\u201d<\/p>\n

THW: That that\u2019s where I was going.<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cYep. I had a good call with him two weeks ago. Things were said and he tried to clear the air with it here. It\u2019s nothing against Columbus or anything else. He just felt that for his career, this might not be the best place. And I told him directly and I told his agent directly that he has a value. And right now, we have him penciled in to be on our team. And if there\u2019s him or any player that I felt that we can get equal value or fill a need that we really need, we will look at that.<\/p>\n

But I never promised anybody I can trade him. And I told him the issue right now. He should continue to work in the summertime and prepare himself to be a Blue Jacket. And if something else happens, it happens.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"YegorThe Blue Jackets expect Yegor Chinakhov to be at camp but a trade is still possible. (Jess Starr<\/a>\/The Hockey Writers)<\/p>\n

THW: Will you use Training Camp to look to see if a goalie slips out on the waiver wire?<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cYeah. We\u2019re still talking. August is a slow month. It\u2019s hard to get ahold of some people, but we\u2019re still talking about some teams with goalies. But we also know that we\u2019ve done complete depth charts of all the organizations. There\u2019s going to be some teams that are going to have to put goalies on waivers. It may not be ideal to carry three goalies off the start, but it might be what we need to do. So we\u2019re going to continue to track down until we find one, whether it\u2019s today, tomorrow, training camp, whatever. I think it\u2019s important that we fill that need.\u201d<\/p>\n

THW: Last one on Chinakhov. That one went public. I know nobody likes it when that happens. What\u2019s the approach if someone has an issue? Is it an open-door policy to approach you if necessary?<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cWell, I don\u2019t think it does anybody any good to air your laundry in public. And that\u2019s why I\u2019ve stopped talking about it because it\u2019s just something that was said. We had a meeting, cleared the air, and told them how I felt what I just said. I\u2019ve had players over the years request trades.
It\u2019s not the first. It\u2019s really the first one that\u2019s gone real public and we dealt with that. Hopefully, it\u2019s behind us now.\u201d<\/p>\n

THW: Another player that reportedly had potentially been available was Dmitri Voronkov. He has a contract now and is a huge part of the team moving forward. I think you guys expect big things from him.<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cYeah. If you look at his first half of the year versus his second half, first half is outstanding and he slowed down in the second half of the year. We addressed that with him and hopefully he comes prepared not just physically but mentally for the season. I will say his name came up because it was obviously for the defensemen from the island. And his name came up, and we always said no. So how people report it and all that, I think if I were to put him in the deal, I would\u2019ve gotten the player (Noah Dobson.) But we weren\u2019t willing to put him in the deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

2025-26 Preview<\/p>\n

THW: I did hear an interview that you did have in Vancouver where you said an interesting quote about you go to sleep looking for goaltenders. You got Elvis Merzlikins and Jet Greaves. What is the confidence level going into the season with them and the belief that they can get the team to where you want them to go?<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cI 100% believe in both guys. I think if I go back to Elvis\u2019 year and I\u2019ve done this many times going through the outdoor game, which I think he stole for us from Detroit. He won us a lot more games than lost us. Then when our team went to the stretch in March there, our team wasn\u2019t very good and he wasn\u2019t very good. And then Jet came in and played I don\u2019t know how many games (of the last 15-20 games) and played very well. I think we have confidence in both of those guys. But saying that, I\u2019ve never been through a season where two guys played the whole year. Never. Maybe I don\u2019t have luck with goalies. Injuries, sickness, somebody not playing great for a while.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I\u2019m very confident saying that these two guys are our guys, but I\u2019d like to have a third guy there in case something happens. It\u2019s just I\u2019d rather be prepared for something. If we don\u2019t ever need them all year, that\u2019s great. If we need something for whatever reasons, we have someone we feel comfortable going in goal. We\u2019re trying to win hockey games here, and it\u2019s one position that you can\u2019t leave yourself bare because you can have everything going well which could be real freaky, somebody misses the week or something like that. And you go four games that week, and you got a guy not ready to play here. That\u2019s bad management by me and my staff.\u201d<\/p>\n

THW: Every season has challenges. But this year, teams certainly aren\u2019t going to look past you. You The emotional aspect will always be there with Johnny, but now that it\u2019s getting a little further and further away, how do you feel like your team can overcome all those things to get to that next level?<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cI think a few things. We need some luck. You got to deal with the injuries during the year. When you lose your captain before you can play a game and you lose Gudbranson, I think, three or four games in the year. And six weeks in, we lost Kent (Johnson) for a while and we lost Chinakhov. We know there are going to be injuries during the year. When you lose these guys for basically the whole year or a lot of it, it\u2019s a big blow to you. In saying that, yes, we need to have some luck on our side from that end. But the leaders of this hockey club, Monahan, Werenski, Jenner, Gudbranson, Olivier. These are all not only good players. These were all guys that are not only contributors to our hockey team, but they\u2019re good people and good leaders.<\/p>\n

I think that we played with a lot of emotion last year, but somebody had to keep that room in check. And I think these guys did the best job I\u2019ve ever seen of a veteran group. I think everybody expected us to have 50 points last year and here we\u2019re going right down to (the wire). You don\u2019t do that just on emotion. You do that with the leadership and your ability to play the game. I\u2019m confident that as we enter the season with that group of players, along with our young players, you see Fantilli and Johnson take big steps last year and Mateychuk. Have it happened to these guys now they can\u2019t be considered young players anyway. They\u2019re going to have three or four years in the league. There\u2019s no reason why we can\u2019t take that next step.\u201d<\/p>\n

THW: How urgent is making the playoffs? Let\u2019s say that there is a bad start, will you try to intervene quicker than before?<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cI think the playoffs are important for sure. And I want to get to a point where we\u2019re making the playoffs each and every year and stop talking about making the playoffs and start talking about winning the Cup. That the important thing for me.<\/p>\n

To answer the second part of the question, you got to see how it goes. You start off 2-8 or something like that in your first 10. Is it because you\u2019re missing something? What\u2019s going on with the team? That\u2019s my job to assess that. That\u2019s why particularly in the first part of the year I\u2019m always with the team because I want to be around the team and get a feel for how everybody\u2019s thinking and watch how everything\u2019s going because you can\u2019t keep a pulse on the team and then come in and make a decision that you\u2019re not ready to make. So being around the team and recognizing if we have a weakness or something\u2019s not going right, somebody\u2019s not fitting in. Certainly, I\u2019m always willing to look at making a change.\u201d<\/p>\n

THW: Last one. What is the biggest reason for optimism for you and your biggest concern going into 2025-26?<\/p>\n

Waddell: \u201cBiggest reason that we\u2019re optimistic is with Dean leading the charge with the coaches. I thought the coaches did a great job last year. And with the group of guys we have here with the veterans and the younger players, I\u2019ve been around a lot of teams, and I look at that board every single day, study it and try to find where those weaknesses are other than we talked about maybe a third goalie. I\u2019m very optimistic that we\u2019re going to have the season that we all want to have and start putting us in a position to take that next step. The fear, of course, is this franchise has had a bad run with bad luck with some injuries and other things. If we can avoid all those things, then I think first part would take care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

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