2025–26 Columbus Blue Jackets season

National Hockey League season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2025–26 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the 26th season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that was established on June 25, 1997.

Division5th Metropolitan

Conference11th Eastern

2025–26 record40–30–12

Home record20–13–8

Quick facts Columbus Blue Jackets, Division ...

2025–26 Columbus Blue Jackets
Division	5th Metropolitan
Conference	11th Eastern
2025–26 record	40–30–12
Home record	20–13–8
Road record	20–17–4
Goals for	253
Goals against	253
Team information
General manager	Don Waddell
Coach	Dean Evason (Oct. 9 – Jan. 12) Rick Bowness (Jan. 12 – Apr. 14)
Captain	Boone Jenner
Alternate captains	Erik Gudbranson Zach Werenski
Arena	Nationwide Arena
Minor league affiliate	Cleveland Monsters (AHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Kirill Marchenko (27)
Assists	Zach Werenski (59)
Points	Zach Werenski (81)
Penalty minutes	Mathieu Olivier (101)
Plus/minus	Mason Marchment (+21)
Wins	Jet Greaves (26)
Goals against average	Jet Greaves (2.60)
← 2024–25

On April 13, 2026, the Blue Jackets were eliminated from playoff contention for the sixth consecutive season following a 3–2 shootout win by the Philadelphia Flyers against the Carolina Hurricanes.^[1]

Standings

Divisional standings

More information Pos, GP ...

Metropolitan Division
Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	z – Carolina Hurricanes	82	53	22	7	39	296	240	+56	113
2	x – Pittsburgh Penguins	82	41	25	16	34	293	268	+25	98
3	x – Philadelphia Flyers	82	43	27	12	27	250	243	+7	98
4	Washington Capitals	82	43	30	9	37	263	244	+19	95
5	Columbus Blue Jackets	82	40	30	12	28	253	253	0	92
6	New York Islanders	82	43	34	5	29	233	241	−8	91
7	New Jersey Devils	82	42	37	3	29	230	254	−24	87
8	New York Rangers	82	34	39	9	25	238	250	−12	77

Source: National Hockey League^[2]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
x – Clinched playoff spot; z – Clinched conference

Conference standings

More information Pos, Div ...

Eastern Conference Wild Card
Pos	Div	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	AT	x – Boston Bruins	82	45	27	10	33	272	250	+22	100
2	AT	x – Ottawa Senators	82	44	27	11	38	278	246	+32	99

3	ME	Washington Capitals	82	43	30	9	37	263	244	+19	95
4	AT	Detroit Red Wings	82	41	31	10	30	241	258	−17	92
5	ME	Columbus Blue Jackets	82	40	30	12	28	253	253	0	92
6	ME	New York Islanders	82	43	34	5	29	233	241	−8	91
7	ME	New Jersey Devils	82	42	37	3	29	230	254	−24	87
8	AT	Florida Panthers	82	40	38	4	32	251	276	−25	84
9	AT	Toronto Maple Leafs	82	32	36	14	23	253	299	−46	78
10	ME	New York Rangers	82	34	39	9	25	238	250	−12	77

Source: National Hockey League^[3]
Rules for classification: 1) Fewer number of games played (GP, only during regular season); 2) Greater number of regulation wins (RW); 3) Greater number of wins in regulation and overtime, excluding shootout wins (ROW); 4) Greater number of total wins, including shootouts (W); 5) Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded; 6) Greater goal differential (GD); 7) Greater number of goals scored (GF)
x – Clinched playoff spot

Schedule and results

Preseason

The Columbus Blue Jackets preseason schedule was released on June 24, 2025.^[4]

More information #, Date ...

2025 preseason game log: 2–5–0 (home: 2–2–0; road: 0–3–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 21	St. Louis	1–4	Columbus		Fedotov	12,066	1–0–0	^[5]
2	September 22	Buffalo	4–0	Columbus		Greaves	9,778	1–1–0	^[6]
3	September 23	Columbus	1–2	Buffalo		Fedotov	9,903	1–2–0	^[7]
4	September 24	Pittsburgh	1–4	Columbus		Greaves	11,185	2–2–0	^[8]
5	September 27	Columbus	1–4	Pittsburgh		Merzlikins	18,333	2–3–0	^[9]
6	September 30	Washington	4–3	Columbus		Greaves	11,128	2–4–0	^[10]
7	October 4	Columbus	1–2	Washington		Merzlikins	12,131	2–5–0	^[11]

Regular season

The Columbus Blue Jackets regular season schedule was released on July 16, 2025.^[12]

More information October: 6–4–0 (home: 2–3–0; road: 4–1–0), # ...

