# 2005–06 Columbus Blue Jackets season

The 2005–06 Columbus Blue Jackets season was the sixth National Hockey League season (fifth season of play) in Columbus, Ohio. The team's final position in the standings was hampered by a slow start that resulted from losing a number of key players, including goals leader Rick Nash, to injury. Once these players returned to the roster, the team had one of the strongest second halves in the NHL. Despite the strong finish, the Blue Jackets finished outside of the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. However, the strong finish did lead to raised expectations for the 2006–07 season.

## Regular season

Prior to the start of the season the team announced Luke Richardson would remain team captain and Adam Foote, Rick Nash, and David Vyborny would serve as alternate captains on a rotating basis. Richardson resigned the captaincy after being a healthy scratch for Columbus’ November 25 game against the Colorado Avalanche. Foote was named the team’s new captain on December 6.

### Season standings

Central Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 1 | Detroit Red Wings | 82 | 58 | 16 | 8 | 305 | 209 | 124 |
| 2 | 4 | Nashville Predators | 82 | 49 | 25 | 8 | 259 | 227 | 106 |
| 3 | 13 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 82 | 35 | 43 | 4 | 223 | 279 | 74 |
| 4 | 14 | Chicago Blackhawks | 82 | 26 | 43 | 13 | 211 | 285 | 65 |
| 5 | 15 | St. Louis Blues | 82 | 21 | 46 | 15 | 197 | 292 | 57 |
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 | OTL | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | P- Detroit Red Wings | CE | 82 | 58 | 16 | 8 | 305 | 209 | 124 |
| 2 | Y- Dallas Stars | PA | 82 | 53 | 23 | 6 | 265 | 218 | 112 |
| 3 | Y- Calgary Flames | NW | 82 | 46 | 25 | 11 | 218 | 200 | 103 |
| 4 | X- Nashville Predators | CE | 82 | 49 | 25 | 8 | 259 | 227 | 106 |
| 5 | X- San Jose Sharks | PA | 82 | 44 | 27 | 11 | 266 | 242 | 99 |
| 6 | X- Mighty Ducks of Anaheim | PA | 82 | 43 | 27 | 12 | 254 | 229 | 98 |
| 7 | X- Colorado Avalanche | NW | 82 | 43 | 30 | 9 | 283 | 257 | 95 |
| 8 | X- Edmonton Oilers | NW | 82 | 41 | 28 | 13 | 256 | 251 | 95 |
| 8.5 ||||||||||
| 9 | Vancouver Canucks | NW | 82 | 42 | 32 | 8 | 256 | 255 | 92 |
| 8 | Los Angeles Kings | PA | 82 | 42 | 35 | 5 | 249 | 270 | 89 |
| 11 | Minnesota Wild | NW | 82 | 38 | 36 | 8 | 231 | 215 | 84 |
| 12 | Phoenix Coyotes | PA | 82 | 38 | 39 | 5 | 246 | 271 | 81 |
| 13 | Columbus Blue Jackets | CE | 82 | 35 | 43 | 4 | 223 | 279 | 74 |
| 14 | Chicago Blackhawks | CE | 82 | 26 | 43 | 13 | 211 | 285 | 65 |
| 15 | St. Louis Blues | CE | 82 | 21 | 46 | 15 | 197 | 292 | 57 |
Divisions: CE – Central, PA – Pacific, NW – Northwest
P – Clinched Presidents Trophy; Y – Clinched Division; X – Clinched Playoff spot

