TAMPA, Fla. — Earlier this season, when the Columbus Blue Jackets and right winger Mathieu Olivier began negotiating a contract extension, Olivier’s initial demand was that any new agreement include a minimum term of four years.
He certainly got his wish.
The Blue Jackets signed Olivier, 28, to a six-year, $18 million contract on Wednesday that will keep one of the NHL’s top fighters in Columbus through the 2030-31 season. The only other Blue Jackets player signed so far into the future is defenseman Damon Severson.
Olivier, who has emerged as much more than a role player for the Blue Jackets this season, cited two reasons why he wants to stick around with one of the surprise clubs in the NHL this season.
First, it’s stability. Olivier struggled to find a foothold in the NHL with Nashville in his first four seasons as a pro, but now he has the security that most pro athletes can only dream about. That’s especially true for players who play a physical, fighting game like he does.
“It’s a really good day for my family,” Olivier said. “Securing some years is something I’m grateful for and I’m truly humbled to sign that contract and be able to stay in Columbus for years to come.
“We don’t have careers that go into our 50s and 60s, so we have to make the most of the time we have playing hockey. For me, being a father and a family man, that’s something that was really important to me.”
The second reason is that Olivier can see what’s brewing in Columbus. Like so many other players in the dressing room, he was part of the last two miserable seasons with the Blue Jackets, when it seemed like the organization couldn’t get out of its own way.
This season, though, the Blue Jackets’ young players have bloomed almost simultaneously, and the veteran players have helped galvanize the group in a way rarely seen in Columbus. The Blue Jackets may or may not make the playoffs this season — they currently hold a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference — but the future looks bright.
“We’re playing meaningful hockey, which was the goal right off the hop,” Olivier said. “I feel like (coach) Dean (Evason) coming in brought a new approach to our group, and we’ve responded really well to it. Everything about what we’re doing this year is working and it’s going in the right direction.
“It’s great for our group … but also for our fans who have supported us the last two years even being at the bottom of the East, just giving them something to follow and cheer as we play meaningful games here down the stretch.”
Olivier’s contract carries a 10-team no-trade list in all six years of the deal. The deal will pay him $4 million next season, $3.9 million in 2026-27, $2.9 million in 2027-28 and $2.4 million in the final three years of the deal. The salary cap hit is $3 million per season.
The only players who have signed longer-term contracts with the Blue Jackets are Rick Nash, who signed an eight-year deal in 2009, and Nathan Horton (2013), Cam Atkinson (2017) and Johnny Gaudreau (2022), who signed seven-year deals.
Waddell said at least eight other NHL teams contacted him to see if Olivier would be available at the trade deadline.
“(Mathieu) said right off the bat that he wanted to go at least four years out, and we just felt that, to bring the (cap hit) down a little bit, we could extend him out to six years,” Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell said.
“It talked with Mathieu, not about the numbers, but about being here. Certainly, his family loves it. The biggest thing I always want to hear is that a guy wants to be part of the solution. When you hear those things and watch his actions, you know he can be part of the solution.”
The Blue Jackets, under previous GM Jarmo Kekäläinen, acquired Olivier from the Nashville Predators in the summer of 2022 for a fourth-round draft pick. He has always been regarded as one of the NHL’s more willing fighters, but he’s elevated his status significantly this season, becoming one of the league’s most-feared fighters.
The rest of his game has elevated, too.
Olivier has never been considered anything other than a fourth-liner until this season, when he’s spent most of the season playing on the Blue Jackets’ third line. Of late, he’s skated with center Justin Danforth and left winger Zach Aston-Reese.
Before this season, Olivier averaged 11:06 in ice time per game in the NHL. But that’s ballooned to 14:25 this season, and the rest of his numbers have followed. He’s already set career highs with 12 goals, 21 points and 113 penalty minutes, which is second-most in the NHL.
Through Tuesday’s games, there were 10 players in the NHL with 75 or more penalty minutes. The only player with more goals and points is Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk.
Olivier was asked if this is a career year for him offensively.
“Numbers are tricky because there are guys who are playing well and it’s just not going in for them, and then, sometimes, you’re not playing great and it keeps going in, right?” Olivier said. “It’s tricky to manage that.
“The big thing for me is, the way I’m getting those goals this year is by playing the way that I play every night. They’re not always pretty, but the end game is to get the job done and contribute, and that’s going to be the way I look at things from now on.”
Waddell signaled that it was unlikely any of his other pending unrestricted free agents — forwards Justin Danforth, Sean Kuraly and James van Riemsdyk, and defensemen Dante Fabbro, Ivan Provorov and Jack Johnson — would be signing extensions before Friday’s NHL trade deadline.
The Blue Jackets’ surprising season has Waddell approaching the trade deadline as a moderate buyer. He wants to add a top-nine forward but doesn’t expect to trade any significant players on the roster.
(Photo: Jason Mowry / Getty Images)