2025–26 game log

October: 6–4–0 (home: 2–3–0; road: 4–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
1	October 9	Columbus	1–2	Nashville		Greaves	17,244	0–1–0	0	^[13]
2	October 11	Columbus	7–4	Minnesota		Merzlikins	18,836	1–1–0	2	^[14]
3	October 13	New Jersey	3–2	Columbus		Greaves	18,627	1–2–0	2	^[15]
4	October 16	Colorado	4–1	Columbus		Merzlikins	17,249	1–3–0	2	^[16]
5	October 18	Tampa Bay	2–3	Columbus		Greaves	15,822	2–3–0	4	^[17]
6	October 21	Columbus	5–1	Dallas		Merzlikins	18,532	3–3–0	6	^[18]
7	October 24	Washington	5–1	Columbus		Greaves	17,714	3–4–0	6	^[19]
8	October 25	Columbus	5–4	Pittsburgh	SO	Merzlikins	15,261	4–4–0	8	^[20]
9	October 28	Columbus	4–3	Buffalo	OT	Greaves	15,059	5–4–0	10	^[21]
10	October 29	Toronto	3–6	Columbus		Merzlikins	16,558	6–4–0	12	^[22]

November: 5–5–5 (home: 3–0–3; road: 2–5–2)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
11	November 1	St. Louis	2–3	Columbus		Greaves	17,130	7–4–0	14	^[23]
12	November 2	Columbus	2–3	NY Islanders		Merzlikins	14,984	7–5–0	14	^[24]
13	November 5	Columbus	1–5	Calgary		Greaves	16,802	7–6–0	14	^[25]
14	November 8	Columbus	3–4	Vancouver		Merzlikins	18,763	7–7–0	14	^[26]
15	November 10	Columbus	4–5	Edmonton	OT	Greaves	18,247	7–7–1	15	^[27]
16	November 11	Columbus	2–1	Seattle	SO	Greaves	17,151	8–7–1	17	^[28]
17	November 13	Edmonton	4–5	Columbus		Greaves	18,749	9–7–1	19	^[29]
18	November 15	NY Rangers	2–1	Columbus	SO	Greaves	16,298	9–7–2	20	^[30]
19	November 17	Montreal	3–4	Columbus	SO	Greaves	14,811	10–7–2	22	^[31]
20	November 18	Columbus	2–5	Winnipeg		Merzlikins	13,847	10–8–2	22	^[32]
21	November 20	Columbus	3–2	Toronto	OT	Greaves	18,438	11–8–2	24	^[33]
22	November 22	Columbus	3–4	Detroit	OT	Greaves	19,515	11–8–3	25	^[34]
23	November 24	Columbus	5–1	Washington		Greaves	17,337	11–9–3	25	^[35]
24	November 26	Toronto	2–1	Columbus	OT	Greaves	16,632	11–9–4	26	^[36]
25	November 28	Pittsburgh	4–3	Columbus	OT	Greaves	18,194	11–9–5	27	^[37]

December: 6–7–1 (home: 3–4–0; road: 3–3–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
26	December 1	Columbus	5–3	New Jersey		Merzlikins	13,381	12–9–5	29	^[38]
27	December 4	Detroit	5–6	Columbus	SO	Merzlikins	16,818	13–9–5	31	^[39]
28	December 6	Columbus	6–7	Florida	OT	Merzlikins	19,269	13–9–6	32	^[40]
29	December 7	Columbus	0–2	Washington		Greaves	17,312	13–10–6	32	^[41]
30	December 9	Columbus	1–4	Carolina		Greaves	18,299	13–11–6	32	^[42]
31	December 11	Ottawa	6–3	Columbus		Greaves	15,059	13–12–6	32	^[43]
32	December 13	Vegas	3–2	Columbus		Greaves	16,965	13–13–6	32	^[44]
33	December 16	Anaheim	3–4	Columbus	OT	Greaves	14,120	14–13–6	34	^[45]
34	December 18	Minnesota	5–2	Columbus		Greaves	14,845	14–14–6	34	^[46]
35	December 20	Columbus	3–4	Anaheim		Merzlikins	15,897	14–15–6	34	^[47]
36	December 22	Columbus	3–1	Los Angeles		Greaves	18,145	15–15–6	36	^[48]
37	December 28	NY Islanders	2–4	Columbus		Greaves	18,223	16–15–6	38	^[49]
38	December 29	Columbus	4–1	Ottawa		Greaves	17,902	17–15–6	40	^[50]
39	December 31	New Jersey	3–2	Columbus		Greaves	17,163	17–16–6	40	^[51]

