# 2003–04 Columbus Blue Jackets season

The 2003–04 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the Blue Jackets' fourth season in the NHL, as the team was coming off of a 29–42–8–3 record in the 2002–03 season, earning 69 points to finish in last place in the Western Conference for the second-straight year.

## Off-season

Columbus would undergo some changes during the off-season, as leading scorer and team captain Ray Whitney would leave to sign with the Detroit Red Wings. The Blue Jackets named veteran defenseman Luke Richardson the third captain in franchise history.

## Regular season

The Blue Jackets would get off to a solid start in 2003–04, winning three of their first four games, though the club would eventually go on a seven-game losing streak to quickly fall out of playoff contention. Columbus would continue to struggle, and General Manager and Head Coach Doug MacLean announced on January 1, 2004, that he would step down from head coaching duties, naming Blue Jackets assistant coach and former NHL player Gerard Gallant as his replacement. Columbus posted a 9–21–4–3 record under MacLean. While the Blue Jackets would play better hockey with Gallant behind the bench, the team would fail once again to earn a playoff spot, as they finished the season with a 25–45–8–4 record for 62 points—seven fewer than the previous season—and finish 29 points the Nashville Predators for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Columbus, however, climbed out of the basement in the Central Division for the first time in franchise history after finishing ahead of the Chicago Blackhawks.
Rick Nash had a memorable season, finishing in a three-way tie with Ilya Kovalchuk from the Atlanta Thrashers and Jarome Iginla from the Calgary Flames to win the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy as the League's highest goal-scorer; he scored a club-record 41 goals and finished with a team-best 57 points. David Vyborny led the Blue Jackets with 31 assists and finished second to Nash with 53 points. Rookie Nikolai Zherdev also contributed a solid 34 points in 57 games. On defense, Anders Eriksson led the Jackets with 27 points, while Jaroslav Spacek contributed with 22 points in just 58 games. Jody Shelley provided the team toughness, earning a team-high 228 penalty minutes.
In goal, Marc Denis was the team's number one, playing a team-high 66 games, winning 21 of them, posting a team best 2.56 goals against average (GAA) and earning five shutouts.
The Blue Jackets would finish the season having tied the Dallas Stars for most times shut-out, with 11.

### Season standings

Central Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 48 | 21 | 11 | 2 | 255 | 189 | 109 |
| 2 | 7 | St. Louis Blues | 82 | 39 | 30 | 11 | 2 | 191 | 198 | 91 |
| 3 | 8 | Nashville Predators | 82 | 38 | 29 | 11 | 4 | 216 | 217 | 91 |
| 4 | 14 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 25 | 45 | 8 | 4 | 177 | 238 | 62 |
| 5 | 15 | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 20 | 43 | 11 | 8 | 188 | 259 | 59 |
Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.
Western Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | T | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | P- Detroit Red Wings | CE | 82 | 48 | 21 | 11 | 2 | 255 | 189 | 109 |
| 2 | Y- San Jose Sharks | PA | 82 | 43 | 21 | 12 | 6 | 255 | 183 | 104 |
| 3 | Y- Vancouver Canucks | NW | 82 | 43 | 24 | 10 | 5 | 235 | 194 | 101 |
| 4 | X- Colorado Avalanche | NW | 82 | 40 | 22 | 13 | 7 | 236 | 198 | 100 |
| 5 | X- Dallas Stars | PA | 82 | 41 | 26 | 13 | 2 | 194 | 175 | 97 |
| 6 | X- Calgary Flames | NW | 82 | 42 | 30 | 7 | 3 | 200 | 176 | 94 |
| 7 | X- St. Louis Blues | CE | 82 | 39 | 30 | 11 | 2 | 191 | 198 | 91 |
| 8 | X- Nashville Predators | CE | 82 | 38 | 29 | 11 | 4 | 216 | 217 | 91 |
| 8.5 |||||||||||
| 9 | Edmonton Oilers | NW | 82 | 36 | 29 | 12 | 5 | 221 | 208 | 89 |
| 10 | Minnesota Wild | NW | 82 | 30 | 29 | 20 | 3 | 188 | 183 | 83 |
| 11 | Los Angeles Kings | PA | 82 | 28 | 29 | 16 | 9 | 205 | 217 | 81 |
| 12 | Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | PA | 82 | 29 | 35 | 10 | 8 | 184 | 213 | 76 |
| 13 | Phoenix Coyotes | PA | 82 | 22 | 36 | 18 | 6 | 188 | 245 | 68 |
| 14 | Columbus Blue Jackets | CE | 82 | 25 | 45 | 8 | 4 | 177 | 238 | 62 |
| 15 | Chicago Blackhawks | CE | 82 | 20 | 43 | 11 | 8 | 188 | 259 | 59 |
Divisions: CE – Central, PA – Pacific, NW – Northwest
P – Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