## Schedule and results

2005–06 regular season :
October: 4–8–0 (home: 3–3–0; road: 1–5–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
1October 5Columbus3 – 2WashingtonLeclaire16,3250–1–00Recap
2October 7Calgary3 – 1ColumbusDenis18,1360–2–00Recap
3October 9Columbus3 – 2ChicagoDenis11,0621–2–02Recap
4October 12Columbus1 – 4San JoseDenis17,4961–3–02Recap
5October 14Columbus3 – 4AnaheimLeclaire12,9301–4–02Recap
6October 16Columbus1 – 3Los AngelesDenis17,1561–5–02Recap
7October 21San Jose1 – 4ColumbusDenis15,3882–5–04Recap
8October 22Detroit6 – 0ColumbusDenis18,1362–6–04Recap
9October 24Detroit6 – 2ColumbusDenis16,0982–7–04Recap
10October 26Nashville2 – 3ColumbusOTPrusek15,1103–7–06Recap
11October 28Minnesota1 – 2ColumbusSOPrusek15,6694–7–08Recap
12October 29Columbus1 – 3MinnesotaPrusek18,5684–8–08Recap :
November: 3–10–0 (home: 1–5–0; road: 2–5–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
13November 1Columbus1 – 5EdmontonDenis16,8394–9–08Recap
14November 3Columbus1 – 2CalgaryDenis19,2894–10–08Recap
15November 4Columbus3 – 5VancouverDenis18,6304–11–08Recap
16November 9St. Louis1 – 3ColumbusDenis16,0585–11–010Recap
17November 11Edmonton3 – 1ColumbusDenis18,1365–12–010Recap
18November 13Los Angeles8 – 2ColumbusPrusek16,1745–13–010Recap
19November 16St. Louis2 – 0ColumbusDenis15,8025–14–010Recap
20November 18Columbus3 – 6DallasPrusek18,5325–15–010Recap
21November 20Columbus1 – 5PhoenixDenis13,9535–16–010Recap
22November 23Nashville4 – 2ColumbusLeclaire15,8335–17–010Recap
23November 25Colorado5 – 0ColumbusLeclaire18,1365–18–010Recap
24November 26Columbus4 – 3St. LouisPrusek15,0026–18–012Recap
25November 30Columbus3 – 2MinnesotaSOLeclaire18,5687–18–014Recap :
December: 5–8–1 (home: 4–3–0; road: 1–5–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
26December 1Columbus1 – 4St. LouisLeclaire12,3077–19–014Recap
27December 8NY Islanders3 – 4ColumbusSOLeclaire15,7288–19–016Recap
28December 9Columbus2 – 5AtlantaLeclaire14,2608–20–016Recap
29December 11New Jersey2 – 3ColumbusOTDenis17,1579–20–018Recap
30December 13Philadelphia3 – 1ColumbusDenis16,2639–21–018Recap
31December 15Columbus1 – 2CarolinaLeclaire11,0699–22–018Recap
32December 17Columbus3 – 7NashvilleDenis16,0209–23–018Recap
33December 20Columbus3 – 4DetroitSOLeclaire20,0669–23–119Recap
34December 21Dallas5 – 3ColumbusLeclaire16,8599–24–119Recap
35December 23Nashville5 – 4ColumbusDenis16,3309–25–119Recap
36December 26Chicago3 – 4ColumbusOTDenis17,44110–25–121Recap
37December 28Anaheim0 – 1ColumbusDenis17,38711–25–123Recap
38December 30Columbus3 – 2ChicagoDenis13,22912–25–125Recap
39December 31Columbus2 – 5DetroitDenis20,06612–26–125Recap :
January: 8–4–1 (home: 6–1–0; road: 2–3–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
40January 5Columbus3 – 6San JoseDenis15,27512–27–125Recap
41January 7Columbus2 – 3ColoradoSOLeclaire18,00712–27–226Recap
42January 8Columbus2 – 5PhoenixDenis14,43613–27–228Recap
43January 11Pittsburgh1 – 6ColumbusLeclaire18,13614–27–230Recap
44January 13Columbus2 – 4Tampa BayDenis20,42514–28–230Recap
45January 14Columbus5 – 4FloridaOTLeclaire17,99115–28–232Recap
46January 16NY Rangers3 – 4ColumbusDenis16,35516–28–234Recap
47January 18Detroit4 – 0ColumbusLeclaire17,08916–29–234Recap
48January 20St. Louis3 – 4ColumbusSODenis17,26817–29–236Recap
49January 21Columbus2 – 7NashvilleLeclaire15,41617–30–236Recap
50January 24Vancouver5 – 6ColumbusDenis16,19218–30–238Recap
51January 27Minnesota3 – 4ColumbusLeclaire17,15319–30–240Recap
52January 28Nashville3 – 4ColumbusDenis18,13620–30–242Recap :
February: 3–3–0 (home: 1–1–0; road: 2–2–0)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
53February 1Columbus2 – 1CalgarySODenis19,28921–30–244Recap
54February 2Columbus2 – 1EdmontonSODenis16,83922–30–246Recap
55February 6Columbus4 – 7VancouverDenis18,63022–31–246Recap
56February 8Los Angeles4 – 7ColumbusDenis16,16223–31–248Recap
57February 10Colorado4 – 1ColumbusDenis18,13623–32–248Recap
58February 11Columbus2 – 5NashvilleDenis17,11323–33–248Recap :
March: 7–7–1 (home: 4–4–0; road: 3–3–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
59March 2Columbus0 – 1ColoradoLeclaire18,00723–34–248Recap
60March 4Columbus2 – 3Los AngelesDenis17,23823–35–248Recap
61March 5Columbus3 – 2AnaheimSOLeclaire16,12424–35–250Recap
62March 7Chicago3 – 1ColumbusDenis16,13724–36–250Recap
63March 9Phoenix4 – 5ColumbusLeclaire17,06625–36–252Recap
64March 11Edmonton3 – 4ColumbusOTDenis18,13626–36–254Recap
65March 13Columbus2 – 3St. LouisOTLeclaire12,13026–36–355Recap
