2024–25 Columbus Blue Jackets season

The 2024–25 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the 25th season for the National Hockey League franchise that was established on June 25, 1997. The season was marred by the tragic passing of star player Johnny Gaudreau, who, along with his brother Matthew, were killed while riding their bikes on August 29, 2024, after being hit from behind by a suspected drunk driver. The team dedicated the season in his memory.

2024–25 Columbus Blue Jackets
Division	4th Metropolitan
Conference	9th Eastern
2024–25 record	40–33–9
Home record	26–10–5
Road record	14–23–4
Goals for	273
Goals against	268
Team information
General manager	Don Waddell
Coach	Dean Evason
Captain	Boone Jenner
Alternate captains	Erik Gudbranson Sean Kuraly Zach Werenski
Arena	Nationwide Arena
Minor league affiliate(s)	Cleveland Monsters (AHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Adam Fantilli Kirill Marchenko (31)
Assists	Zach Werenski (59)
Points	Zach Werenski (82)
Penalty minutes	Mathieu Olivier (139)
Plus/minus	Kirill Marchenko (+29)
Wins	Elvis Merzlikins (26)
Goals against average	Jet Greaves (1.91)
← 2023–24 2025–26 →

Despite a strong late-season push, the Blue Jackets were eliminated from playoff contention for the fifth consecutive season on April 16 after the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Carolina Hurricanes.

Standings

Divisional standings

Metropolitan Division

Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	z – Washington Capitals	82	51	22	9	43	288	232	+56	111
2	x – Carolina Hurricanes	82	47	30	5	42	266	233	+33	99
3	x – New Jersey Devils	82	42	33	7	36	242	222	+20	91
4	Columbus Blue Jackets	82	40	33	9	30	273	268	+5	89
5	New York Rangers	82	39	36	7	35	256	255	+1	85
6	New York Islanders	82	35	35	12	28	224	260	−36	82
7	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	34	36	12	24	243	293	−50	80
8	Philadelphia Flyers	82	33	39	10	21	238	286	−48	76

Source: National Hockey League^[1]
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

Eastern Conference Wild Card

Pos	Div	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	AT	x – Ottawa Senators	82	45	30	7	35	243	234	+9	97
2	AT	x – Montreal Canadiens	82	40	31	11	30	245	265	−20	91
3	ME	Columbus Blue Jackets	82	40	33	9	30	273	268	+5	89
4	AT	Detroit Red Wings	82	39	35	8	30	238	259	−21	86
5	ME	New York Rangers	82	39	36	7	35	256	255	+1	85
6	ME	New York Islanders	82	35	35	12	28	224	260	−36	82
7	ME	Pittsburgh Penguins	82	34	36	12	24	243	293	−50	80
8	AT	Buffalo Sabres	82	36	39	7	29	269	289	−20	79
9	AT	Boston Bruins	82	33	39	10	26	222	272	−50	76
10	ME	Philadelphia Flyers	82	33	39	10	21	238	286	−48	76

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

Schedule and results

Preseason

The Columbus Blue Jackets preseason schedule was released on June 21, 2024.^[3]

2024 preseason game log: 4–4–0 (home: 2–2–0; road: 2–2–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 23	Columbus	1–6	Buffalo		Greaves	9,924	0–1–0	[4]
2	September 25	St. Louis	0–3	Columbus		Merzlikins	10,077	1–1–0	[5]
3	September 27	Columbus	8–4	Washington		Tarasov	13,009	2–1–0	[6]
4	September 28	Buffalo	3–6	Columbus		Merzlikins	12,305	3–1–0	[7]
5	September 30	Washington	3–2	Columbus		Tarasov	10,080	3–2–0	[8]
6	October 1	Columbus	3–1	St. Louis		Greaves	15,305	4–2–0	[9]
7	October 3	Pittsburgh	3–1	Columbus		Merzlikins	12,649	4–3–0	[10]
8	October 4	Columbus	3–7	Pittsburgh		Tarasov	14,573	4–4–0	[11]

Regular season

The Columbus Blue Jackets regular season schedule was released on July 2, 2024.^[12]

