COLUMBUS, Ohio — It was an impressively structured and organized training camp under new Columbus Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason, with clearly defined roles and lines that were barely tweaked from one day to the next in the preseason.
But the Blue Jackets endured a major roster blow late last week when top-six forwards Boone Jenner and Dmitri Voronkov suffered upper-body injuries that are going to keep them out of the lineup long-term, although the Blue Jackets have not made a timeline public for either player.
It led to significant upheaval up front with all four lines feeling the ripple effects of the injuries. There was a late wrinkle on defense, too, but it was performance-related, not caused by injuries.
As the 2024-25 regular-season opener arrives at 8 p.m. on Thursday — the Blue Jackets play the Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center — we thought it might be helpful to reset the lines and pairs and provide some insights into what the strengths and struggles might be.
Forwards
Yegor Chinakhov – Sean Monahan – Kirill Marchenko
Insights: Chinakhov gets a big opportunity, moving up to the top line in the wake of Jenner’s injury. It’s a dramatically different line with Chinakhov, who is more of a shooter and less of a puck hog along the wall than Jenner. Still, Chinakhov could easily bloom into a 25-goal scorer if he sticks here.
This put significant pressure on Monahan, who now is charged with bringing along two young forwards on his flanks. He would have shared the faceoff dot with Jenner, too, but that’s all on him now. It’s a scoring line, but is it a line that can get out of its own end and sustain possession?
Marchenko has shown considerable progress in his efforts to possess and protect the puck, as well as his play in the defensive zone. His improvement in those areas is more important now than ever.
James van Riemsdyk – Adam Fantilli – Kevin Labanc
Insights: The new member here is Labanc, who spent training camp with the New Jersey Devils on a player tryout agreement before the Blue Jackets — after losing Jenner and Voronkov — came calling with a one-year, NHL contract. Labanc is an interesting player. He’s had five seasons with double-digit goals, but fell to just two goals in 46 games last season with San Jose.
Here’s Evason on Labanc: “I had a chat with him, and he said he wants to be a dog on a bone. He plays an aggressive game that gets after it. That’s what I’ve seen on the opposing bench. He works and competes and battles. He’s scored goals in his career, too.”
Fantilli seems poised to be one of the NHL’s breakout young players this year, and he’s going to get every opportunity for big playing time and a big role on the power play. But does this line work? Labanc has offensive skill, but has struggled recently in his own zone. James van Riemsdyk is a big-body, down-low battler at this stage of his career.
Mikael Pyyhtiä – Cole Sillinger – Kent Johnson
Insights: The new face here is Pyyhtiä, who was seen as a long shot to make the final roster at the start of camp and ended up in a top-nine spot. Good on him, he had a great camp. Coaches appreciate that he’s positionally sound and plays a responsible two-way game, but is the moderate skill he’s shown in the AHL going to translate?
Evason on Pyyhtiä: “He’s an easy guy to like. (AHL Cleveland coach) Trent Vogelhuber said that as well. He’s gotten better each day. He does a lot of little things right. He’s a very intelligent hockey player who competes his butt off.”
Johnson and Sillinger spent the summer training together, and that familiarity with each other’s games has already shown itself in the preseason. It is tempting to keep them together — we get it — but Johnson’s camp was so impressive you wonder if he might play his way up to the first or second line.
How will this line be used? Sillinger looks like he’s ready to assert himself as a checking-line center, but that’s not Johnson’s game. Or Pyyhtiä’s.
Zach Aston-Reese – Sean Kuraly – Mathieu Olivier
Insights: If you love a classic fourth line, look no further. Aston-Reese was claimed off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights just before the NHL rosters were set, bringing his un-fancy style to Columbus. He’s a hard skater, a check-finisher and a willing fighter. He seems like an “Evason” guy.
Evason on Aston-Reese: “He’s got a grit level to him that we really like. He’s a lot bigger than I thought he was, too, just watching him on the ice today. He skates extremely well, too.”
I could easily see Kuraly and Aston-Reese being the forwards on a penalty-killing unit. Kuraly is a known quantity in these parts. Hope he’s ready for some greasy nights along with his linemates.
Olivier should be set free by Evason’s system, which emphasizes pressuring the puck and being aggressive, even if it means taking risks. If the Jackets play that way, Olivier will be asked to work without his gloves, which he’s perfectly comfortable doing.
Defense
Zach Werenski – Ivan Provorov
Insights: The whole back end shifted late in camp, at least in part because the coaching staff started to waver on David Jiříček’s ability to play immediately on a top-two pair. Provorov, who had played left side with Jiříček on the second pair for most of camp, was moved to the right side and joined Werenski. Evason indicated Wednesday that the entire back end is fluid, so don’t get wedded to these pairings.
Werenski dropped 10-12 pounds over the offseason by cutting most of the carbs and sugars out of his diet, he said. He’s always been a quick, elusive blue liner but said he feels even more explosive now. He also said it makes playing 25-plus minutes feel a lot easier, which is a good thing. He’s going to do it a lot this season.
Jake Christiansen – Damon Severson
This is a bigger shock, frankly, than Pyyhtiä making the final cut, but full marks to Christiansen for beating out two others — Jiříček and Jordan Harris — who clearly started camp ahead of him.
Christiansen feels like Evason’s style — which allows defensemen to skate with the puck and join the rush, but relies on forwards to cover for them — may fit him better than whatever the system was the past two years. He’s been an All-Star in the AHL, but this may be his best chance.
Severson is hoping to rebound from a difficult first year in Columbus. He started camp with Werenski on the top pair, but is now working with Christiansen.
Jack Johnson – Erik Gudbranson
There’s a lot of size and muscle here. Johnson is built like an NFL middle linebacker; Gudbranson could pass for a tight end. Can they work together as a third pair? Ideally you’d like a puck-mover or a skater on this pairing to help move the puck out of danger, but let’s see how it goes. These are two veteran players who, by now, know how they need to play in this league.
Goaltenders
Elvis Merzlikins
It likely won’t calm too many nerves until he gets back to delivering in the regular season, but Merzlikins had a strong camp and preseason, turning in a .932 save percentage in three starts. Evason has vowed every player gets a “clean slate,” and that might mean as much to Merzlikins as anybody.
Here’s what Evason said of Merzlikins after Wednesday’s practice: “I’ve seen a fantastic teammate who works his ass off every day. That’s what we’ve asked him to do. We asked him to work. His competitiveness, and not just in the games, but in practices, too, it has certainly impressed me and the coaches, and I think his teammates really respect that, too.”
Daniil Tarasov
At the start of camp, you wondered if Tarasov would find himself in a 50/50 split with Merzlikins or a more traditional 75/25 split between the starter and backup. Truly, it remains to be seen, as Evason has said he’s going to play the hot hand. So far, that’s been Merzlikins.
Tarasov, like Merzlikins, got three preseason starts. He lost two of those starts and had an .809 save percentage. Let’s see what happens to both of these players when the games start counting.
(Top photo of Yegor Chinakhov: Elsa / Getty Images)
