Blue Jackets Have Key Decisions To Make On Defense

The defensive situation for the Columbus Blue Jackets is an interesting one as they have three UFAs and one RFA to deal with. The team has nine defensemen, but can realistically cut that down to eight with Jack Johnson highly unlikely to return.

The other two UFAs are Ivan Provorov and Dante Fabbro, both who had good seasons. It would be best to keep both if possible, but Provorov is going to get more attention in free agency and get a bigger contract. This will at least make it easier to bring back Fabbro who the team picked up this season and really worked out. A few issues the Blue Jackets have with their defense is Damon Severson averaged 19 minutes of ice time per game and has a cap hit of $6.25 million AAV for six more years while Erik Gudbranson averaged 17:46 per game, played just 16 games with a cap hit of $4 million AAV, and is signed through next season. Cap is a bit of an issue, especially when players have to be signed and others may be brought in. That's over $10 million that could be allocated to a better place.

The RFA is Jordan Harris who the Blue Jackets picked up from the Montreal Canadiens. He was in the NHL the entire season, but the 24-year-old still isn't a full time NHLer, playing just 33 games (11:23 of ice time per game) and not contributing a whole lot. He and Jake Christiansen, who plays a similar role to Harris, should be the sixth/seventh d-man at best, but having the back-end good enough so both aren't playing every night is ideal.

The best case for the Blue Jackets would be to bring both Fabbro and Provorov back in their same roles, a healthy Gudbranson if he isn't moved, a more effective Severson, Mateychuk playing the full season on the second pairing, and Harris either buried as the eight d-man or moved before signing him. The team could even just not send him a qualifying offer. Everything might not go perfectly for Columbus, but there is room for the team to maneuver if something doesn't go according to plan.