2024–25 game log
October: 5–3–1 (home: 4–2–0; road: 1–1–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 10 Columbus 2–3 Minnesota Merzlikins 18,613 0–1–0 0 [13] 2 October 12 Columbus 6–4 Colorado Tarasov 18,080 1–1–0 2 [14] 3 October 15 Florida 4–3 Columbus Merzlikins 18,484 1–2–0 2 [15] 4 October 17 Buffalo 4–6 Columbus Tarasov 16,126 2–2–0 4 [16] 5 October 19 Minnesota 3–1 Columbus Tarasov 16,876 2–3–0 4 [17] 6 October 22 Toronto 2–6 Columbus Tarasov 14,852 3–3–0 6 [18] 7 October 26 Columbus 3–4 Nashville OT Tarasov 17,159 3–3–1 7 [19] 8 October 28 Edmonton 1–6 Columbus Merzlikins 15,227 4–3–1 9 [20] 9 October 30 NY Islanders 0–2 Columbus Merzlikins 14,015 5–3–1 11 [21]
November: 5–6–2 (home: 4–1–1; road: 1–5–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 10 November 1 Winnipeg 6–2 Columbus Merzlikins 15,823 5–4–1 11 [22] 11 November 2 Columbus 2–7 Washington Tarasov 17,666 5–5–1 11 [23] 12 November 5 Columbus 1–2 San Jose OT Merzlikins 10,376 5–5–2 12 [24] 13 November 9 Columbus 2–5 Los Angeles Merzlikins 18,145 5–6–2 12 [25] 14 November 10 Columbus 2–4 Anaheim Tarasov 16,153 5–7–2 12 [26] 15 November 12 Columbus 2–5 Seattle Merzlikins 17,151 5–8–2 12 [27] 16 November 15 Pittsburgh 2–6 Columbus Merzlikins 18,348 6–8–2 14 [28] 17 November 16 Columbus 1–5 Montreal Tarasov 21,105 6–9–2 14 [29] 18 November 18 Columbus 5–1 Boston Merzlikins 17,850 7–9–2 16 [30] 19 November 21 Tampa Bay 6–7 Columbus OT Merzlikins 16,260 8–9–2 18 [31] 20 November 23 Carolina 4–5 Columbus SO Merzlikins 16,013 9–9–2 20 [32] 21 November 27 Montreal 4–3 Columbus OT Merzlikins 15,485 9–9–3 21 [33] 22 November 29 Calgary 2–5 Columbus Merzlikins 17,035 10–9–3 23 [34]
December: 6–7–3 (home: 4–1–2; road: 2–6–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 23 December 1 Columbus 6–3 Chicago Merzlikins 17,393 11–9–3 25 [35] 24 December 3 Columbus 0–3 Calgary Merzlikins 17,386 11–10–3 25 [36] 25 December 5 Columbus 3–6 Edmonton Tarasov 18,347 11–11–3 25 [37] 26 December 6 Columbus 2–5 Vancouver Merzlikins 18,529 11–12–3 25 [38] 27 December 8 Columbus 4–1 Winnipeg Merzlikins 13,887 12–12–3 27 [39] 28 December 10 Philadelphia 5–3 Columbus Merzlikins 15,467 12–13–3 27 [40] 29 December 12 Washington 2–1 Columbus OT Greaves 15,962 12–13–4 28 [41] 30 December 14 Anaheim 4–3 Columbus OT Greaves 17,663 12–13–5 29 [42] 31 December 15 Columbus 1–4 Carolina Merzlikins 18,700 12–14–5 29 [43] 32 December 17 Columbus 3–5 Tampa Bay Greaves 19,092 12–15–5 29 [44] 33 December 19 New Jersey 2–4 Columbus Merzlikins 15,793 13–15–5 31 [45] 34 December 21 Columbus 4–5 Philadelphia OT Merzlikins 18,644 13–15–6 32 [46] 35 December 23 Montreal 4–5 Columbus Greaves 17,875 14–15–6 34 [47] 36 December 27 Boston 2–6 Columbus Merzlikins 18,821 15–15–6 36 [48] 37 December 28 Columbus 0–4 Boston Tarasov 17,850 15–16–6 36 [49] 38 December 31 Carolina 3–4 Columbus SO Merzlikins 17,712 16–16–6 38 [50]
January: 10–3–1 (home: 5–1–0; road: 5–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 39 January 2 Detroit 5–4 Columbus Merzlikins 18,370 16–17–6 38 [51] 40 January 4 St. Louis 4–6 Columbus Merzlikins 18,535 17–17–6 40 [52] 41 January 7 Columbus 4–3 Pittsburgh SO Merzlikins 16,060 18–17–6 42 [53] 42 January 9 Seattle 2–6 Columbus Merzlikins 15,497 19–17–6 44 [54] 43 January 11 Columbus 2–1 St. Louis Greaves 17,591 20–17–6 46 [55] 44 January 14 Philadelphia 2–3 Columbus SO Tarasov 15,018 21–17–6 48 [56] 45 January 16 San Jose 1–4 Columbus Merzlikins 15,943 22–17–6 50 [57] 46 January 18 Columbus 0–1 NY Rangers SO Tarasov 18,006 22–17–7 51 [58] 47 January 20 Columbus 1–3 NY Islanders Merzlikins 14,551 22–18–7 51 [59] 48 January 22 Columbus 5–1 Toronto Merzlikins 18,459 23–18–7 53 [60] 49 January 23 Columbus 4–7 Carolina Tarasov 18,700 23–19–7 53 [61] 50 January 25 Los Angeles 2–3 Columbus OT Merzlikins 18,919 24–19–7 55 [62] 51 January 30 Columbus 2–1 Vegas OT Merzlikins 17,783 25–19–7 57 [63] 52 January 31 Columbus 3–2 Utah OT Tarasov 11,131 26–19–7 59 [64]
February: 3–3–1 (home: 2–1–1; road: 1–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 53 February 2 Columbus 3–5 Dallas Merzlikins 18,532 26–20–7 59 [65] 54 February 4 Columbus 2–3 Buffalo Merzlikins 14,198 26–21–7 59 [66] 55 February 6 Utah 3–2 Columbus OT Merzlikins 18,553 26–21–8 60 [67] 56 February 8 NY Rangers 4–3 Columbus Merzlikins 18,755 26–22–8 60 [68] 57 February 22 Chicago 1–5 Columbus Merzlikins 18,809 27–22–8 62 [69] 58 February 25 Dallas 4–6 Columbus Merzlikins 16,897 28–22–8 64 [70] 59 February 27 Columbus 5–2 Detroit Tarasov 19,515 29–22–8 66 [71]
March: 4–8–1 (home: 2–3–1; road: 2–5–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 60 March 1 Detroit 3–5 Columbus Merzlikins 94,751 (outdoors) 30–22–8 68 [72] 61 March 4 Columbus 2–6 Tampa Bay Merzlikins 19,092 30–23–8 68 [73] 62 March 6 Columbus 0–3 Florida Merzlikins 19,402 30–24–8 68 [74] 63 March 9 Columbus 7–3 NY Rangers Tarasov 18,006 31–24–8 70 [75] 64 March 11 Columbus 3–5 New Jersey Merzlikins 15,630 31–25–8 70 [76] 65 March 13 Vegas 4–0 Columbus Merzlikins 18,823 31–26–8 70 [77] 66 March 15 NY Rangers 4–0 Columbus Tarasov 18,464 31–27–8 70 [78] 67 March 17 New Jersey 2–1 Columbus Greaves 16,708 31–28–8 70 [79] 68 March 20 Florida 1–0 Columbus OT Merzlikins 16,757 31–28–9 71 [80] 69 March 21 Columbus 3–6 Pittsburgh Merzlikins 17,222 31–29–9 71 [81] 70 March 24 Columbus 4–3 NY Islanders SO Merzlikins 14,158 32–29–9 73 [82] 71 March 28 Vancouver 6–7 Columbus SO Merzlikins 18,586 33–29–9 75 [83] 72 March 29 Columbus 2–3 Ottawa Tarasov 17,758 33–30–9 75 [84]
April: 7–3–0 (home: 5–1–0; road: 2–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 73 April 1 Nashville 4–8 Columbus Merzlikins 15,605 34–30–9 77 [85] 74 April 3 Colorado 7–3 Columbus Merzlikins 18,392 34–31–9 77 [86] 75 April 5 Columbus 0–5 Toronto Merzlikins 19,179 34–32–9 77 [87] 76 April 6 Columbus 0–4 Ottawa Tarasov 15,616 34–33–9 77 [88] 77 April 8 Ottawa 2–5 Columbus Merzlikins 15,188 35–33–9 79 [89] 78 April 10 Buffalo 2–3 Columbus Greaves 16,406 36–33–9 81 [90] 79 April 12 Washington 0–7 Columbus Greaves 18,645 37–33–9 83 [91] 80 April 13 Columbus 4–1 Washington Greaves 18,573 38–33–9 85 [92] 81 April 15 Columbus 3–0 Philadelphia Greaves 19,105 39–33–9 87 [93] 82 April 17 NY Islanders 1–6 Columbus Greaves 18,874 40–33–9 89 [94]
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season^[95]