## Schedule and results

2003–04 regular season :
October: 3–6–0–1 (home: 3–2–0–0; road: 0–4–0–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPtsRecap
1October 9Columbus Blue Jackets1–2Atlanta Thrashers0–1–0–00Recap
2October 11New York Rangers0–5Columbus Blue Jackets1–1–0–02Recap
3October 13Vancouver Canucks2–3Columbus Blue Jackets2–1–0–04Recap
4October 16Chicago Blackhawks1–2Columbus Blue Jackets3–1–0–06Recap
5October 18Columbus Blue Jackets2–3Nashville Predators3–2–0–06Recap
6October 22Columbus Blue Jackets1–4Detroit Red Wings3–3–0–06Recap
7October 23Tampa Bay Lightning1–0Columbus Blue Jackets3–4–0–06Recap
8October 25Dallas Stars3–2Columbus Blue Jackets3–5–0–06Recap
9October 28Columbus Blue Jackets3–6Vancouver Canucks3–6–0–06Recap
10October 30Columbus Blue Jackets3–4Edmonton Oilers3–6–0–17Recap :
November: 4–6–3–0 (home: 4–2–2–0; road: 0–4–1–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPtsRecap
11November 1Columbus Blue Jackets0–3Calgary Flames3–7–0–17Recap
12November 7Atlanta Thrashers2–4Columbus Blue Jackets4–7–0–19Recap
13November 9Calgary Flames3–4Columbus Blue Jackets5–7–0–111Recap
14November 11Columbus Blue Jackets1–1Montreal Canadiens5–7–1–112Recap
15November 13Columbus Blue Jackets2–5Ottawa Senators5–8–1–112Recap
16November 14Boston Bruins4–0Columbus Blue Jackets5–9–1–112Recap
17November 16Phoenix Coyotes2–2Columbus Blue Jackets5–9–2–113Recap
18November 19Columbus Blue Jackets1–5Detroit Red Wings5–10–2–113Recap
19November 20Detroit Red Wings0–3Columbus Blue Jackets6–10–2–115Recap
20November 22New York Islanders1–2Columbus Blue Jackets7–10–2–117Recap
21November 25Edmonton Oilers3–3Columbus Blue Jackets7–10–3–118Recap
22November 26Columbus Blue Jackets2–4Nashville Predators7–11–3–118Recap
23November 29Washington Capitals5–3Columbus Blue Jackets7–12–3–118Recap :
December: 2–9–1–2 (home: 1–6–1–1; road: 1–3–0–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPtsRecap
24December 2Mighty Ducks of Anaheim1–2Columbus Blue Jackets8–12–3–120Recap
25December 4Nashville Predators4–2Columbus Blue Jackets8–13–3–120Recap
26December 6Columbus Blue Jackets1–5Colorado Avalanche8–14–3–120Recap
27December 10Philadelphia Flyers1–1Columbus Blue Jackets8–14–4–121Recap
28December 12St. Louis Blues3–2Columbus Blue Jackets8–14–4–222Recap
29December 13Columbus Blue Jackets3–5Pittsburgh Penguins8–15–4–222Recap
30December 16Columbus Blue Jackets1–2St. Louis Blues8–15–4–323Recap
31December 19Calgary Flames2–1Columbus Blue Jackets8–16–4–323Recap
32December 20Columbus Blue Jackets2–5Minnesota Wild8–17–4–323Recap
33December 23Phoenix Coyotes2–1Columbus Blue Jackets8–18–4–323Recap
34December 26Columbus Blue Jackets4–1Chicago Blackhawks9–18–4–325Recap
35December 27Dallas Stars4–3Columbus Blue Jackets9–19–4–325Recap
36December 29St. Louis Blues3–2Columbus Blue Jackets9–20–4–325Recap
37December 31San Jose Sharks1–0Columbus Blue Jackets9–21–4–325Recap :
January: 6–6–3–0 (home: 4–2–1–0; road: 2–4–2–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPtsRecap
38January 2Columbus Blue Jackets2–0Tampa Bay Lightning10–21–4–327Recap
39January 3Columbus Blue Jackets0–1Florida Panthers10–22–4–327Recap
40January 6Columbus Blue Jackets0–6Colorado Avalanche10–23–4–327Recap
41January 8Columbus Blue Jackets3–2San Jose Sharks11–23–4–329Recap
