Columbus could be a team looking to trade up at 2026 NHL Draft

The action on the NHL Draft floor is something that everyone loves keeping tabs on. Teams making moves for big-name players, while others are trying to offload some money…it’s always a fun aspect to draft weekend.

However, there might be one team that’s looking to take a swing in order to select a better prospect.

The Columbus Blue Jackets made significant strides last season. Under head coach Rick Bowness, the team rallied in the second half, moving from the bottom of the Eastern Conference to competing for a top-three spot in the Metropolitan Division. While the team came up short of reaching the Stanley Cup Playoffs, there’s some optimism surrounding the organization heading into next season.

With that, some wonder if general manager Don Waddell is willing to move up the draft board, especially in the first round. They currently sit 14th in the first round, but could possibly benefit from a better draft position.

On Friday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Steven Ellis joined Tyler Yaremchuk and Carter Hutton to discuss why the Blue Jackets might be willing to trade up this year.

Steven Ellis: I think a team that wants to make a splash and be competitive sooner rather than later, and I think one team that I would watch is the Columbus Blue Jackets. They got the No. 14 pick. Team picking there, you’d think they’d be a bit more competitive, and then their pipeline would be good, but honestly, their pipeline’s not that great. Let’s not forget, Kent Johnson hasn’t been the player I think a lot of people expected him to be. They already moved on from David Jiricek. They’ve got some holes to fill out there.

Obviously, Jet Greaves was that No. 1 goalie. Do they want to get some extra goaltending depth? I think they addressed that last year, but you could always use a bit more goalie depth. Could they go out there and use a bit more offensive weapons? 100%. So at 14, I don’t think you’re getting a guy that’s going to really move the needle in a big way. I think that’s something where if they could find a way to move up, if it’s 14 and Kent Johnson to get into the top 10, I think that’s at least an intriguing starting point.

Being a team that’s just missed the playoffs, doesn’t have a clear path forward with their prospects. They got a very mid-pack prospect pool. I think they would be a team that would benefit in a huge way here.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…