Earlier this week, the agent for Blue Jackets forward Yegor Chinakhov indicated that his client was unhappy with his role and while the youngster hadn’t asked for a trade, he’d like to be moved. Speaking with reporters today including Brian Hedger of the Columbus Post-Dispatch, the 22-year-old tried to pour cold water on that notion to an extent. He stated his affinity for the team and market but that he simply just wants to play. Chinakhov started the season on IR and then was sent to the AHL briefly before being recalled early last month. Since then, he has been a regular most nights but is playing under 14 minutes per game, lately spending time on the fourth line even but has five points in 13 games. Clearly, the 2020 first-round pick is looking to have a bigger role; he will once again be a restricted free agent in the summer but will have arbitration rights at that time for the first time.
Blue Jackets Rumors
Cole Sillinger Out Day-To-Day
- Columbus Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, according to team reporter Jeff Svoboda. That’s less than ideal news for Columbus, as Sillinger is still widely seen as a core part of the team’s future. While he hasn’t quite reached the heights of his 16-goal, 31-point rookie season, Sillinger has managed nine points in 24 games this year and seemed to build some solid chemistry with other young Blue Jackets forwards such as Dmitri Voronkov and Yegor Chinakhov.
Blue Jackets Recall Kent Johnson, Place Damon Severson On IR
The Columbus Blue Jackets brought top forward prospect Kent Johnson back up from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters on Thursday, per a team release. To make room on the roster, defenseman Damon Severson has been placed on injured reserve. He is one week into a six-week recovery timeline from an oblique injury.
This season started on a rough note for Johnson, Columbus’ fifth-overall pick in the 2021 draft. He was scratched by head coach Pascal Vincent for the team’s season opener and received minimal ice time when reinstated into the lineup, posting three points in eight games while averaging 12:49 per contest.
After being a healthy scratch twice in the Blue Jackets’ first ten games, there was another blow: Columbus opted to send him to the minors for the first time in his career. It was an unexpected move after the 21-year-old notched 16 goals and 40 points in 79 games during his rookie season last year.
The versatile, skillful forward quickly showed he didn’t belong at a lower level of play. Through ten games with the Monsters, Johnson registered five goals and ten assists for 15 points, positioning himself as second on the team in points despite missing seven out of 17 games while on the NHL roster.
In the final season of his entry-level contract, Johnson will make his case to stay on the Blue Jackets roster for the remainder of the season. The pending restricted free agent will not have arbitration rights next summer and is owed a qualifying offer of $874,125.
In his draft year, Elite Prospects labeled Johnson an “artist” with the puck and listed him as the tenth-best prospect available. Dobber Prospects lists Johnson as the second-best forward prospect in the Columbus system behind 2023 third-overall pick Adam Fantilli, who has a respectable ten points in 24 games to kick off his NHL career.
Severson’s recovery remains status quo as he’s not expected to begin skating for a while yet. He remains on track to return to the lineup around New Year’s Day.
Yegor Chinakhov Reportedly Unhappy With Role, Considering Trade Request
Although rookie Columbus Blue Jackets forward Dmitri Voronkov told the media last night, including The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, that he was “going to stay” with Columbus rather than return to Russia, he wasn’t the only Russian Blue Jacket contemplating an exit. (subscription link)
The Columbus Dispatch’s Brian Hedger relays word from forward Yegor Chinakhov’s agent, Shumi Babaev, who says that his client is seeking a change to his current situation. Babaev told Hedger via text message:
He doesn’t feel they trust him, and he wants to leave. They don’t understand how bad [Chinakhov] feels.
According to Hedger, this issue relates to the fact that Chinakhov “isn’t happy playing a fourth-line role” with the Blue Jackets. General Manager Jarmo Kekäläinen declined to comment on the matter. 
He currently ranks third-to-last among Blue Jackets forwards in average ice time per game, above only Voronkov, who is a rookie, and Mathieu Olivier, who is an enforcer.