42January 10Columbus Blue Jackets2–2Los Angeles Kings11–23–5–330Recap
43January 11Columbus Blue Jackets2–2Mighty Ducks of Anaheim11–23–6–331Recap
44January 15Columbus Blue Jackets3–5St. Louis Blues11–24–6–331Recap
45January 16Los Angeles Kings2–3Columbus Blue Jackets12–24–6–333Recap
46January 18Edmonton Oilers4–4Columbus Blue Jackets12–24–7–334Recap
47January 21St. Louis Blues1–3Columbus Blue Jackets13–24–7–336Recap
48January 22Columbus Blue Jackets0–7Chicago Blackhawks13–25–7–336Recap
49January 24Chicago Blackhawks3–4Columbus Blue Jackets14–25–7–338Recap
50January 27New Jersey Devils4–3Columbus Blue Jackets14–26–7–338Recap
51January 29Nashville Predators6–4Columbus Blue Jackets14–27–7–338Recap
52January 31Minnesota Wild1–2Columbus Blue Jackets15–27–7–340Recap :
February: 4–7–1–1 (home: 3–1–0–1; road: 1–6–1–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPtsRecap
53February 2Columbus Blue Jackets3–3Phoenix Coyotes15–27–8–341Recap
54February 4Columbus Blue Jackets0–1Dallas Stars15–28–8–341Recap
55February 11Los Angeles Kings2–3Columbus Blue Jackets16–28–8–343Recap
56February 12Columbus Blue Jackets1–4Toronto Maple Leafs16–29–8–343Recap
57February 14San Jose Sharks2–1Columbus Blue Jackets16–29–8–444Recap
58February 16Nashville Predators2–4Columbus Blue Jackets17–29–8–446Recap
59February 18Columbus Blue Jackets1–3Mighty Ducks of Anaheim17–30–8–446Recap
60February 20Columbus Blue Jackets2–3Phoenix Coyotes17–31–8–446Recap
61February 21Columbus Blue Jackets3–4Los Angeles Kings17–32–8–446Recap
62February 23Columbus Blue Jackets2–4San Jose Sharks17–33–8–446Recap
63February 25Chicago Blackhawks4–3Columbus Blue Jackets17–34–8–446Recap
64February 27Columbus Blue Jackets4–3Chicago Blackhawks18–34–8–448Recap
65February 28Colorado Avalanche4–5Columbus Blue Jackets19–34–8–450Recap :
March: 5–10–0–0 (home: 2–4–0–0; road: 3–6–0–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPtsRecap
66March 2Columbus Blue Jackets3–0Carolina Hurricanes20–34–8–452Recap
67March 3Columbus Blue Jackets2–4Dallas Stars20–35–8–452Recap
68March 6Vancouver Canucks4–0Columbus Blue Jackets20–36–8–452Recap
69March 8Carolina Hurricanes4–1Columbus Blue Jackets20–37–8–452Recap
70March 11Detroit Red Wings4–2Columbus Blue Jackets20–38–8–452Recap
71March 13Columbus Blue Jackets3–5St. Louis Blues20–39–8–452Recap
72March 14Columbus Blue Jackets2–3Minnesota Wild20–40–8–452Recap
73March 16Columbus Blue Jackets2–3Edmonton Oilers20–41–8–452Recap
74March 18Columbus Blue Jackets0–2Calgary Flames20–42–8–452Recap
75March 21Columbus Blue Jackets5–4Vancouver Canucks21–42–8–454Recap
76March 24Minnesota Wild0–2Columbus Blue Jackets22–42–8–456Recap
77March 26Mighty Ducks of Anaheim1–3Columbus Blue Jackets23–42–8–458Recap
78March 27Columbus Blue Jackets3–2Nashville Predators24–42–8–460Recap
79March 29Columbus Blue Jackets0–6Buffalo Sabres24–43–8–460Recap
80March 31Detroit Red Wings3–2Columbus Blue Jackets24–44–8–460Recap :
April: 1–1–0–0 (home: 0–1–0–0; road: 1–0–0–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeRecordPtsRecap
81April 2Colorado Avalanche4–2Columbus Blue Jackets24–45–8–460Recap
82April 3Columbus Blue Jackets4–1Detroit Red Wings25–45–8–462Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point)
  Overtime loss (1 point) :

