The Jackets currently have eight defensemen under contract for next season, but there's a good chance that the CBJ brass would like to upgrade the group.
An internal upgrade isn't likely, as the top prospects who could make an impact aren't ready for prime time yet: Austin Madaisky and Dillon Heatherington will still be developing in Cleveland while Dean Kukan was signed out of Europe to provide depth and competition.
This means that if the team wants to upgrade that group of eight, they'll need to look outside of the organization to do so.