Columbus Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell pre-draft press conference

question.

I think for right now, there's some matters that we're dealing with that should probably stay internal.

My plan is still to meet with Zach here in the near future.

and see where he's at.

But, you know, we've had some conversations with his agent, but there's been no definitive plan for sure.

Is it your sense that it perhaps depends on what occurs this summer, what you're able to do in terms of whether he's willing to extend or what happens next season, or what do you think that meeting's going to be about?

Yeah,

no,

I mean, sure, that plays a part in it, but I think it's more of, you know... you know, long-term, you know, obviously we can't get into contracts because he's still got two years left, but just want to get a good sense of where, where he's at.

And we'll see how that goes and take it from

there.

Just kind of building on that from a general manager standpoint, going into a draft like this, there's so many trades already happening.

I mean, how much easier would it make your job if you had some clarity on that, like more clarity right now going into it?

No,

it

really doesn't affect the draft at all, obviously.

We're still trying to make some deals to make our team better, and that may include draft pick that we have at 14, but our goal hasn't changed from when the season ended.

We know we want to try to be better, and we're going to continue to work that, and this will play itself out in time.