Blue Jackets sign Daemon Hunt to one-year contract

Some organizational depth on the back end for the team from Ohio.

On Friday, Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell announced that the team has signed defenseman Daemon Hunt to a one-year, two-way contract for the 2025-26 season.

The official terms of the contract have yet to be announced. Hunt was the last restricted free agent the Blue Jackets had to sign.

Waddell says there are a couple of parts of Hunt’s game that make him an important asset to the franchise.

“Daemon Hunt is a good, young two-way defenseman that plays a smart and controlled game,” Waddell said in a release. “His signing provides us important additional organizational depth on our blue line.”

Hunt is coming off his three-year, entry-level contract, which had an NHL AAV of $902,500, with a minor-league salary of $80,000. That deal was signed with the Minnesota Wild, the team that took him in the third round, 65th overall, of the 2020 NHL Draft.

After wrapping up his junior career with the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League in 2022, the Brandon, Manitoba native made his full-time jump to the professional ranks with the Wild’s American Hockey League affiliate, the Iowa Wild. Hunt made his NHL debut with Minnesota during the 2023-24 season, appearing in one game with the big club last season.

However, his time with the Wild came to an end last November, when he was part of the trade that sent David Jiricek from Columbus to Minnesota. Hunt didn’t play for the Blue Jackets for the remainder of the season, but appeared in 48 games with the organization’s primary affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. The 23-year-old scored two goals and 12 assists for 14 points in 48 games.

In 13 NHL games, Hunt has just one assist. In 175 AHL appearances, he has notched eight goals and 52 assists for 60 points.