Columbus Blue Jackets News

After three strong seasons in Toronto, Matthew Knies time as a Maple Leaf is up after Columbus acquired the 23-year-old power forward alongside Steven Lorentz, Emil Andrae, and a 2027 2nd-round pick (SEA) from Toronto for Kirill Marchenko, Miles Wood, and Elvis Merzlikins (some salary retained). Knies hit career highs in assists (43), points (66), PPP (16) and TOI/GP (18:48) across 79 games played in 2025-26 but had a glaringly ugly -30 plus/minus. He is now expected to play a key role in Columbus' top-six.

Fabbro sustained a hand fracture in the preseason and is expected to miss at least one month, opening the season on the Injured Non-Roster List. With Fabbro out, the Blue Jackets may sign Carson Soucy, who was with the team on a PTO during the preseason. Expect Fabbro to miss at least the first 10 games of the season.

Severson is recovering from shoulder surgery in April and has been medically cleared to play, but the Blue Jackets will assess how he feels in practice this week before determining his availability for their opener on Thursday. The Blue Jackets will practise three times this week, so they'll monitor how Severson responds to contact before deciding on their top-pairing defenseman.

Blue Jackets Head Coach Rick Bowness did not have an update on Fabbro after an upper-body injury in Monday's preseason game, and he is expected to be reevaluated Tuesday. The 28-year-old defenseman played a major role on the Blue Jackets' blueline in his first full season with the team in 2025-26, averaging 16:34 time on ice and scoring 11 points (5G / 6A) in 74 games.

Sillinger is entering his sixth professional season with Columbus and has earned himself a three-year contract worth $4.625 million AAV ($13.875M total). The 23-year-old is Columbus' 2021 1st-round pick (12th overall) and has appeared in at least 64+ games a season since he entered the league in 2021-22. After tying his career high in points (33) last season, he is hopeful to surpass the plateau despite putting up 31+ points in four of his last five campaigns.

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2026-08-14T16:43:07.519Z

Greaves completed his first full NHL season in 2025-26 as Columbus' starting net-minder and has earned himself a three-year, $5 million AAV extension ($15M total) as a vote of confidence. The 25-year-old undrafted goaltender cracked into the NHL with Columbus in 2022-23 and has steadily improved and impressed every season since. He is expected to command the bulk of Columbus' starts yet again in 2026-27, after posting a 26-19-9 record, 2.60 GAA and .908 SV% in 55 appearances last season.

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2026-08-14T16:31:36.015Z

Lundestrom suffered an Achilles injury during offseason training and underwent surgery over the weekend. The Blue Jackets said they anticipate the bottom-6 forward to return to th lineup by early-November, so expect him to miss at least the first 12-to-15 games of the season.

Ivanov was a fifth-round draft pick of the Columbus Blue Jackets in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, but he has yet to play professionally in North America. The 22-year-old Russian goalie spent most of the 2025-26 season in the KHL, where he posted a solid 2.50 GAA and .928 SV% in 29 games (13-11-2) for St. Petersburg SKA.

The Blue Jackets have signed defenseman Colton White to add some organizational depth to their blueline. The 29-year-old White has 107 games of NHL experience, but has spent most of his career in the AHL. In 2025-26, he scored seven points (1G / 6A) in 30 games with the Utica Comets (AHL).

Gudbranson battled injuries for most of the 2025-26 season, but his veteran presence will return to the Blue Jackets blueline in 2026-27 after signing a one-year contract extension. The 34-year-old averaged 17:46 time-on-ice, recording three points (1G / 2A), 64 blocks, and 45 hits in 37 games last season.