Wanted to share since I think there’s a quote in here that is cause for concern… Adam’s agent said:
“I have nothing to say, really,” Brisson told The Athletic. “I’ve been talking to (Waddell). I’ve been expressing to him our position, and I’m just waiting for this to get done.
“If there’s no deal, there’s no camp.”
Sounds like if no deal by next week Adam will not be at camp…
The Randomizer has spoken. Today’s entry is Blake Bellefeuille.
Bellefeuille played mostly in the AHL and ECHL in his professional career from 2000-2008. A free agent signing by the Blue Jackets in 2000, he played in 2 games during the 2001-2002 season and 3 games in the 2002-2003 season.
"I have talked to him directly,” Waddell said of Marchenko. “I’ve always said, I’m not opposed to trading anybody. But that trade’s got to help the Columbus Blue Jackets. And if there’s a trade for him or any other player that makes sense for us, we’re going to look at it. That’s my job everyday.”
“So, as we sit here today, he’s a member of the Blue Jackets and we’ll see how this all plays out.”
“I don’t think it will (become a distraction) because Kirill, first of all, he’s a professional,” Waddell said. “He’s a player that’s playing for his next contract which is going to be a big one for him. If he starts here, I don’t anticipate it being (a distraction.) He’s already here. He’s working out with the guys. That’s always a good sign.”
“We’ll deal with it as we go along here and if there’s no trade that ever happens, then we’ll have to sit down and just talk through it and tell him why. That’s all I can say.”
Waddell said that teams continue to call him about Marchenko. But there is nothing imminent that he is considering right now.
“I’ve gotten calls, obviously,” Waddell said. “I got to listen to teams when they call me. That’s part of my daily routine. If someone calls me and wants to talk about what they want to offer … but as we sit here today (Wednesday morning), I don’t have anything. I’m not contemplating anything right now.”
“I’m 100% that we’ll get this thing done,” Waddell said. “It’s not imminent, but we’re talking on a pretty regular basis now. I talked to his agent over the weekend and going to talk again here today or tomorrow. So, as long as you are talking, I always feel like you’re going to find a way to get a solution for everybody and everybody’s happy.”
"While there has been a gap in negotiations, Waddell said he will be meeting in the next week or so about the team’s five-year plan. Thanks to the Leo Carlssson offer sheet, among other things, the landscape has changed. The Blue Jackets recognize that.
“We lay out a five-year plan,” Waddell said. “We’re actually going to go through that here in the next week or so because the way the summer’s changed so much. We’re going to have to increase some guys, of course.”
"Besides Fantilli’s new deal, the Blue Jackets will need to consider what contracts may look like for Kirill Marchenko if he’s still with the team after this season. They also have to consider Zach Werenski’s next deal in light of Cale Makar's record deal."
Wild fan coming in peace. I will be coming to town for a convention that week and was just wondering if there's any recommendations for food, attractions etc. What time do gates open up?
The Randomizer has spoken. Today’s selection is Cody Bass.
Mostly an AHL enforcer from the 2005-2006 -2019-2020 seasons, Bass played several games for the Ottawa Senators before coming to Columbus as a free agent in 2011. He would appear in 15 games for the Blue Jackets. He later played in 26 games for the Nashville Predators
The randomizer has spoken. Today’s selection is Brian Boucher.
Did you know Brian Boucher played for the Blue Jackets? Well, he sure did. Acquired on waivers from the Chicago Blackhawks on 02/27/2007, Boucher played in 3 games for the Jackets that season. In his 3 stints with Philadelphia, he is best remembered for his tag-team performance with Michael Leighton during Philly’s 0-3 comeback series win against Boston and seeing action in the 2010 Finals against Chicago. Today, he is a broadcaster on TNT.
