The Columbus Blue Jackets are expected to keep most of their players together, as the NHL trade deadline approaches this season. Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell wants to give his team more time to gel and win.

As reported by The Athletic on Monday, the Blue Jackets are close to signing tough winger Mathieu Olivier to a long-term contract extension. Olivier, a pending unrestricted free agent, has emerged as perhaps the NHL’s top fighter, as well as a leader and a secondary scorer (12 goals) for Columbus this season.

As such, with the Blue Jackets in the midst of the hunt for a Stanley Cup Playoff berth in the Eastern Conference, defenseman Ivan Provorov, considered a leading candidate to be moved not so long ago because of his eligibility to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, might be staying put.