Blue Jackets to let season play out more before extending Fantilli, Jenner
As the Columbus Blue Jackets continue their rebuild, they have two major contract decisions that are due before the season ends. Firstly, top-line center Adam Fantilli is set to become a restricted free agent upon the expiration of his entry-level deal at the end of the season. Fantilli, 21, was selected third overall by the Blue Jackets in 2023, and is currently tied for the team-lead in goals with nine.
While Fantilli profiles as the type of young, long-term piece Columbus would want to keep, captain Boone Jenner might be a different story. Jenner, 32, is in his 13th NHL season, all with the Blue Jackets. He’s currently in the final season of a four-year, $15 million contract, and is set to become an unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason. The decision between extending a leader and career-long Blue Jacket, or perhaps moving him at the deadline should Columbus fall out of playoff contention, could be an interesting one.
On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by The Fourth Period‘s David Pagnotta to discuss Columbus’ plans around Fantilli and Jenner.
Tyler Yaremchuk: You had a report that the Blue Jackets were holding off on contract talks for Fantilli and Jenner until February. The Fantilli thing, you’d expect at some point to be a longer-term deal. But Jenner is kind of a guy where it’s like, alright, is he going to end up popping up on trade boards at some point this season? What can you tell us about Columbus, are they just the ultimate wait-and-see team right now?
David Pagnotta: For now, yeah, with respect to selling off pieces. Keeping contract talks for Fantilli and Jenner, moving those to February during the Olympic break, that also applies to some of their other guys that require deals, both on the UFA side and the RFA side. We chatted with Don Waddell on The Insider Edition yesterday, their GM, and he kind of confirmed that yes, we’ve had some talks, but the actual negotiations we’re pushing off until that Olympic break. Like you said, Fantilli’s going to cash in, it’s just a matter of what term both sides are going to be comfortable with, and that’ll dictate the overall package of that deal.
Jenner’s the interesting one. He’s the captain. They like him. He likes it there. They’d like to hold on to him. But if they fall out that race, and they’re right there like half of the teams in the East, if they fall out of it, then I think there’s going to be at least a consideration to have a discussion with some of the teams that are looking to add that caliber player. He’s a gamer, he’s got a great cap hit. He’s not afraid to go into the mucky areas and be a little bit dirty if he needs to, and he can finish. That, coupled with the cap hit, that’s a prime add for a team that’s looking at adding within their top six or adding secondary scoring to a lineup with a guy that’s got jam.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…