After a frustrating draft lottery, Columbus decided that, with a bumper crop of free agents, the time was right to spend some money and see what happens.  Also, with the likes of Arvidsson, Point and Carlo all ready to take leading roles this season on low salaries and a plethora of youth coming down the pipeline, the decision was made even easier.

In the end, Columbus spent over 88 million dollars on 8 free agents.  

The biggest signing? That goes to Alexander Steen who signed a 2 year deal with an AAV of over 11 million.  Steen will likely slot in on the top line along with Zibanejad and Arvidsson.  Steen brings a solid all around game and will likely be one of the teams top TOI players.

Continuing with the trend up front, Andrew Ladd was brought in later in free agency for a 1 year deal worth 8.5 million.  With an 80SC rating, Ladd will likely find himself on the 2nd line with Baertschi and Point.  

Next with the forwards, Alexandre Burrows as signed to a 1 year 2.6 million dollar deal to bring a bit of a scoring touch and leadership to the bottom 6.  Burrows has the ability to move around in the lineup as the season wears on.

Finishing up with the forwards, probably the most ridiculed signing by the Blue Jackets, the team signed Ryan Callahan to a 4 year deal with a yearly cap hit of 4.5 million dollars.  The team is gambling that Callahan is now healthy and can regain some of his previous offensive touch to go along with his excellent DF ratings.

On the back end, the team added 3 players to their top 6 by signing Dan Hamhuis, Fedor Tyutin and Kevin Klein to 1 year deals.  Hamhuis and Tyutin will slot into the top 4 while Klein was brought in to add depth and potentially a bottom pairing role.

In net, the team basically had nothing so finally settled on signing Thomas Greiss to a 2 year contract.  At this point, Greiss is the number one goalie by default but the team would like to have a strong backup in place to keep Greiss fresh during the season.

All told, the opening day lineup presently stands like so

Steen / Zibanejad / Arvidsson

Ladd / Point / Baertschi

Paajarvi / Weal / Vatrano

Watson / Lander / Callahan

Extras - Burrows / Shore / Moulson

Carlo / Tyutin

Hamhuis / Dumoulin

Klein / Stoner

Extra - TvR / Connauton

Greiss

Berube

Aside from the backup goalie, there are still a few glaring holes to really compete with a stacked eastern conference.  Another top 6 defenseman wouldn't hurt and a proper 3rd line center who can win faceoffs would balance the lineup out.