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Zach Werenski	81	23	59	82	+12	31
Kirill Marchenko	79	31	43	74	+29	20
Kent Johnson	68	24	33	57	+2	16
Sean Monahan	54	19	38	57	+19	20
Adam Fantilli	82	31	23	54	+4	18
Dmitri Voronkov	73	23	24	47	+17	55
James van Riemsdyk	71	16	20	36	−4	23
Cole Sillinger	66	11	22	33	−11	35
Ivan Provorov	82	7	26	33	+11	31
Mathieu Olivier	82	18	14	32	–4	139
Dante Fabbro†	62	9	17	26	+23	40
Damon Severson	70	6	19	25	+5	47
Justin Danforth	61	9	12	21	–6	18
Boone Jenner	26	7	12	19	+3	4
Sean Kuraly	82	6	11	17	−4	40
Zach Aston-Reese	79	6	11	17	−15	27
Yegor Chinakhov	30	7	8	15	−6	4
Denton Mateychuk	45	4	9	13	+4	20
Kevin Labanc	34	2	10	12	+1	12
Luca Del Bel Belluz	15	2	6	8	+2	0
Jake Christiansen	68	1	7	8	+6	11
Mikael Pyyhtia	47	4	3	7	–11	6
Jack Johnson	41	0	6	6	−13	2
Jordan Harris	33	1	4	5	−1	6
Erik Gudbranson	16	0	4	4	+1	6
Joseph LaBate	6	0	1	1	+1	10
David Jiricek‡	6	0	1	1	–2	4
Christian Fischer†	1	0	0	0	−1	0
Luke Kunin†	12	0	0	0	−4	9
James Malatesta	2	0	0	0	−1	0
Owen Sillinger	1	0	0	0	0	2
Jack Williams	1	0	0	0	+1	0