January: 7–4–1 (home: 5–1–1; road: 2–3–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
40	January 3	Buffalo	1–5	Columbus		Greaves	18,809	18–16–6	42	^[52]
41	January 4	Pittsburgh	5–4	Columbus	OT	Greaves	18,212	18–16–7	43	^[53]
42	January 6	Columbus	2–5	San Jose		Greaves	16,258	18–17–7	43	^[54]
43	January 8	Columbus	3–5	Vegas		Greaves	17,614	18–18–7	43	^[55]
44	January 10	Columbus	0–4	Colorado		Merzlikins	18,127	18–19–7	43	^[56]
45	January 11	Columbus	3–2	Utah	OT	Greaves	12,478	19–19–7	45	^[57]
46	January 13	Calgary	3–5	Columbus		Greaves	13,385	20–19–7	47	^[58]
47	January 15	Vancouver	1–4	Columbus		Merzlikins	14,918	21–19–7	49	^[59]
48	January 17	Columbus	4–3	Pittsburgh	SO	Merzlikins	18,296	22–19–7	51	^[60]
49	January 20	Ottawa	4–1	Columbus		Merzlikins	13,278	22–20–7	51	^[61]
50	January 22	Dallas	0–1	Columbus		Greaves	14,372	23–20–7	53	^[62]
51	January 24	Tampa Bay	5–8	Columbus		Greaves	16,852	24–20–7	55	^[63]
—	January 26	Los Angeles		Columbus	Game postponed due to severe weather. Makeup date: March 9
52	January 28	Philadelphia	3–5	Columbus		Merzlikins	15,244	25–20–7	57	^[64]
53	January 30	Columbus	4–2	Chicago		Merzlikins	20,247	26–20–7	59	^[65]
54	January 31	Columbus	5–3	St. Louis		Greaves	18,096	27–20–7	61	^[66]

February: 2–1–1 (home: 1–0–1; road: 1–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
55	February 3	Columbus	3–0	New Jersey		Merzlikins	15,551	28–20–7	63	^[67]
56	February 4	Chicago	0–4	Columbus		Greaves	18,575	29–20–7	65	^[68]
57	February 26	Columbus	2–4	Boston		Merzlikins	17,850	29–21–7	65	^[69]
58	February 28	NY Islanders	4–3	Columbus	OT	Greaves	18,925	29–21–8	65	^[70]

March: 9–4–4 (home: 5–2–3; road: 4–2–1)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
59	March 2	Columbus	5–4	NY Rangers	OT	Merzlikins	16,790	30–21–8	68	^[71]
60	March 3	Nashville	2–3	Columbus		Greaves	16,526	31–21–8	70	^[72]
61	March 5	Florida	2–4	Columbus		Greaves	16,669	32–21–8	72	^[73]
62	March 7	Utah	5–4	Columbus	OT	Merzlikins	18,668	32–21–9	73	^[74]
63	March 9	Los Angeles	5–4	Columbus	OT	Greaves	14,838	32–21–10	74	^[75]
64	March 10	Columbus	5–2	Tampa Bay		Merzlikins	19,092	33–21–10	76	^[76]
65	March 12	Columbus	1–2	Florida	OT	Merzlikins	18,686	33–21–11	77	^[77]
66	March 14	Columbus	2–1	Philadelphia	SO	Greaves	19,645	34–21–11	79	^[78]
67	March 17	Carolina	1–5	Columbus		Greaves	16,156	35–21–11	81	^[79]
68	March 19	NY Rangers	3–6	Columbus		Greaves	15,829	36–21–11	83	^[80]
69	March 21	Seattle	2–5	Columbus		Merzlikins	18,864	37–21–11	85	^[81]
70	March 22	Columbus	0–1	NY Islanders		Greaves	17,255	37–22–11	85	^[82]
71	March 24	Columbus	3–2	Philadelphia		Greaves	19,304	38–22–11	87	^[83]
72	March 26	Columbus	1–2	Montreal		Greaves	20,962	38–23–11	87	^[84]
73	March 28	San Jose	3–2	Columbus		Merzlikins	18,874	38–24–11	87	^[85]
74	March 29	Boston	4–3	Columbus	SO	Greaves	18,684	38–24–12	88	^[86]
75	March 31	Carolina	5–2	Columbus		Greaves	18,293	38–25–12	88	^[87]

