Bobby Mac and Porty Episode 1 - Blue Jackets Training Camp

Welcome to the maiden voyage of Clear Breakaway.

Bob McElligott kicks off the 2026-27 season with the one guy who has been covering this team as long as he's been around it: Aaron Portzline, senior writer for The Athletic and a Blue Jackets beat writer since the franchise's first puck drop in 2000.

First, Bob handles the elephant in the room — the end of his 17-year run calling games, the decision to eliminate the radio broadcast position in favor of a TV/radio simulcast, and why he didn't see it coming.

Then it's hockey, with camp physicals hours away:

• Kirill Marchenko's trade request — "one of the least effective trade requests I've ever seen" — and why Porty thinks a 30-to-40-goal scorer doesn't get moved right before the season

• Adam Fantilli unsigned, and what the Leo Carlsson and Connor Bedard deals do to his number • Why the RFAs, not the GMs, are holding the hammer this summer — plus lost regional TV money, a new team plane, and Don Waddell's internal budget

• The Ryan Johansen 2014 cautionary tale, and what a compacted camp and 84-game schedule mean for a late signing • Cam Talbot's incentive-laden deal, and why Elvis Merzlikins' shoulder may be more serious than anyone is saying

• A prospect pipeline that now runs through college campuses instead of Cleveland • Carson Soucy's PTO and whether he's already better than Columbus' seventh defenseman

• Kent Johnson on the top line, Cole Sillinger in the middle, and Rick Bowness' message: "We're not here to dick around."

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