## Player statistics
### Scoring

* Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
* † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.
* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Blue Jackets only.
| No. | Player | Pos | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 61 | Rick Nash | LW | 80 | 41 | 16 | 57 | −35 | 87 |
| 9 | David Vyborny | RW | 82 | 22 | 31 | 53 | −26 | 40 |
| 13 | Nikolai Zherdev | RW | 57 | 13 | 21 | 34 | −11 | 54 |
| 26 | Todd Marchant | C | 77 | 9 | 25 | 34 | −17 | 34 |
| 10 | Trevor Letowski | RW | 73 | 15 | 17 | 32 | −12 | 16 |
| 8 | Geoff Sanderson‡ | LW | 67 | 13 | 16 | 29 | −9 | 34 |
| 2 | Anders Eriksson† | D | 66 | 7 | 20 | 27 | −6 | 18 |
| 25 | Andrew Cassels | C | 58 | 6 | 20 | 26 | −24 | 26 |
| 27 | Manny Malhotra† | C | 56 | 12 | 13 | 25 | −5 | 24 |
| 3 | Jaroslav Spacek | D | 58 | 5 | 17 | 22 | −13 | 45 |
| 28 | Tyler Wright | C | 68 | 9 | 9 | 18 | −19 | 63 |
| 5 | Darryl Sydor‡ | D | 49 | 2 | 13 | 15 | −19 | 26 |
| 44 | Rostislav Klesla | D | 47 | 2 | 11 | 13 | −16 | 27 |
| 20 | Lasse Pirjeta‡ | C | 57 | 2 | 8 | 10 | −6 | 20 |
| 23 | Derrick Walser | D | 27 | 1 | 8 | 9 | −6 | 22 |
| 47 | Aaron Johnson | D | 29 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 32 |
| 16 | Alexander Svitov† | C | 29 | 2 | 6 | 8 | −8 | 16 |
| 15 | Duvie Westcott | D | 34 | 0 | 7 | 7 | −15 | 39 |
| 45 | Jody Shelley | LW | 76 | 3 | 3 | 6 | −10 | 228 |
| 22 | Luke Richardson | D | 64 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −11 | 48 |
| 42 | Mark Hartigan | C | 9 | 1 | 3 | 4 | −2 | 6 |
| 21 | Espen Knutsen‡ | C | 14 | 0 | 4 | 4 | −5 | 2 |
| 7 | Scott Lachance | D | 77 | 0 | 4 | 4 | −23 | 44 |
| 46 | Tim Jackman | RW | 19 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −7 | 16 |
| 17 | David Ling | RW | 50 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −3 | 98 |
| 32 | Kent McDonell | RW | 29 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −7 | 36 |
| 38 | Andrej Nedorost | LW | 9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 41 | Brad Moran | C | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −1 | 2 |
| 30 | Marc Denis | G | 66 | 0 | 2 | 2 | | 10 |
| 24 | Todd Rohloff‡ | D | 24 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −12 | 8 |
| 49 | Dan Fritsche | C | 19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −5 | 12 |
| 19 | Brian Holzinger† | C | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −4 | 2 |
| 36 | Don MacLean | C | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
| 33 | Jeremy Reich | LW | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −3 | 20 |
| 37 | Darrel Scoville | D | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −4 | 6 |
| 40 | Fred Brathwaite | G | 21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 2 |
| 34 | Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre‡ | D | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 12 |
| 18 | Zenith Komarniski† | D | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Pascal Leclaire | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 14 | Greg Mauldin | C | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 4 |
| 19 | Joe Motzko | RW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | Mike Pandolfo | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| 6 | Jamie Pushor†‡ | D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 |

