Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: Don Waddell may face good problem at NHL trade deadline

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A collection of notes, insights, ruminations and did-you-knows gathered throughout the week that was for the Columbus Blue Jackets:

Item No. 1: A good problem

Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell started smiling midway through the question as if he knew it was coming, or perhaps because he’d pondered it himself.

The Blue Jackets, after Tuesday’s momentous shootout win in Pittsburgh, moved into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They remain there today following Saturday’s 2-1 win in St. Louis, the Blue Jackets’ season-long fourth-straight win.

It wasn’t supposed to go this way, of course. The Blue Jackets were expected to be one of the worst teams in the NHL this season, and that was before a barrage of significant injuries struck late in training camp and early in the regular season.

Waddell, hired in May after leaving the Carolina Hurricanes, figured to have a pretty simple approach to his first trade deadline in Columbus — sell off unrestricted free agents for draft picks or prospects and keep loading up for the future.

But what if the future is now?

There’s a long way to go, of course. And the pace of play will only ramp up between now and the March 7 trade deadline. But if the Blue Jackets are in a playoff spot, or within sniffing distance of one, how will Waddell handle one of the biggest days on the NHL calendar?

Waddell smiled when it was suggested that the players may put him in a difficult spot.

“I hope they do,” he said. “There’s nothing wrong with that.

“I like the way we’re playing. We’re playing hard. It’s still the early part of January. We’ll see how things transpire. Those are decisions … I always say that players make the decisions for me, and that’s very true in this case, too. We’ll see how it goes the next two months.”

Waddell wouldn’t discuss the dynamics around any specific player, of course. But he spoke broadly about the pending unrestricted free agents on the roster.

If the Blue Jackets were wedged at the bottom of the standings, as they’ve been the previous two seasons, Waddell would simply accept the best offer for a UFA who wouldn’t be back next season with Columbus.

It’s hard to envision a scenario in which Waddell is a significant buyer. But if the Blue Jackets remain in the hunt, he could make modest moves to upgrade the roster. It’s more likely he decides to keep some of the UFAs for the stretch run, he said.

“If you are going to move a UFA and you don’t get your established price tag, you might just keep the player,” Waddell said. “Treat him as your own deadline rental.

“Instead of trading a player for, I don’t know, a fourth-round pick … I mean, we have lots of picks. I’m not worried about that. I might just keep the player.”

The Blue Jackets’ UFAs are forwards Sean Kuraly, Mathieu Olivier, James van Riemsdyk, Justin Danforth, Zach Aston-Reese and Kevin Labanc; and defensemen Ivan Provorov, Dante Fabbro and Jack Johnson.

Item No. 2: Silliness

Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger scored a power-play goal late in the second period on Saturday in St. Louis, his first game-winning goal of the season in a 2-1 win over the Blues. Meanwhile, in Cleveland, center Owen Sillinger scored the overtime winner in AHL Cleveland’s 2-1 win over AHL Laval.

It was the perfect topper for what was an incredible week for the family.

Let’s start with Wednesday, which started ominously enough with Cole feeling under the weather and missing Blue Jackets practice. By the next morning, he was so under the weather that he was taking fluids intravenously to prevent dehydration.

The Blue Jackets, needing to recall another center to play that night vs. Seattle — Luca Del Bel Belluz was recalled a day earlier for injured top center Sean Monahan — put in an emergency recall for Owen, who, at 27 years old, had waited and worked a long time toward an NHL debut.

One might assume two hockey-playing brothers from western Canada may have had some rough-and-tumble moments through the years, but the relationship between Cole and Owen is something to behold.

Owen, even as he stuck it out for four years at tiny Bemidji State and even as he signed a minor-league contract and toiled away from the NHL, has never shown a shred of jealousy or envy toward Cole, who hit the NHL as an 18-year-old and, at 21, is already in his fourth year.

There was irony in the fact Owen’s NHL debut — he played 13:09 in a 6-2 win over Seattle — came only because his brother couldn’t play.

There was also beauty in it, Cole said.

“Pretty unbelievable,” Cole said. “He’s 27. His path to get to the NHL and make his debut … it was a pretty emotional night for me, for (brother) Lucas, for my parents, everyone. Owen had some past coaches in the building. He had coaches from Cleveland drive down.

“I like how his debut was all about him. It wasn’t about him and I playing together. I thought that was pretty special. Hopefully, we play a game together and that can be about us, but I’m glad that his debut was all about him. He’s earned that.”

