Blue Jackets fans who enjoy watching prospects will get a chance to do that in 2028 at Nationwide Arena.
As part of an agreement between the Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins and Dallas Stars, an annual prospects tournament that precedes NHL training camps will be hosted in Columbus in two years. Using the arena’s main sheet of ice plus the attached OhioHealth Ice Haus rink, the Blue Jackets will host for the first time.
The Red Wings, who hosted the Blue Jackets and other teams for years in Traverse City, Michigan, are hosting this year’s event at their practice facility inside Little Caesars Arena. Pittsburgh is expected to host next year, followed
by the Blue Jackets.
“It’s a three-year rotation for it,” Blue Jackets president/general manager Don Waddell said. “I felt the same way [as president/GM] in Carolina. We set that up with Nashville, Florida, Tampa and Raleigh, where we’d rotate every four years.”
The main reason is engagement.
“I think it’s good for your fans to get the opportunity to see your young players and to start creating a little buzz in the marketplace [for a new season],” Waddell said. “You go away to these places and you kind of get lost a little bit.”
The Blue Jackets traveled to Traverse City for a long time before it stopped in 2024. They shifted to Buffalo for the past two years before agreeing this new arrangement, which began this past weekend.
The Blue Jackets don’t have their top three prospects, since Cayden Lindstrom (2024 fourth overall pick), Jackson Smith (2025 14th overall pick) and Oscar Hemming (2026 14th overall pick) are college players, but they took a roster laden with AHL prospects.
After dropping their opener Sept. 13 to the Penguins in a shootout and losing to the Stars 4-1 on Sept. 14, the Jackets wrap up the tournament Sept. 16 against the Red Wings with a 2 p.m. start.
Training camp will follow with player medical evaluations and a media luncheon Sept. 16 at Nationwide Arena followed by the Jackets’ first day on the ice Sept. 17. Due to the NHL expanding its regular season from 82 to 84 games, the Blue Jackets only have four preseason games before hosting the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 1 in the season-opener.
Dispatch Blue Jackets/Crew reporter Brian Hedger can be reached at bhedger@dispatch.com
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets will host future NHL prospects tournament