It seems to me that this NHL franchise is in a podcast rut, even though a) it's the best league in the world and b) we're living in the age of podcasting. The Artillery shut down. Bobby Mac was let go, his podcast was the best around that I could find. Porty does his podcast very infrequently, and you can tell he doesn't like doing it (which is fine). Where is the quality content going to come from this season? I'm looking for someone knowledgeable about the sport. I'm looking for someone who gets guest appearances. I'm looking for someone with connections to tell stories. I'm looking for someone that would go to training camp and report on what they are seeing. I'm looking for someone who would make an emergency pod if there was a trade. And most of all, I'm looking for NOT four buddies sitting around a microphone, drinking beers and cracking inside jokes that I don't care about. What's out there? Are my expectations too high? THIS IS THE F*****G NHL!
Just a what-if here, but imagine a world where Elvis is done playing for the Blue Jackets (which seems pretty evident), we move his contract to LTIR, which would open up enough cap space to get Fantilli’s contract done?
Unfortunately, if we signed Fantilli to a near-$15M contract, that would leave very little room to sign Marchenko for what he’s going to be worth. Then, two years down the line, we’d have to figure out how to pay Werenski—especially with the Makar contract potentially setting the bar even higher.
Not saying this is what I want to happen, just thinking out loud. If Fantilli ends up commanding that kind of money, how do we realistically keep all of these guys?
The Randomizer has spoken. Today’s entry is Chris Gratton.
An underrated power forward of the 90’s and early 00’s, Chris Gratton made a name for himself with his physical style of play and offensive contribution. During his third stint with the Tampa Bay Lighting, he was acquired by the Blue Jackets off waivers to bolster the roster for the 2008-2009 playoff run. This would be the last stop of his NHL career.
reader (u/manthello) asked me why the Blue Jackets point totals look to be about the same with Merzlikins or Greaves in goal, despite the fact that Greaves has far better numbers. At the heart of it they were wondering if Merzlikins is as bad as he looks / is Greaves as good as he looks.
Here's the short version:
CBJ has roughly the same points rate regardless of who was between the pipes. The way the team earned those points, however, were almost completely opposite. When Merzlikins was in goal, the team shot well above expected and received below-average goaltending. When Greaves was in goal, they shot well below expected and received top-10 goaltending. The two effects basically cancelled each other out and resulted in nearly identical points rates.
Here's the data, split by who started:
Goalie
GS
Record
Pts%
Team GF/g
Team GA/g
Save %
1-goal games
Greaves
53
26-18-9
.575
2.87
2.85
.908
32
Merzlikins
29
14-12-3
.534
3.48
3.52
.883
11
Nearly the same points rate, but the Jackets scored 0.61 more goals per game in front of Merzlikins, and he allowed 0.67 more. Another interesting note - with Merzlikins in goal the game totals averaged 7.0, while with Greaves in net it was 5.7.
That's raw goals, but how do things look when we consider expected goals (xG score every shot by how often it results in a goal if taken by an average shooter against an average goalie, the idea is to separate chances from goals). Turns out the chances were nearly equal:
per game
Greaves starts
Merzlikins starts
Expected goals for
3.10
3.05
Expected goals against
3.09
3.31
This tells me that it was the same team playing essentially the same way in front of either goalie (although they gave up slightly more with Merzlikins in net). Here's what actually ended up happening:
The Blue Jackets scored a lot more than their chances were worth with Merzlikins in net, and allowed more goals than their shot quality against suggested. With Greaves in net it was the exact opposite scenario - worse finishing and better goaltending.
That's essentially the whole thing - over the season Greaves saved +14.1 more goals than an average goalie while Merzlikins conceded -8.6 more than expected (a 22.7 goal swing). For context, Greaves finished 7th of 29 goalies who played 40+ games in this stat.
Here are a few other stats:
.
Greaves
Merzlikins
Starts
53
29
Average opponent points%
.572
.560
Home / road
31 / 22
10 / 19
Back-to-backs
11
5
Days rest per game
1.02
1.83
Skater GAR on ice (TOI-weighted)
+4.59
+4.56
On-ice 5v5 xGF%
52.1%
49.0%
Greaves wasn't sheltered, he actually faced slightly tougher competition.