66March 15Columbus2 – 3ChicagoDenis10,13026–37–355Recap
67March 17Vancouver3 – 2ColumbusLeclaire16,16326–38–355Recap
68March 19Anaheim3 – 4ColumbusDenis16,51926–39–355Recap
69March 21Phoenix5 – 2ColumbusLeclaire15,58126–40–355Recap
70March 24Calgary2 – 3ColumbusDenis17,04127–40–357Recap
71March 25Columbus5 – 4DetroitSOLeclaire20,06628–40–359Recap
72March 28San Jose1 – 4ColumbusDenis16,09429–40–361Recap
73March 31Columbus4 – 2St. LouisLeclaire14,10130–40–363Recap :
April: 5–3–1 (home: 4–1–0; road: 1–2–1)
GameDateVisitorScoreHomeOTDecisionAttendanceRecordPtsRecap
74April 1Chicago2 – 5ColumbusDenis17,39431–40–365Recap
75April 3Columbus3 – 1NashvilleLeclaire12,07332–40–367Recap
76April 7Columbus5 – 6DetroitSODenis20,06632–40–468Recap
77April 8Detroit4 – 2ColumbusLeclaire18,13632–41–468Recap
78April 11Columbus2 – 3DallasDenis18,54332–42–468Recap
79April 13St. Louis1 – 4ColumbusLeclaire16,26233–42–470Recap
80April 15Chicago2 – 5ColumbusDenis16,55534–42–472Recap
81April 16Columbus3 – 4ChicagoLeclaire10,73334–43–472Recap
82April 18Dallas4 – 5ColumbusOTDenis17,10335–43–474Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Overtime/shootout 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 |
| 9 | David Vyborny | LW | 80 | 22 | 43 | 65 | −9 | 50 |
| 61 | Rick Nash | LW | 54 | 31 | 23 | 54 | 5 | 51 |
| 13 | Nikolay Zherdev | RW | 73 | 27 | 27 | 54 | −13 | 50 |
| 91 | Sergei Fedorov† | C | 62 | 12 | 31 | 43 | −1 | 64 |
| 38 | Jan Hrdina | C | 75 | 10 | 23 | 33 | −8 | 78 |
| 4 | Bryan Berard | D | 44 | 12 | 20 | 32 | −29 | 32 |
| 27 | Manny Malhotra | C | 58 | 10 | 21 | 31 | 1 | 41 |
| 25 | Jason Chimera† | LW | 80 | 17 | 13 | 30 | −10 | 95 |
| 10 | Trevor Letowski | RW | 81 | 10 | 18 | 28 | −2 | 36 |
| 15 | Duvie Westcott | D | 78 | 6 | 22 | 28 | 1 | 133 |
| 40 | Jaroslav Balastik | LW | 66 | 12 | 10 | 22 | −1 | 26 |
| 52 | Adam Foote | D | 65 | 6 | 16 | 22 | −16 | 89 |
| 97 | Rostislav Klesla | D | 51 | 6 | 13 | 19 | −4 | 75 |
| 6 | Ron Hainsey† | D | 55 | 2 | 15 | 17 | 13 | 43 |
| 49 | Dan Fritsche | RW | 59 | 6 | 7 | 13 | −14 | 22 |
| 42 | Mark Hartigan | C | 33 | 9 | 3 | 12 | −1 | 22 |
| 45 | Jody Shelley | LW | 80 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −4 | 163 |
| 26 | Todd Marchant‡ | C | 18 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −1 | 20 |
| 47 | Aaron Johnson | D | 26 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 23 |
| 21 | Radoslav Suchy | D | 79 | 1 | 7 | 8 | −8 | 30 |
| 22 | Luke Richardson‡ | D | 44 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −18 | 30 |
| 20 | Mike Rupp† | LW | 39 | 4 | 2 | 6 | −3 | 58 |
| 18 | Geoff Platt† | C | 15 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −4 | 16 |
| 17 | Gilbert Brule | C | 7 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 0 |
| 28 | Tyler Wright‡ | C | 18 | 0 | 4 | 4 | −3 | 20 |
| 5 | Jamie Pushor† | D | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| 32 | Cale Hulse†‡ | D | 27 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −9 | 43 |
| 24 | Francois Beauchemin‡ | D | 11 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −6 | 11 |
| 30 | Marc Denis | G | 49 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 2 |
| 31 | Pascal Leclaire | G | 33 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 2 |
| 51 | Andy Delmore | D | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 |
| 39 | Steven Goertzen | RW | 39 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −17 | 44 |
| 50 | Joakim Lindstrom | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Joe Motzko | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 |
| 19 | Alexandre Picard | LW | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 14 |
| 35 | Martin Prusek | G | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 8 | Geoff Sanderson‡ | LW | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| 44 | Peter Sarno | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 | Cam Severson† | LW | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 41 | Ben Simon | C | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −4 | 4 |
| 55 | Ole-Kristian Tollefsen | D | 5 | 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 | OT | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 30 | Marc Denis | 49 | 21 | 25 | 1 | 1505 | 151 | 3.25 | .900 | 1 | 2786 |
| 31 | Pascal Leclaire | 33 | 11 | 15 | 3 | 1084 | 97 | 3.23 | .911 | 0 | 1804 |
| 35 | Martin Prusek | 9 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 165 | 20 | 3.21 | .879 | 0 | 373 |