Goaltenders

Regular season^[96]

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Elvis Merzlikins	53	52	3,170:55	26	21	5	168	3.18	1,557	.892	1	0	1	8
Jet Greaves	11	11	660:06	7	2	2	21	1.91	339	.938	2	0	0	0
Daniil Tarasov	20	19	1,100:25	7	10	2	65	3.54	544	.881	1	0	1	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

The Blue Jackets have been involved in the following transactions during the 2024–25 season.

Key

 †  Contract is entry-level.
 ‡  Contract initially takes effect in the 2025–26 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 28, 2024 (2024-06-28)	To St. Louis Blues Alexandre Texier	To Columbus Blue Jackets 4th-round pick in 2025	[97]
June 29, 2024 (2024-06-29)	To Carolina Hurricanes 3rd-round pick in 2024 5th-round pick in 2024	To Columbus Blue Jackets 2nd-round pick in 2024	[98]
August 19, 2024 (2024-08-19)	To Montreal Canadiens Patrik Laine 2nd-round pick in 2026	To Columbus Blue Jackets Jordan Harris	[99]
November 30, 2024 (2024-11-30)	To Minnesota Wild David Jiricek 5th-round pick in 2025	To Columbus Blue Jackets Daemon Hunt conditional 1st-round pick in 2025 or 1st-round pick in 20261 COL 3rd-round pick in 2026 TOR 4th-round pick in 2026 2nd-round pick in 2027	[100]
March 7, 2025 (2025-03-07)	To San Jose Sharks STL 4th-round pick in 2025	To Columbus Blue Jackets Luke Kunin	[101]

Notes

• This pick is top-five protected. Columbus will receive a first-round pick in 2025 if Minnesota's first-round pick is outside the top five. If Minnesota's first-round pick is inside the top-five then Columbus will receive a first-round pick in 2026.