April: 2–4–0 (home: 0–3–0; road: 2–1–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Pts	Recap
76	April 2	Columbus	1–5	Carolina		Merzlikins	18,556	38–26–12	88	^[88]
77	April 4	Winnipeg	2–1	Columbus		Greaves	18,272	38–27–12	88	^[89]
78	April 7	Columbus	4–3	Detroit	SO	Greaves	17,687	39–27–12	90	^[90]
79	April 9	Columbus	0–5	Buffalo		Greaves	19,070	39–28–12	90	^[91]
80	April 11	Columbus	5–2	Montreal		Greaves	20,962	40–28–12	92	^[92]
81	April 12	Boston	3–2	Columbus		Greaves	18,532	40–29–12	92	^[93]
82	April 14	Washington	2–1	Columbus		Greaves	18,244	40–30–12	92	^[94]

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player statistics

As of April 14, 2026

Skaters

More information Player, GP ...

Regular season^[95]
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Zach Werenski	75	22	59	81	+7	18
Kirill Marchenko	76	27	40	67	+7	32
Adam Fantilli	82	24	35	59	−13	38
Charlie Coyle	82	20	38	58	+3	14
Boone Jenner	67	13	25	38	+3	44
Sean Monahan	78	13	23	36	−1	12
Cole Sillinger	81	8	25	33	+2	37
Dmitri Voronkov	63	17	15	32	−1	59
Mason Marchment^†	39	15	17	32	+21	30
Damon Severson	71	8	24	32	+18	45
Denton Mateychuk	75	13	18	31	+12	8
Ivan Provorov	82	9	22	31	+14	32
Mathieu Olivier	61	15	11	26	+13	101
Kent Johnson	76	7	15	22	−8	20
Miles Wood	54	8	6	14	−10	26
Isac Lundestrom	68	4	8	12	−2	4
Dante Fabbro	74	5	6	11	−16	33
Danton Heinen^†	33	5	5	10	+6	8
Conor Garland^†	21	5	2	7	−6	4
Egor Chinakhov^‡	29	3	3	6	−6	6
Brendan Gaunce	25	2	4	6	−1	12
Zach Aston-Reese	27	1	4	5	−1	12
Erik Gudbranson	37	1	2	3	+6	19
Jake Christiansen	40	0	3	3	−7	8
Brendan Smith	15	0	2	2	−1	11
Egor Zamula^†	20	0	2	2	+2	0
Mikael Pyyhtia	5	1	0	1	−1	0
Dysin Mayo	3	0	1	1	+1	0
Luca Del Bel Belluz	14	0	1	1	−2	4
Luca Pinelli	3	0	0	0	−1	0

Goaltenders

More information Player, GP ...

Regular season^[96]
Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Jet Greaves	55	53	3276:06	26	19	9	142	2.60	1539	.908	2	0	1	0
Elvis Merzlikins	30	29	1678:37	14	11	3	95	3.40	812	.883	1	0	2	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Blue Jackets. Stats reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Transactions

Trades

More information Date, Details ...

Date	Details		Ref
June 27, 2025 (2025-06-27)	To Colorado Avalanche Gavin Brindley 3rd-round pick in 2025 conditional CBJ 2nd-round pick in 2027 or MIN 2nd-round pick in 2027	To Columbus Blue Jackets Charlie Coyle Miles Wood	^[97]
June 28, 2025 (2025-06-28)	To Detroit Red Wings 4th-round pick in 2025 (#109 overall) 4th-round pick in 2026	To Columbus Blue Jackets 3rd-round pick in 2025 (#76 overall)	^[98]
June 28, 2025 (2025-06-28)	To Seattle Kraken 7th-round pick in 2025 (#205 overall) VGK 7th-round pick in 2025 (#218 overall)	To Columbus Blue Jackets 7th-round pick in 2025 (#198 overall)	^[99]
September 14, 2025 (2025-09-14)	To Philadelphia Flyers 6th-round pick in 2026	To Columbus Blue Jackets Ivan Fedotov	^[100]
December 20, 2025 (2025-12-20)	To Seattle Kraken NYR 4th-round pick in 2026 2nd-round pick in 2027	To Columbus Blue Jackets Mason Marchment	^[101]
December 29, 2025 (2025-12-29)	To Pittsburgh Penguins Egor Chinakhov	To Columbus Blue Jackets Danton Heinen STL 2nd-round pick in 2026 WSH 3rd-round pick in 2027	^[102]
March 6, 2026 (2026-03-06)	To Vancouver Canucks 3rd-round pick in 2026 2nd-round pick in 2028	To Columbus Blue Jackets Conor Garland	^[103]

Players acquired

More information Date, Player ...