It’s worth noting that Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent did change up his lineup in a manner that favored Chinakhov for last night’s game, and Chinakhov responded with one of the better games of his career.
He scored a goal and added an assist as the Blue Jackets upset the Boston Bruins by a 5-2 margin.
But last night’s success still only brings Chinakhov’s total numbers to four points in 12 games, a far cry from what the Blue Jackets likely expected from the former KHL Rookie of the Year when they drafted him 21st overall at the 2020 draft. According to Hedger, Babaev “expressed Chinakhov’s concerns” to Blue Jackets management 10 days ago, but added that “no trade request has been made yet.”
Given how Chinakhov has struggled to make an impact thus far in his NHL career, it’s not exactly surprising that he’s thinking about how a change of scenery could benefit him. In 104 career games, Chinakhov has just 31 points and a career-best of 13 points in 30 games, which came last season.
Chinakhov has battled injuries along the way, though he hasn’t really had a chance to get significant ice time in the AHL and develop his game there. He is above point-per-game in 11 career AHL contests, but it appears playing Chinakhov with the Cleveland Monsters has never been seen as a legitimate development path for the forward.
Set to turn 23 in February, it’s looking increasingly as though Columbus won’t be the place where Chinakhov will be able to maximize his NHL potential. It’s possible that getting to play on his team’s third line alongside Voronkov and Cole Sillinger is exactly the kind of change Chinakhov needs, rather than a trade. But as we inch closer and closer to NHL trade season, these comments from Chinakhov’s agent cement the former top prospect as a key name to watch.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Dmitri Voronkov Considering Return To Russia
Columbus Blue Jackets rookie forward Dmitri Voronkov has been one of the team’s better stories so far this season, as the 23-year-old has jumped out to a strong start to his North American pro career. According to the Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, his time with Columbus, at least for this season, could be coming to an end. (subscription link)
Portzline wrote today that Russian media outlets have reported that “Voronkov is homesick and has considered returning to Russia,” adding that Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekäläinen has confirmed those reports.
Kekäläinen told Portzline that the Blue Jackets are “dealing with it internally,” adding “It’s normal for a young player to feel homesick at times. And so we’re dealing with it.”
If Voronkov does indeed decide he wants to return to Russia, his current contract status dictates that the Blue Jackets would have to send him there via a loan to his KHL team, Ak Bars Kazan.
According to Portzline, “the biggest hurdle” for Voronkov and his adjustment to life in North America has been that the forward “speaks almost no English.”The hope was that the presence of a few other Russians on the Blue Jackets’ roster, namely Ivan Provorov, Kirill Marchenko, and Yegor Chinakhov, would smooth out his adjustment. Portzline added, “The Blue Jackets took steps to help Voronkov acclimate when he first arrived, but those efforts will be redoubled in the coming days.” Former Blue Jacket Fedor Tyutin, who helped Marchenko acclimate to life in Columbus, could be enlisted to help.
In terms of how the loss of Voronkov would impact the Blue Jackets on the ice, it would be a significant blow. Voronkov is currently playing on the team’s second line next to two of the franchise’s most important players: Patrik Laine and Adam Fantilli.
A big power forward with a goal-scoring touch, Voronkov’s solid KHL numbers have translated to the NHL thus far. He’s currently scoring at a 16-goal, 49-point 82-game pace, and his physicality is well-appreciated as well.
With Columbus desperate to revive their playoff hopes early in this 2023-24 campaign, the status of Voronkov and his potential return to Russia will be a key storyline to monitor for Blue Jackets fans.
Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
Alexandre Texier Set To Return
- Columbus Blue Jackets forward Alexandre Texier, who missed the team’s last two games due to an illness, will return to the lineup for tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes according to team reporter Jeff Svoboda. The 24-year-old has been solid for the Blue Jackets so far this season after a year spent in the Swiss National League, as he has four goals and seven points in 19 games.
