Columbus Blue Jackets Cap Space: Examining the Blue Jackets' salary in the off-season

The Columbus Blue Jackets made a big splash last year signing Johnny Gaudreau, but it didn't help as they were one of the worse teams in the NHL.

Now, Columbus made a big change by hiring head coach Mike Babcock, which should be interesting. After the first wave of free agency, the Blue Jackets have just a tad over $4.7 million in cap space and only have RFA Tim Berni left to sign.

Columbus didn't sign anyone on July 1, and instead, just signed Adam Fantilli to his entry-level deal, so he will be leaving college to play in the NHL.

"It's starting to sink in a little bit," Fantilli said upon his arrival at Nationwide Arena. "Wearing the jersey helps. Coming to this city and seeing how gorgeous it is and watching that video of The 5th Line at the watch party there and how welcoming they're being, has been amazing."

It was a quick agreement to leave college after Fantilli's freshman season, but GM Jarmo Kekalainen said they believe he is ready to make the move to the NHL.

"It was a brief discussion," general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said (via NHL.com). "I think we both felt that he was ready to take the next step, the next challenge. We were very clear on that in our conversations with him.

"We watched him all year on different levels in college, in the World Juniors, the men's World Championship playing against mostly NHL players. He's a big man, as you can see. He's physically ready. He's mentally ready to take the next step and the next challenge. That was our position, and he agreed."

Columbus Blue Jackets add defensemen

Although the Columbus Blue Jackets didn't sign any free agents, they made the biggest additions to their team via trade before the draft. Columbus acquired defenseman Ivan Provorov from the Philadelphia Flyers who has two years left on his deal.

Columbus also didn't stop there as the Blue Jackets also traded for Damon Severson in a sign-and-trade and is now signed for eight years. Those additions should strengthen the defensive core which needed a big upgrade.

"I think defense is a strength of our team right now, and the depth of it is a strength of ours right now," Kekalainen said.

"I think you always need a real good top four, as you see the teams that are still playing, they usually have a very strong top four that can eat most of the minutes and be reliable at both ends of the ice and also good on special teams. I think these moves take care of all that, and we're very, very excited."

Ultimately, it seems like the Blue Jackets are done with their off-season moves and will hope their players rebound after a disappointing season.