Finally, the next summer, the gears started moving. A new CBA was agreed to in July, and mere days later the 2005 draft was held (Gilbert Brule was the Blue Jackets' first-round pick at No. 6 overall). Free agency quickly followed and the Blue Jackets were active, with general manager Doug MacLean signing three notable veterans in defensemen Adam Foote and Bryan Berard as well as forward Jan Hrdina. On Aug. 8, MacLean announced another move, inking franchise forward Rick Nash to a five-year contract.
Two more big moves happened early in the season as well. On Oct. 8, Geoff Sanderson was dealt to Phoenix, with the original Jacket traded for forwards Jason Chimera and Mike Rupp along with defenseman Cale Hulse. Then, on Nov. 15, a true blockbuster was announced, as the team acquired six-time All-Star Sergei Fedorov from Anaheim in exchange for Tyler Wright and Francois Beauchemin.
Early on, unfortunately, the results didn't match the excitement of hockey's return for Gerard Gallant's team. Though the team won its first-ever shootout in front of a frenzied Nationwide Arena on Oct. 28 vs. Minnesota, Columbus was victorious in just one of its first six games and was 5-18-0 by late November.
Slowly but surely, things clicked a bit from there, though. Foote was named captain Dec. 6, and the team soon found its footing, going 14-6-1 in its first 21 games after the Christmas holiday. The Blue Jackets would go on to add a six-game winning streak from March 24-April 3, a franchise record at the time. By the time Fedorov scored in overtime to give Columbus a 5-4 win over Dallas in the season finale, the team had earned the most wins (35) and points (74) in franchise history as well as its first-ever third-place finish in the Central Division.
It wasn't enough for a playoff berth, but it felt like tangible progress. David Vyborny had a career year, leading the team with 65 points, while Rick Nash (31-23-54) and Nikolai Zherdev (27-27-54) looked like true building blocks up front as both were just 21 years old. Fedorov added 12 goals and 43 points in 62 games, while Hrdina, Berard, Chimera, Manny Malhotra, Trevor Letowski and Jaroslav Balastik all reached double digits in goals.
Unfortunately, defense proved to be a continued problem, especially in a new-look league that put a bigger emphasis on speed and creativity thanks to a push by league officials to eliminate the clutching and grabbing that had come to mark the game. Marc Denis (21-25-1, 3.25, .900) was joined in net by first-round pick Pascal Leclaire (11-15-3, 3.23, .911), but the Blue Jackets allowed 279 goals to place 26th in the NHL.
In addition, at midseason, the league shut down for two weeks so NHL players could compete at the Winter Olympics, with four Blue Jackets taking part. Vyborny returned with a bronze medal after playing for the Czech Republic, while Nash and Foote were on Team Canada and defenseman Radoslav Suchy suited up for Slovakia.