Former Blue Jackets center Mark Letestu, now an assistant coach in Cleveland, made the trip to Columbus on Thursday even though the Monsters had a game the following day in Cleveland.

“I had to be in attendance,” Letestu said in a text exchange with The Athletic on Thursday. “I’m coming down to watch this one.”

Asked if he had any quiet moments during the day on Thursday to think about his path, the people who helped pave it, the many hours he’d spent in pursuit of playing in the NHL, etc. He smiled and exhaled.

“Honestly, during the day, I was trying to stay in the moment and just have fun with it and just be present,” Sillinger said. “It’s every hockey player’s dream to play in the NHL. I’m no different. So it’s everyone who supported me throughout my career. I’m so thankful for them.

“And to do it in this locker room, with an organization I’ve been with since the start of my pro career, it’s very special to me.”

Mike Sillinger was, of course, the first member of the family to dress for the Blue Jackets. He played 155 games for Columbus during the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons.

According to the NHL, this marks the fifth time in league history that a father and two sons have played for the same franchise. The others: Peter, Pal and Yan Stastny with the St. Louis Blues; Gordie, Mark and Marty Howe with the Hartford Whalers; Bryan Sr., Bryan Jr. and Dennis Hextall with the New York Rangers; and Lester, Lynn and Muzz Patrick, also with the Rangers.

Item No. 3: Take 5, Jared Boll

Take 5 is a quick, breezy sitdown with a Blue Jackets player, coach or front-office staffer. This week’s features assistant coach and former player Jared Boll:

1. What part of Columbus is home and why?

We’ve been in Dublin now for a while. We love it. It’s got everything you need. The kids are happy, they’re in school. There’s a lot of golf up there. They’ve really built up Bridge Park area, and that’s got everything you need.

2. What’s your biggest surprise with Columbus?

I’d never been to Columbus or even Ohio before I was drafted. But I’d only really lived in the Midwest. I grew up in Chicago, played in Plymouth (Mich.), played in Lincoln (Neb.) … I always loved Columbus. It just felt like where I was supposed to be right away. I’m not a California guy. I loved my time there, and the people (with the Anaheim Ducks) were great, but both my wife (Lauren) and I couldn’t wait to get back to Ohio. People thought we were crazy. We lived in Newport Beach, had the ocean right there, everything you could ask for. We couldn’t wait to move back to Columbus.

3. Favorite restaurant in Columbus?

Probably my favorite place is Sushi.com in Dublin. It’s a hidden gem, but people who go there say it’s the only place they go for sushi. Ken, the owner, is awesome. We used to always go to Oscar’s (in old Dublin) but that’s not there anymore. We like Tucci’s, or really anywhere in Bridge Park. We go to El Vaquero as a family a lot. I get the Tacos Roberto. My kids love it. We pretty much go there weekly.

4. Who’s the best player you’ve played with and against?

Obviously, with my time here in Columbus, it would be Nasher (Rick Nash), and probably every guy who’s come through here would say that.  The one I didn’t spend a lot of time with, but he was amazing, is Ryan Getzlaf in Anaheim. Big, tough counterman. A really cool guy to play with, an awesome teammate. The best I’ve played against? Sidney Crosby, who’s just been so good for so long. I don’t want to say he’s under the radar, but the guy people should talk about more is Pavel Datsyuk. Just stupid. His strength, the way he protected the puck, he played 200 feet.

5. Which teammate should have a podcast?

I want to say Fordo (assistant coach Scott Ford), maybe. He has lots to say. He went to Brown. It might get a little boring. The guy I know the best is Boone. He’s the only guy left that I played with. But Boone doesn’t talk enough.

Item No. 4: Snacks

• The Blue Jackets exhaled last week when told by team doctors that Monahan’s right wrist is merely sprained. “There’s no fracture,” Waddell said. But it’s still not known — or publicly stated — how much time Monahan may miss, though Waddell made it clear he won’t play for at least a week. “I don’t think it’s long-term, but we’ll know more soon,” he said. Waddell also said there was so much swelling after Monahan’s wrist bent awkwardly on a hit by Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang last Tuesday that doctors weren’t quite able to make a firm soft-tissue diagnosis.