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
July 1, 2024 (2024-07-01)	Cole Clayton	Cleveland Monsters (AHL)	1-year†	Free agency	[102]
	Sean Monahan	Winnipeg Jets	5-year	Free agency	[103]
	Owen Sillinger	Cleveland Monsters (AHL)	1-year	Free agency	[104]
July 2, 2024 (2024-07-02)	Dylan Gambrell	Toronto Maple Leafs	1-year	Free agency	[105]
	Jack Johnson	Colorado Avalanche	1-year	Free agency	[106]
July 7, 2024 (2024-07-07)	Zach Sawchenko	Vancouver Canucks	1-year	Free agency	[107]
September 15, 2024 (2024-09-15)	James van Riemsdyk	Boston Bruins	1-year	Free agency	[108]
October 5, 2024 (2024-10-05)	Kevin Labanc	San Jose Sharks	1-year	Free agency	[109]
October 7, 2024 (2024-10-07)	Zach Aston-Reese	Vegas Golden Knights		Waivers	[110]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Term	Via	Ref
July 1, 2024 (2024-07-01)	Jake Bean	Calgary Flames	2-year	Free agency	[111]
	Nick Blankenburg	Nashville Predators	2-year	Free agency	[112]
	Adam Boqvist			Buyout	[113]
	Josh Dunne	Buffalo Sabres	2-year	Free agency	[114]
	Brendan Gaunce	Minnesota Wild	2-year	Free agency	[115]
	Billy Sweezey	Boston Bruins	2-year	Free agency	[116]
July 3, 2024 (2024-07-03)	Carson Meyer	Anaheim Ducks	1-year	Free agency	[117]
July 9, 2024 (2024-07-09)	Adam Boqvist	Florida Panthers	1-year	Free agency	[118]
July 28, 2024 (2024-07-28)	Alexander Nylander	Toronto Marlies (AHL)	1-year	Free agency	[119]
August 23, 2024 (2024-08-23)	Tyler Angle	Dusseldorfer EG (DEL)	1-year	Free agency	[120]
August 29, 2024 (2024-08-29)	Johnny Gaudreau			Killed by alleged drunk driver	[121]
October 20, 2024 (2024-10-20)	Jakub Zboril	HC Dynamo Pardubice (ELH)	5-year	Free agency	[122]
October 28, 2024 (2024-10-28)	Malcolm Subban	Belleville Senators (AHL)	1-year	Free agency	[123]
November 30, 2024 (2024-11-30)	Marcus Bjork	Oulun Karpat (Liiga)	1-year	Free agency	[124]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Ref
July 10, 2024 (2024-07-10)	Jake Christiansen	1-year	[125]
July 13, 2024 (2024-07-13)	Jet Greaves	2-year	[126]
July 27, 2024 (2024-07-27)	Kent Johnson	3-year‡	[127]
July 28, 2024 (2024-07-28)	Kirill Marchenko	3-year	[128]
August 21, 2024 (2024-08-21)	Cole Sillinger	2-year	[129]

Draft picks

See also: List of Columbus Blue Jackets draft picks

Below are the Columbus Blue Jackets' selections at the 2024 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 28 to 29, 2024, at Sphere in Paradise, Nevada.

Round	#	Player	Pos.	Nationality	Team (League)
1	4	Cayden Lindstrom	C	Canada	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
2	36	Charlie Elick	D	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
3	60	Evan Gardner	G	Canada	Saskatoon Blades (WHL)
	86	Luca Marrelli	D	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
4	101	Tanner Henricks	D	United States	Lincoln Stars (USHL)
6	165	Luke Ashton	D	Canada	Langley Rivermen (BCHL)