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (in-season) | NHL Offensive Player of the Week | David Vyborny (January 30) |
| Team | Foundation Community Service Award | Manny Malhotra |
| Team | Three Stars Award | Rick Nash |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Jaroslav Balastik | October 5, 2005 |
| First game | Gilbert Brule | October 5, 2005 |
| First game | Steven Goertzen | October 21, 2005 |
| First game | Alexandre Picard | November 18, 2005 |
| First game | Ole-Kristian Tollefsen | November 23, 2005 |
| First game | Geoff Platt | December 1, 2005 |
| First game | Joakim Lindstrom | February 8, 2006 |
| 1,000th game played | Sergei Fedorov | November 30, 2005 |
| 600th assist | Sergei Fedorov | January 8, 2006 |

## Transactions

The Blue Jackets were involved in the following transactions from February 17, 2005, the day after the 2004–05 NHL season was officially cancelled, through June 19, 2006, the day of the deciding game of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals.

### Trades

| Date | Details | Details |
| July 30, 2005 (2005-07-30) | To Columbus Blue Jackets Toronto’s 4th-round pick in 2005 | To Carolina Hurricanes Rights to Derrick Walser4th-round pick in 2006 |
| October 8, 2005 (2005-10-08) | To Columbus Blue Jackets Jason ChimeraCale HulseMike Rupp | To Phoenix Coyotes Tim JackmanGeoff Sanderson |
| November 15, 2005 (2005-11-15) | To Columbus Blue Jackets Sergei Fedorov5th-round pick in 2006 | To Anaheim Mighty Ducks Francois BeaucheminTyler Wright |
| February 28, 2006 (2006-02-28) | To Columbus Blue Jackets Cam Severson | To Calgary Flames Cale Hulse |
| March 8, 2006 (2006-03-08) | To Columbus Blue Jackets Conditional draft pick | To Toronto Maple Leafs Luke Richardson |