### Goaltending

| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 30 | Marc Denis | 66 | 21 | 36 | 7 | 1970 | 162 | 2.56 | .918 | 5 | 3796 |
| 40 | Fred Brathwaite | 21 | 4 | 11 | 1 | 574 | 59 | 3.37 | .897 | 0 | 1050 |
| 31 | Pascal Leclaire | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 69 | 7 | 3.53 | .899 | 0 | 119 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (annual) | Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy | Rick Nash |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Rick Nash |
| League (in-season) | NHL Offensive Player of the Week | David Vyborny (March 1) |
| League (in-season) | NHL YoungStars Game selection | Nikolay Zherdev |
| Team | Foundation Community Service Award | Luke Richardson |
| Team | Three Stars Award | Rick Nash |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Dan Fritsche | October 9, 2003 |
| First game | Aaron Johnson | December 2, 2003 |
| First game | Nikolay Zherdev | December 2, 2003 |
| First game | Tim Jackman | December 20, 2003 |
| First game | Jeremy Reich | January 21, 2004 |
| First game | Joe Motzko | February 2, 2004 |
| First game | Pascal Leclaire | February 20, 2004 |
| First game | Greg Mauldin | March 26, 2004 |
| First game | Mike Pandolfo | March 26, 2004 |

## Transactions

The Blue Jackets were involved in the following transactions from June 10, 2003, the day after the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 7, 2004, the day of the deciding game of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| June 22, 2003 (2003-06-22) | To Carolina Hurricanes 4th-round pick in 2004 | To Columbus Blue Jackets 5th-round pick in 20036th-round pick in 2003 |
| June 22, 2003 (2003-06-22) | To Los Angeles Kings 9th-round pick in 2004 | To Columbus Blue Jackets 9th-round pick in 2003 |
| July 22, 2003 (2003-07-22) | To Dallas Stars Mike Sillinger2nd-round pick in 2004 | To Columbus Blue Jackets Darryl Sydor |
| October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03) | To Boston Bruins Travis Green | To Columbus Blue Jackets 6th-round pick in 2004 |
| October 30, 2003 (2003-10-30) | To Vancouver Canucks Sean Pronger | To Columbus Blue Jackets Zenith Komarniski |
| December 31, 2003 (2003-12-31) | To Atlanta Thrashers Jean-Luc Grand-Pierre | To Columbus Blue Jackets Future considerations |
| January 23, 2004 (2004-01-23) | To New York Rangers Jamie Pushor | To Columbus Blue Jackets 8th-round pick in 2004 |
| January 27, 2004 (2004-01-27) | To Tampa Bay Lightning Darryl Sydor4th-round pick in 2004 | To Columbus Blue Jackets Alexander Svitov3rd-round pick in 2004 |
| February 10, 2004 (2004-02-10) | To Pittsburgh Penguins Pauli Levokari | To Columbus Blue Jackets Brendan Buckley |
| March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09) | To Pittsburgh Penguins Lasse Pirjeta | To Columbus Blue Jackets Brian Holzinger |
| March 9, 2004 (2004-03-09) | To Vancouver Canucks Geoff Sanderson | To Columbus Blue Jackets 3rd-round pick in 2004 |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03) | Trevor Letowski | Vancouver Canucks | multi-year | Free agency |
| July 3, 2003 (2003-07-03) | Todd Marchant | Edmonton Oilers | multi-year | Free agency |
| July 15, 2003 (2003-07-15) | Mark Hartigan | Atlanta Thrashers | 1-year | Free agency |
| September 5, 2003 (2003-09-05) | Todd Rohloff | Washington Capitals | 1-year | Free agency |
| October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03) | Travis Green | Toronto Maple Leafs | | Waiver draft |
| October 10, 2003 (2003-10-10) | Anders Eriksson | Toronto Maple Leafs | 1-year | Free agency |
| November 21, 2003 (2003-11-21) | Manny Malhotra | Dallas Stars | | Waivers |
| December 10, 2003 (2003-12-10) | Jamie Pushor | Syracuse Crunch (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |
