Daemon Hunt from Blue Jackets wants to prove that he is ready for NHL – The Hockey Writers Columbus Blue Jackets Latest News, Analysis and more

The Columbus Blue Jackets have a number of interesting selection decisions. Among them, how will the defensive unity shake?

Apart from an extensive injury, the top six seems to have been set. This is how that could look like the coming opening evening.

• Zach Werenski – Dante Fabbro
• Denton Mateychuk – Ivan Provorov
• Damon Severerson – Erik Gudbranson

Many believe that Jake Christiansen stands in line to be the seventh defender. Assuming the Blue Jackets keep two goalkeepers on the Roster, leave that room for a 14th attacker or an eighth defender.

That says Daemon Hunt Immediately in the middle of the grid bubble at the start of the camp. Will the 2025-26 season be the year that he finally breaks through?

Time to prove itself

Hunt knows how big a season this is. He was taken over by the Blue Jackets on the market in which David Jiricek went to the Minnesota Wild.

Hunt was not only an intervention as part of this trade. The blue jackets see a player here. But in the 23 -year -old season, he knows that the time is now to show that he is ready for a greater role. He would like to do this.

The season of Hunt ended prematurely last season due to a wrist injury. Head coach Trent Birdhuber of Cleveland Monsters had the opportunity to talk to Hunt about his season and what they wanted to see from him.

“I think the largest area was offensive to me that that side improved,” said Hunt. “I was not too happy with my songs last year. It is just one of those years in which you just can’t really find the back of the net. I hit posts. I missed open nets. Just like things like that, I think and also to get pucks, taking the time to make the right game.

Hunt spent this summer in Calgary Training Crash conditioning. Although he was working on it bigger, faster and stronger, his most important focus worked on his weaknesses and explored them both on and next to the ice.

Hunt knows that this is a big training camp for him. With so much competition on the blue jackets for so few places, he understands that even the smallest things in his game can be the difference between making the schedule or starting over in the AHL.

“I think it’s a lot of very good details,” Hunt said about the keys to making the NHL. “I think everyone there can skate, can pass, can shoot, but I think guys who can think the game at a very high level and who can make plays at a very high level are those who come to the next level. And everyone who competes works hard, but you have to think the game just as well and so quickly.

Being traded in every competition can be difficult. It can also be shocking for a player, especially if they don’t see him coming.

Hunt says that last season’s trade is involved in the wild, he really shocked. But after some reflection, he realized that he was more than just struck.

“I was absolutely shocked when I found out,” Hunt recalled. “I am stood by the GM of Minnesota and Iowa. I think a lot of emotions are going through your head at that moment and you don’t really look at the bigger picture. That is the past (now) and that is something that I cannot really check that I am so excited to be here.

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Hunt skated on Saturday with defender Erik Gudbranson as part of the first group. With Denton Mateychuk still not on the ice, the Hunt gives the chance to show what he can do and how far he has come. He certainly appreciates the time around Gudbranson and other veterans.

“I always try to ask as many questions as possible for those guys,” said Hunt. “And to be with Gudbranson today, it is good to just see how he is doing things, how he communicates and how he is in the gym. I always make small mental notes. But it’s nice to be with him and I feel like I can keep up with him, so that’s good.”

We will see while camp movements can show how much hunt can show. The Blue Jackets will have to decide whether it is best for him to play in the AHL minutes or to stay in the NHL as a potential healthy scratch to start. Whatever the outcome is, Hunt’s only focus is to make the Columbus Blue Jackets now.

“I think it is a large year that comes from the entry level (s) for a year,” said Hunt. “This is a year in which I have to make that big leap. I am 23 and I come to the age at which I have to pop it up and show everyone wrong. So I am here to do it.”