Monahan is expected to play on the top line with Johnny Gaudreau on the left wing. The two previously played together for the Calgary Flames from 2014-22, and reuniting them could revitalize Gaudreau, who has 134 points (33 goals, 101 assists) in 161 games over the past two seasons in Columbus. Gaudreau had an NHL career-high 115 points (40 goals, 75 assists) in 82 games in his final season with the Flames in 2021-22.

But Monahan said his goal is to be a leader on the team no matter who he plays with.

“It’s important to have good leadership in the locker room,” he said. “It creates a good culture, and I think I’m a guy who can serve that purpose.”

Behind Monahan could be Adam Fantilli, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft. But the 19-year-old, who had 27 points (12 goals, 15 assists) in 49 games as a rookie before his season was ended by a calf tear on Jan. 28, is just one of many young players Columbus could rely on this season.

Forward Kent Johnson, the fifth overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, is one of them. The 21-year-old signed a three-year, $5.4 million ($1.8 million AAV) contract on July 27 after posting 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 42 games last season. This season ended on Feb. 28 due to a torn labrum in his left shoulder.

Kirill Marchenko, 24; Dmitri Voronkov, 23; Yegor Chinakhov, 23; and Cole Sillinger, 21, are also expected to take the next step. Marchenko, who signed a three-year, $11.55 million ($3.85 million AAV) contract on July 28, scored 23 goals last season after scoring 21 goals as a rookie in 2022-23. Voronkov had 34 points (18 goals, 16 assists) in 75 games as a rookie, while Chinakhov had 29 points (16 goals, 13 assists) in 53 games. Sillinger, now a restricted free agent, had 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists) in 77 games and is a marked improvement after scoring 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 64 games in 2022-23.

On defense, the Blue Jackets allowed Jake Bean and Adam Boqvist to leave the team in free agency, potentially paving the way for 20-year-old David Jiricek and 20-year-old Denton Mateychuk to join the team.

Jiricek, the sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL draft, had 10 points (one goal, nine assists) in 43 games as a rookie last season. Mateychuk, the 12th overall pick in the 2022 draft, won the Bill Hunter Memorial Trophy as the Western Hockey League’s defenseman of the year last season.

“There are a lot of good pieces here,” Waddell said. “The previous administration did a good job of drafting. Of course there are challenges, so they bring you in, but this is not an organization that will take a long time to fix.”

Despite forward Patrik Laine reportedly requesting a trade, the Blue Jackets are hoping the moves they make this offseason will provide some stability that will help them return to the playoffs for the first time since 2020.

“It’s like a machine, hard to start and hard to stop,” Blue Jackets forward Sean Kuraly said. “No matter who comes in, no matter who comes out, it takes a lot of work to get it going and build it. It takes less (work) to keep it running than it does to start it.”