| April 12, 2004 (2004-04-12) | Prestin Ryan | University of Maine (HE) | 1-year | Free agency |
| April 19, 2004 (2004-04-19) | Brandon Sugden | Syracuse Crunch (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01) | Radim Bicanek | | Contract expiration (UFA) |
| July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01) | Jean-Francois Labbe | HC Lada Togliatti (RSL) | Free agency (VI) |
| July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01) | Jonathan Schill | | Contract expiration (UFA) |
| July 7, 2003 (2003-07-07) | Darren Van Impe | Hamburg Freezers (DEL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| July 15, 2003 (2003-07-15) | Matt Davidson | Calgary Flames | Free agency (VI) |
| July 29, 2003 (2003-07-29) | Ray Whitney | Detroit Red Wings | Free agency (III) |
| August 9, 2003 (2003-08-09) | Paul Manning | Hamburg Freezers (DEL) | Free agency (II) |
| September 10, 2003 (2003-09-10) | Jamie Allison | Nashville Predators | Free agency (UFA) |
| September 10, 2003 (2003-09-10) | Mathieu Darche | Nashville Predators | Free agency (VI) |
| October 3, 2003 (2003-10-03) | Petr Tenkrat | Toronto Maple Leafs | Waiver draft |
| October 9, 2003 (2003-10-09) | Dan Watson | Providence Bruins (AHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| October 10, 2003 (2003-10-10) | Blake Bellefeuille | Providence Bruins (AHL) | Free agency (VI) |
| December 16, 2003 (2003-12-16) | Espen Knutsen | Valerenga (Norway) | Buyout |
| January 9, 2004 (2004-01-09) | Todd Rohloff | Washington Capitals | Waivers |
| May 12, 2004 (2004-05-12) | Derrick Walser | Eisbaren Berlin (DEL) | Free agency |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| June 12, 2003 (2003-06-12) | Pauli Levokari | 1-year | Re-signing |
| June 12, 2003 (2003-06-12) | Donald MacLean | 1-year | Re-signing |
| July 1, 2003 (2003-07-01) | Andrew Cassels | multi-year | Re-signing |
| July 15, 2003 (2003-07-15) | Aleksandr Guskov | multi-year | Entry-level |
| July 18, 2003 (2003-07-18) | Darrel Scoville | | Re-signing |
| July 18, 2003 (2003-07-18) | Derrick Walser | | Re-signing |
| July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24) | David Ling | | Re-signing |
| July 24, 2003 (2003-07-24) | Brad Moran | | Re-signing |
| August 13, 2003 (2003-08-13) | Kent McDonell | | Re-signing |
| August 13, 2003 (2003-08-13) | Jeremy Reich | | Re-signing |
| August 15, 2003 (2003-08-15) | Nikolay Zherdev | multi-year | Entry-level |
| August 26, 2003 (2003-08-26) | Karl Goehring | | Re-signing |
| October 6, 2003 (2003-10-06) | Dan Fritsche | multi-year | Entry-level |
| March 19, 2004 (2004-03-19) | Steven Goertzen | multi-year | Entry-level |
| April 19, 2004 (2004-04-19) | Greg Mauldin | multi-year | Entry-level |
| May 26, 2004 (2004-05-26) | Jody Shelley | 2-year | Re-signing |
| June 1, 2004 (2004-06-01) | Tim Konsorada | multi-year | Entry-level |
| June 1, 2004 (2004-06-01) | Ole-Kristian Tollefsen | multi-year | Entry-level |

## Draft picks

Columbus' draft picks at the 2003 NHL entry draft held at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 4 | Nikolai Zherdev | Russia | CSKA Moscow (Russia) |
| 2 | 46 | Dan Fritsche | United States | Sarnia Sting (OHL) |
| 3 | 71 | Dmitri Kosmachev | Russia | CSKA Moscow (Russia) |
| 4 | 103 | Kevin Jarman | Canada | Stouffville Spirit (OPJHL) |
| 4 | 104 | Philippe Dupuis | Canada | Hull Olympiques (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 138 | Arsi Piispanen | Finland | Jokerit (Finland) |
| 6 | 168 | Marc Methot | Canada | London Knights (OHL) |
| 7 | 200 | Alexander Guskov | Russia | Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (Russia) |
| 8 | 233 | Mathieu Gravel | Canada | Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL) |
| 9 | 283 | Trevor Hendrikx | Canada | Peterborough Petes (OHL) |