Texier (Illness) Joins Blue Jackets On Road Trip
- Blue Jackets winger Alexandre Texier has joined the team on its road trip, relays Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has missed the last two games due to illness but evidently has been cleared to return. After spending last season in Switzerland, Texier is off to a relatively quiet start to his season, notching four goals and three assists in his first 19 games despite logging more than 16 minutes a night of ice time, a career-best.
Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Eric Robinson
In an effort to shake things up regarding their forward core, the Columbus Blue Jackets announced they have recalled Eric Robinson from their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. Playing on the second year of a two-year, $3.2MM contract with the Blue Jackets, Robinson has only been able to play in one game for Columbus this season.
A well-known problem throughout the league, the Blue Jackets offense has been anemic this year, not generating much from any level of their forward unit. Through 19 games, Columbus is averaging 2.68 G/GP, which puts them 27th in the league. Similarly, the organization’s powerplay has been equally as abysmal, generating a 9.84% success rate on the season, good for 30th in the league.
Although Robinson will not correct the ship on his own, he has been a quality depth scorer for the Blue Jackets over the last three seasons. Playing in 196 games since the start of the 2020-21 season, Robinson has scored 30 goals and 39 assists for the team, including five shorthanded points.
Before the callup, he was not tearing up the AHL level by any means but did score one goal and three assists in nine games for the Monsters. Given his playstyle, while he is back with Columbus, Robinson should feature in the bottom six of the team’s forward core.
Damon Severson Out 6 Weeks With Oblique Injury
Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson sustained an oblique injury in Sunday’s game against the Flyers and is set to miss approximately six weeks, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in a release. Severson has not been placed on IR, but nevertheless, the team reassigned forward Trey Fix-Wolansky to AHL Cleveland in a corresponding transaction.
This is the second major injury for the Blue Jackets in the early going of 2023-24, as Severson joins forward Jack Roslovic (ankle) on the injured list. Both were given a six-week recovery timeline from their initial injuries. It’s still a far cry from the injuries that decimated Columbus last season, especially among their defense corps.
Severson sustained the oblique injury in a failed dive attempt to keep the puck in the offensive zone, which led to a shorthanded goal by the Flyers’ Ryan Poehling. Set to be an unrestricted free agent last summer, the Blue Jackets acquired Severson in a sign-and-trade with the Devils that saw the 29-year-old earn an eight-year, $50MM deal.
He was off to a decent start in Columbus, recording eight points through 19 games, averaging nearly 21 minutes per game and leading Blue Jackets defenders with a +1 rating. He’d posted an incredibly strong relative Corsi share of 5.6%, meaning the Blue Jackets’ already poor possession stats are likely to dip even further without Severson in the lineup.
In a small silver lining, Severson’s absence should provide more opportunity for a pair of young right-shot defenders to get some more ice time from now until the New Year. 23-year-old Adam Boqvist and 19-year-old David Jiříček moved up to the first and second pairings, respectively, in practice today, according to Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. Both have averaged under 14 minutes per game, and appearances have been limited – especially for Boqvist, who’s been a scratch in 14 out of 19 games for Columbus this season.
Meanwhile, Fix-Wolansky heads back to the minors after making just one appearance during his recall, logging zeros across the scoresheet in 12:32 of ice time against the Coyotes last Thursday. He’d been a healthy scratch in two straight contests. The diminutive winger is off to a scorching hot start in the minors, leading the team with four goals, 12 assists and 16 points through 11 games.
Columbus Not Making Rash Decisions Despite Losing Streak
The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline recently sat down with the Columbus Blue Jackets’ President of Hockey Operations, John Davidson, to discuss the team’s early season woes. But despite the nine-game losing streak, which has seen Johnny Gaudreau get benched and Patrik Laine get scratched, Davidson says no rash changes are inbound for the Blue Jackets. “Woe is me does not work. It’s an emotional game, a hard game,” Davidson told Portzline, “but we need the improvements we’re seeing with some of our younger players — Alexandre Texier, Kirill Marchenko, Adam Fantilli, these guys — to continue, and we need our best players to start playing like they’re capable of playing.”