### Players acquired

| Date | Player | Former team | Term | Via |
| August 2, 2005 (2005-08-02) | Adam Foote | Colorado Avalanche | 3-year | Free agency |
| August 3, 2005 (2005-08-03) | Bryan Berard | Chicago Blackhawks | 2-year | Free agency |
| August 4, 2005 (2005-08-04) | Martin Prusek | Ottawa Senators | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 10, 2005 (2005-08-10) | Jan Hrdina | New Jersey Devils | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 11, 2005 (2005-08-11) | Ben Simon | Atlanta Thrashers | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 12, 2005 (2005-08-12) | Jeff MacMillan | New York Rangers | 1-year | Free agency |
| August 22, 2005 (2005-08-22) | Mark Flood | Peterborough Petes (OHL) | 3-year | Free agency |
| August 22, 2005 (2005-08-22) | Peter Sarno | Vancouver Canucks | 1-year | Free agency |
| October 4, 2005 (2005-10-04) | Andy Delmore | Detroit Red Wings | | Waivers |
| October 7, 2005 (2005-10-07) | Jamie Pushor | Syracuse Crunch (AHL) | | Free agency |
| November 25, 2005 (2005-11-25) | Geoff Platt | Syracuse Crunch (AHL) | multi-year | Free agency |
| November 29, 2005 (2005-11-29) | Ron Hainsey | Montreal Canadiens | | Waivers |
| December 30, 2005 (2005-12-30) | Darcy Verot | Syracuse Crunch (AHL) | 1-year | Free agency |

### Players lost

| Date | Player | New team | Via |
| N/A | Arturs Irbe | HK Riga 2000 (BHL) | Free agency (III) |
| N/A | Matthias Trattnig | EC Red Bull Salzburg (EBEL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| May 5, 2005 (2005-05-05) | Andre Lakos | EC Red Bull Salzburg (EBEL) | Free agency (VI) |
| May 27, 2005 (2005-05-27) | Brad Moran | SCL Tigers (NLA) | Free agency (VI) |
| May 27, 2005 (2005-05-27) | Alexander Svitov | Avangard Omsk (RSL) | Free agency (II) |
| June 30, 2005 (2005-06-30) | Darrel Scoville | EC VSV (EBEL) | Free agency (VI) |
| July 28, 2005 (2005-07-28) | Scott Lachance | Kloten Flyers (NLA) | Compliance buyout |
| July 29, 2005 (2005-07-29) | Andrew Cassels | Washington Capitals | Compliance buyout |
| August 1, 2005 (2005-08-01) | Scott Heffernan | | Contract expiration (UFA) |
| August 4, 2005 (2005-08-04) | Jaroslav Spacek | Chicago Blackhawks | Free agency (III) |
| August 10, 2005 (2005-08-10) | Ben Knopp | Phoenix Roadrunners (ECHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| August 11, 2005 (2005-08-11) | Zenith Komarniski | Calgary Flames | Free agency (VI) |
| August 12, 2005 (2005-08-12) | Kent McDonell | Detroit Red Wings | Free agency (VI) |
| August 18, 2005 (2005-08-18) | Prestin Ryan | Vancouver Canucks | Free agency (UFA) |
| September 7, 2005 (2005-09-07) | Jeremy Reich | Boston Bruins | Free agency (VI) |
| September 16, 2005 (2005-09-16) | Karl Goehring | HIFK (Liiga) | Free agency (VI) |
| October 10, 2005 (2005-10-10) | Jeff Panzer | Rapperswil-Jona Lakers (NLA) | Free agency (VI) |
| October 19, 2005 (2005-10-19) | Mike Pandolfo | Reading Royals (ECHL) | Free agency (UFA) |
| November 21, 2005 (2005-11-21) | Todd Marchant | Anaheim Mighty Ducks | Waivers |
| May 6, 2006 (2006-05-06) | Martin Prusek | SKA Saint Petersburg (RSL) | Free agency |
| May 23, 2006 (2006-05-23) | Peter Sarno | HC Fribourg-Gotteron (NLA) | Free agency |