Date	Player	New team	Term	Via	Ref
July 1, 2025 (2025-07-01)	Christian Jaros	HC CSKA Moscow (KHL)	1-year	Free agency	^[104]
July 1, 2025 (2025-07-01)	Isac Lundestrom	Anaheim Ducks	2-year	Free agency	^[105]
July 16, 2025 (2025-07-16)	Dysin Mayo	Vegas Golden Knights	1-year	Free agency	^[106]
August 18, 2025 (2025-08-18)	Hudson Fasching	New York Islanders	1-year	Free agency	^[107]
November 24, 2025 (2025-11-24)	Brendan Smith	Dallas Stars	1-year	Free agency	^[108]

Players lost

More information Date, Player ...

Date	Player	New team	Term	Via	Ref
July 1, 2025 (2025-07-01)	Cole Clayton	San Jose Sharks	1-year	Free agency	^[109]
	Justin Danforth	Buffalo Sabres	2-year	Free agency	^[110]
	Jordan Harris	Boston Bruins	1-year	Free agency	^[111]
	Sean Kuraly	Boston Bruins	2-year	Free agency	^[111]
	Joseph LaBate	Vancouver Canucks	1-year	Free agency	^[112]
	James van Riemsdyk	Detroit Red Wings	1-year	Free agency	^[113]
July 3, 2025 (2025-07-03)	Trey Fix-Wolansky	New York Rangers	1-year	Free agency	^[114]
August 22, 2025 (2025-08-22)	Luke Kunin	Florida Panthers	1-year	Free agency	^[107]
October 1, 2025 (2025-10-01)	Christian Jaros	HC Spartak Moscow (KHL)		Waivers	^[115]
October 3, 2025 (2025-10-03)	Daemon Hunt	Minnesota Wild		Waivers	^[116]

Signings

More information Date, Player ...

Date	Player	Term	Ref
July 1, 2025 (2025-07-01)	Ivan Provorov	7-year	^[117]
July 1, 2025 (2025-07-01)	Owen Sillinger	1-year	^[118]
July 5, 2025 (2025-07-05)	Dmitri Voronkov	2-year	^[119]
August 13, 2025 (2025-08-13)	Mikael Pyyhtia	1-year	^[120]
August 15, 2025 (2025-08-15)	Daemon Hunt	1-year	^[121]

Draft picks

Below are the Columbus Blue Jackets' selections at the 2025 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 27 and 28, 2025, at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California.

More information Round, # ...

Round	#	Player	Pos.	Nationality	Team (League)
1	14	Jackson Smith	D	Canada	Tri-City Americans (WHL)
1	20^[A]	Pyotr Andreyanov	G	Russia	Krasnaya Armiya (MHL)
3	76^[B]	Malte Vass	D	Sweden	Farjestad BK J20 (J20 Nationell)
5	160^[C]	Owen Griffin	C	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
6	173	Victor Hedin Raftheim	D	Sweden	Brynas J20 (J20 Nationell)
7	198^[D]	Jeremy Loranger	C	Canada	Sherwood Park Crusaders (BCHL)

Notes

[A]
The Minnesota Wild's first-round pick went to the Columbus Blue Jackets as the result of a trade on November 30, 2024, that sent David Jiricek and a fifth-round pick in 2025 to Minnesota in exchange for Daemon Hunt a third and fourth-round pick in 2026, a second-round pick in 2027 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade).^[122] The condition – Columbus will receive a first-round pick in 2025 if Minnesota's first-round pick in 2025 is outside of the top five selections^[122] – was converted when the Wild qualified for the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs on April 15, 2025.
[B]
The Detroit Red Wings' third-round pick went to the Blue Jackets as the result of a trade on June 28, 2025, that sent a fourth-round pick in 2025 (109th overall) and 2026 to Detroit in exchange for this pick.^[123]
[C]
The Florida Panthers' fifth-round pick went to the Blue Jackets as the result of a trade on June 26, 2025, that sent Daniil Tarasov to Florida in exchange for this pick.^[124]
[D]
The Seattle Kraken's seventh-round pick went to the Blue Jackets as the result of a trade on June 28, 2025, that sent a seventh-round pick in 2025 (205th overall) and Vegas's seventh-round pick in 2025 (218th overall) to Seattle in exchange for this pick.^[125]

2025–26 Columbus Blue Jackets season

Standings

Divisional standings

Conference standings

Schedule and results

Preseason

Regular season

Player statistics

Skaters

Goaltenders

Transactions

Trades

Players acquired

Players lost

Signings

Draft picks

References

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