• Adam Fantilli, 20, has moved up into Monahan’s spot on the No. 1 line between Dmitri Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko since Monahan got injured during Tuesday’s win in Pittsburgh. He scored the tying power-play goal with 2:36 remaining to push the game beyond regulation. Two nights later, against Seattle, he had an assist and a plus-2 rating in a win over the Kraken. Then, on Saturday, Fantilli scored a goal, had a plus-1 rating, had a game-high six shots and went 7-for-14 on faceoffs.

• Many have asked when the NHL and Blue Jackets will reveal the sweater they’ll wear for the March 1 Stadium Series outdoor game against the Detroit Red Wings in Ohio Stadium. Blue Jackets players and staffers have seen the sweaters, but the design is considered top secret. (We can confirm a Boomer/Brutus mashup will not be part of the look.) A team official told The Athletic late last week that the big reveal will likely come within the next two weeks. Stay tuned.

• There has been much speculation in recent days that the Blue Jackets may be a club to watch as a trade partner with the Vancouver Canucks, who are reportedly listening to trade offers for feuding teammates J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson. The internet buzz suggested that a Pettersson trade had been discussed with the Blue Jackets, but a team source told The Athletic on Friday that no such trade talks have taken place.

• As expected, the Blue Jackets recalled goaltender Daniil Tarasov on Sunday from his two-start conditioning assignment with AHL Cleveland. On Friday, he allowed five goals on 30 shots in a 5-0 loss to Laval, which is coached by former Blue Jackets bench boss Pascal Vincent. On Saturday, he made 34 stops in a 2-1 overtime win against Laval.

• Tarasov declined to accept a conditioning assignment last month but accepted the Blue Jackets’ second offer last week. Why the change of heart? “Laying out a specific schedule for him I think was the difference,” Waddell said. “We said ‘Go down there, play the back-to-back, and then we have a day off (Sunday) with a lot of games coming up. We’ll get you in one of these games coming up here.’ His decision was quick.” Waddell told Tarasov, who has started just two of the Blue Jackets’ last 26 games, that he only wanted him to get a feel for the puck in game situations in Cleveland so he wouldn’t be cold stepping into his next NHL start. “The key is, he can’t sit long when he comes back,” he said. “I told him, ‘I don’t care if you give up 10 goals a game, it’s getting the game experience, getting back in the middle of a game, feeling it again.’” That Tarasov played so well on Saturday — he was the game’s first star — is a bonus. Starting with Tuesday’s game vs. Philadelphia, the Blue Jackets play seven games in 12 days.

• The Blue Jackets power play scored again (Sillinger) on Saturday, continuing a torrid pace over the last month or so. Dating to Dec. 8 — a span of 18 games — the Blue Jackets are 16 of 45 (35.6 percent) with a man advantage, scoring at least one power-play goal in 12 of those 16 games. During that span, only Winnipeg (37.8 percent) has been hotter.

• Zach Werenski was held off the scoresheet on Saturday, ending a five-game point streak. But Werenski is still at work on a much more impressive streak, having scored in 16 consecutive home games dating to Oct. 30. Consider the names of the only players with longer home point streaks: Bobby Orr (25 games, 1974-75; and 21 games, 1970-71), Paul Coffey (23 games, 1985-86), Phil Housley (22 games, 1991-92), John Van Boxmeer (19 games, 1981-82), Brian Leetch (18 games, 1991-92) and Ray Bourque (17 games, 1992-93). Werenski will try for 17 straight on Tuesday when the Blue Jackets host Philadelphia.

• Sunday Gathering trivia: The Blue Jackets’ 4-3 shootout win in Pittsburgh last Tuesday snapped a 15-game losing streak (0-10-5) on the road against the Penguins. Who’s next on the “struggle city” list? Against which NHL opponent do the Blue Jackets currently own their longest road losing skid?

• Saturday’s 2-1 win in St. Louis marked the first time in almost a year that the Blue Jackets won a road game while scoring two goals or less. The last time it happened was Jan. 30, 2024, a 1-0 win that also took place in St. Louis. On that night, Elvis Merzlikins pitched a 21-save shutout.

• Trivia answer: The Blue Jackets have dropped nine straight (0-7-2) in Nashville, a losing streak that dates to March 30, 2019. Between 2006-2011, when the Jackets and Predators were both in the Central Division, the Blue Jackets once lost 17 in a row (0-12-5) in Music City.

(Top photo of Don Waddell: Jason Mowry / Getty Images)



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