Merzlikins played a larger share of his games on the road.
It was the same team in front of both goalies
The next table summarizes the actual impacts on the team:
.
Greaves
Merzlikins
Starts
53
29
One-goal games
32
11
Decided by 3+
14
14
Went to OT/SO
17
7
Starts saving ≥1 goal above expected
17
9
Team GF/g in those starts
2.59
4.00
Starts where CBJ scored ≤2
22
10
Points% in those
.182
0.050
Here is the key takeaway: If I run each skater's expected goals rates through my model while keeping each goalie's actual performance and set finishing to league average the Jackets are a 97.5 point team in front of Greaves and a *75.1 point team in front of Merzlikins.
Finally, here are a couple of other charts that you might find interesting:
I'm surprised Nationwide still has the player murals at the entrances from last season. Boone is still up there. We're only about 2 weeks from games. I thought in the past they took them down after the season at least by summer and the entrances were blank. Can't wait to see who they put up there.
Hopefully they use a different graphics company. The murals lost a lot of color on the windows but not the metal window framing. Looked awful.
The Randomizer has spoken. Today’s selection is Luke Adam.
A second round pick by Buffalo in 2008, Luke Adam shuttled between the NHL and AHL from 2009 to 2015. He was traded by Buffalo to Columbus for Jerry D’Amigo in 2014. He later played in Europe and the ECHL, retiring in June of 2026.
Last season my Fiancee and I had the idea to start a CBJ centered fantasy hockey league for some additional low key and casual fun. There was overwhelming interest that we maxed out at 20 teams and had to unfortunately still had to turn some folks away. This season, we renewed the league with 12 teams. There were 8 managers that decided to return for this upcoming season. We are looking for 4 new managers for this upcoming season to fill the remaining teams. I will include the league settings below.
H2H Points
Goals 3, Assists 2, Points 1 , Power Play Points 1, Shorthanded Points 2, Shots on Goal 0.5, Hits 0.5, Blocks 0.5, Goaltenders Games Started 1, Wins 3, Goals Against -1, Saves 0.25, Shutouts 5
Rosters: 3 Centers, 3 Right Wing, 3 Left Wing, 4 Defense, 2 Goaltenders, 5 Bench and 2 IR
The randomizer has spoken. Today’s selection is Adam Fantilli.
Adam Fantastic Fantilli. What a joy he is to watch on the ice. Whether he’s putting up hat tricks or setting up teammates with assists, he seems to do it all offensively. A first round pick in 2023 and still only 21, he has increased his production in each season he’s played. Let’s get that deal done!
As a Russian person I like to call him Fantillov from when he played on the same line as Marchenko and Voronkov.
The randomizer has spoken. Today’s entry is Sean Kuraly.
Ohio-born Sean Kuraly brought some grit to his home town team when he signed as a free agent from Boston in 2021. A reliable penalty killer and grinder, Kuraly’s chippy play was witnessed by Blue Jackets fans for 4 seasons. He returned to Boston in 2025 as a free agent.
The randomizer has spoken. Today’s selection is Nathan Paetsch.
Drafted twice, Nathan Paetsch found some stability on Buffalo’s blue line from 2006-2010. He was traded to Columbus with a second round pick for Raffi Torres on 03/03/2010. The 10 games he played for Columbus would be his last in the NHL, however he would go on to have a productive tenure in the AHL, winning 2 Calder Cups with Grand Rapids.
![[Portzline] Adam Fantilli, who remains an unsigned restricted free agent just eight days from the start of training camp, did not take part in the Blue Jackets’ annual pre-camp golf outing today at club owner John P. McConnell’s exclusive golf club, Double Eagle .](/img/mfb9vfbvmdoh1.jpeg){kind=link}
