Columbus Blue Jackets Ready to Make Major Moves At the NHL Draft

According to several reports, the Columbus Blue Jackets are making not one, but both of their first-round picks available for trade in advance of next month's NHL Draft. The team had a Cinderella-type season, overcoming tragedy and injuries to stay in the hunt for the playoffs down to the final day.

Per Jackets beat writer Mark Scheig, Columbus GM Don Waddell "didn't mince words when asked about his two first-round picks at the draft." When asked if they are both available in the right deal, Waddell responded, in no uncertain terms, "Yes. 100%."

"They are a team that's going to want to get better," said insider Marco D'Amico on the Shaun Starr podcast. They have #13 and #20 in this draft... So they can make some noise."

Spoke about this on the podcast, but Columbus is another of the teams in the middle of the 1st round that have put their 1st rounders in play.

Makes things a little trickier for the Habs and potentially waters down the market on futures.https://t.co/KHT2osnDtB https://t.co/XFhTDLrxlh
— Marco D'Amico (@mndamico) May 22, 2025

Blue Jackets open to moving the #13 and #20 pick at the 2025 NHL Draft

This news, however, doesn't necessarily mean that the Blue Jackets will have their pick of the litter on getting themselves a nice player back.

"This summer you have a lot of teams that have stockpiled first-round picks. Nashville has three, Philadelphia has three, Montreal has two, Columbus has two," warns D'Amico. Which means that "the issue with (any team) dangling their picks, is they're not the only one."

The old 'supply & demand' concept.

In addition, no matter how many teams say they're open to trading their first-rounders, this news should be taken with a grain of salt, says D'Amico, based on recent history.

"Every single year we hear about all these first-round picks that are potentially in play, (but) how many of them (last year) were traded for a hockey deal? None. They were all trade-ups or trade-downs."

The 2025 NHL Draft kicks off on June 27th, in Los Angeles.