There has been so much talk about Adam Fantilli taking up much of the Columbus Blue Jackets’ bandwidth this season.
But there might just be a bigger concern for the organization than re-signing their number-one center. While Fantilli is crucial to the team, the club’s chemistry could be the spanner in the works this season.
As The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline questioned in a recent piece, there may be concerns that transcend the organization’s current impasse with Fantilli.
“After the Blue Jackets’ summer, it’s fair to ask difficult questions, right? Does forward Kirill Marchenko really want to be here? Is defenseman Zach Werenski in Columbus for the long haul after turning down a trade to the Dallas Stars?”
The two names in question, Marchenko and Werenski, may be out the door sooner rather than later. Yes, both players have publicly pledged their commitment to the team. But that may just be a politically correct response to a situation that could hound the team the entire season.
With Marchenko set to become an RFA this summer, and Werenski looking at UFA status after next season, these questions are justified. And if Marchenko and Werenski are out the door, does it make any difference whether Fantilli stays or not?
Columbus Has Little Room for a Slow Start
The Blue Jackets desperately need to get off to a good start.
That’s not just because every team wants to start well. Columbus showed last season how quickly a promising season can unravel.
The Blue Jackets went 40-30-12 in 2025-26 and were still in the playoff race late in the season. Then they won just two of their final 11 games and missed the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season.
Another slow finish might be survivable.
Another slow start could be devastating.
If Columbus spends the first couple of months struggling to establish itself as a legitimate playoff team, the questions surrounding Marchenko and Werenski will only get louder.
And that could make Marchenko particularly difficult to retain.
Why would an RFA commit long-term to an organization that doesn’t appear to be moving forward?
Werenski’s situation is even more complicated. The Blue Jackets managed to keep their star defenseman after offseason trade speculation, but NHL.com noted that his future in Columbus is tied to the organization becoming a playoff contender.
That makes this season enormously important.
Could the Blue Jackets Tear It Down Without Calling It a Rebuild?
The Blue Jackets have insisted they aren’t rebuilding.
Maybe that’s technically true.
But there is another option between going all-in and completely starting over: retooling.
If Columbus discovers early in the season that its current core isn’t good enough, the organization could decide to sell off players who aren’t fully committed to the future.
That doesn’t necessarily mean trading Fantilli.
It could mean identifying which veterans can bring back meaningful assets and which younger players should be given larger roles.
Marchenko and Werenski would obviously represent much bigger decisions, but that’s exactly why the next few months matter so much.
If Columbus is winning, those questions become easier to answer.
If the Blue Jackets are losing, the organization may have to consider whether keeping everybody together is actually the best path forward.
A retool could mean taking a step backward in the short term.
But if it brings back young talent and draft capital, it could also give Columbus a clearer path toward becoming respectable again.
And that may ultimately be the biggest reason Fantilli’s contract isn’t the only thing worth watching.
The Blue Jackets need to figure out who actually wants to be part of the next version of this team.
This season should tell them.
Blue Jackets May Have Major Concern, and It’s Not Adam Fantilli