### Signings

| Date | Player | Term | Contract type |
| July 28, 2005 (2005-07-28) | Philippe Dupuis | 3-year | Entry-level |
| July 28, 2005 (2005-07-28) | Marc Methot | 3-year | Entry-level |
| July 28, 2005 (2005-07-28) | Joe Motzko | 2-year | Re-signing |
| July 28, 2005 (2005-07-28) | Radoslav Suchy | 1-year | Option exercised |
| July 28, 2005 (2005-07-28) | Duvie Westcott | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 1, 2005 (2005-08-01) | Francois Beauchemin | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 8, 2005 (2005-08-08) | Rick Nash | 5-year | Re-signing |
| August 15, 2005 (2005-08-15) | Tim Jackman | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 15, 2005 (2005-08-15) | Rostislav Klesla | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 15, 2005 (2005-08-15) | Pascal Leclaire | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 15, 2005 (2005-08-15) | Brandon Sugden | 1-year | Re-signing |
| August 16, 2005 (2005-08-16) | Andrew Murray | | Entry-level |
| August 19, 2005 (2005-08-19) | Jaroslav Balastik | 1-year | Entry-level |
| August 22, 2005 (2005-08-22) | Mark Hartigan | 2-year | Re-signing |
| August 29, 2005 (2005-08-29) | Alexandre Picard | 3-year | Entry-level |
| August 29, 2005 (2005-08-29) | Tomas Popperle | 3-year | Entry-level |
| September 19, 2005 (2005-09-19) | Adam Pineault | | Entry-level |
| October 3, 2005 (2005-10-03) | Gilbert Brule | 3-year | Entry-level |
| February 3, 2006 (2006-02-03) | Joakim Lindstrom | 3-year | Entry-level |
| April 18, 2006 (2006-04-18) | Rostislav Klesla | 4-year | Re-signing |
| May 5, 2006 (2006-05-05) | David Vyborny | 2-year | Re-signing |
| June 1, 2006 (2006-06-01) | Dan LaCosta | 3-year | Entry-level |
| June 1, 2006 (2006-06-01) | Petr Pohl | 3-year | Entry-level |
| June 1, 2006 (2006-06-01) | Kyle Wharton | 3-year | Entry-level |
| June 15, 2006 (2006-06-15) | Jody Shelley | 2-year | Re-signing |

## Draft picks

Columbus' picks at the 2005 NHL entry draft in Ottawa, Ontario. The Blue Jackets picked sixth in odd rounds, 25th in even rounds.
| Round | # | Player | Nationality | NHL team | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 6 | Gilbert Brule (C) | Canada | Columbus Blue Jackets | Vancouver Giants (WHL) |
| 2 | 55 | Adam McQuaid (D) | Canada | Columbus Blue Jackets | Sudbury Wolves (OHL) |
| 3 | 67 | Kris Russell (D) | Canada | Columbus Blue Jackets | Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) |
| 4 | 101 | Jared Boll (RW) | United States | Columbus Blue Jackets (from Toronto Maple Leafs) | Lincoln Stars (USHL) |
| 5 | 131 | Tomas Popperle (G) | Czech Republic | Columbus Blue Jackets | Sparta Prague (Czech Republic) |
| 6 | 177 | Derek Reinhart (D) | Canada | Columbus Blue Jackets (from Phoenix) | Regina Pats (WHL) |
| 6 | 189 | Kirill Starkov (LW) | Russia | Columbus Blue Jackets | Frolunda HC Jr. (Sweden Jr.) |
| 7 | 201 | Trevor Hendrikx (D) | Canada | Columbus Blue Jackets | Peterborough Petes (OHL) |

## Farm teams
### Syracuse Crunch

The Syracuse Crunch are the Blue Jackets American Hockey League affiliate for the sixth season.

### Dayton Bombers

The Dayton Bombers of the ECHL are also entering their sixth season as an affiliate of the Blue Jackets.