March 4, 2025 | 11:45am ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

BLUE JACKETS SEARCHING FOR MID-SIX SCORER

Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell

The Columbus Blue Jackets are among the teams looking to add up front with Friday’s 3pm ET trade deadline quickly approaching.

The Blue Jackets were among the teams interested in Gustav Nyquist before the Nashville Predators traded him to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, and it appears GM Don Waddell has shifted his focus to other options.

In addition to trying to add another forward to the group, the Blue Jackets are finalizing a contract extension with rugged forward Mathieu Olivier, who is in the final year of his current contract.

During Monday night’s edition of “The Latest” on TFP, David Pagnotta reported the team’s desire to add up front, while also touching on both Olivier and defenceman Ivan Provorov.

“They’d like to bring in a forward that can supply some depth in their mid-six, some extra punch and scoring in their middle-six,” Pagnotta said. “So, that’s an area that they’re going to be looking at over the next few days.

“We spoke with Don Waddell on the pregame show at the Stadium Series on SiriusXM NHL Network Radio, he acknowledged that there was a deal coming soon, an extension coming soon, with Matthew Olivier, so expect that to happen in the next 24 hours or so. By the sounds of things, they’ve made progress to putting pen to paper on a deal. Ivan Provorov, not so much, but they really like him. He’s a great guy for this team and in the room. They’re probably likely to hold on to him and try to get him locked into a contract after the fact.”

The Blue Jackets have significant salary cap space to play with, which may make things easier in their attempt to land someone up front, as they do not require a team to retain any portion of a player’s contract.

It is unclear whom the Blue Jackets are targeting, but forwards Brock Nelson, Trent Frederic, Jason Zucker and Jared McCann are ranked on the TFP Trade Watch List.