Dmitry Voronkov Expected To Sign With Columbus After KHL Season Finishes
- Blue Jackets prospect Dmitry Voronkov is expected to sign with Columbus once his KHL season comes to an end, reports Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription link). The 22-year-old center was a fourth-round pick by Columbus back in 2019 (114th overall) and has been a regular in the KHL since then. This season, he has 13 points in 28 games and is on pace for his best year offensively at that level. The Blue Jackets certainly could use some help down the middle and it appears they’ll get someone else to try at that position for next season in Voronkov.
Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Kirill Marchenko
Play the kids. The Columbus Blue Jacket’s season hasn’t gone anywhere near according to plan, so it’s time to see what they have in another youngster. Kirill Marchenko has been recalled from the AHL after just 16 games in North America.
Marchenko, 22, was the 49th overall selection in the 2018 draft, with an understanding that he wouldn’t be coming over for several years. Finally, after spending the last several seasons in the KHL, the young forward signed his entry-level contract last spring and made the trip to play with the Cleveland Monsters this year.
The AHL has proven to be no challenge for the young forward, as Marchenko has eight goals and 19 points in 16 games for Cleveland, though there are still some inconsistencies in his game. He is on a five-game point streak and should soon get a chance to show what he can do in the NHL.
Interestingly, it is Trey Fix-Wolansky who has been sent back to make room, after his own four-game stint with the Blue Jackets. Fix-Wolansky is the Monsters’ leading scorer with 22 points in 14 games, but standing just 5’7″ offers a very different skill set than the 6’3″ Russian.
The Blue Jackets have a back-to-back coming up tomorrow and Wednesday, where they will face the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres. Now sitting just 8-13-2, with several key injuries, it has turned into something of an evaluation season for the Columbus front office, instead of a competitive one.
Early Retirement Not Ruled Out For Jakub Voracek
Just this Friday, the Columbus Blue Jackets announced injury updates on a number of players, including forward Jakub Voracek, who has been battling lingering effects of a concussion suffered early this season. With that announcement, Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen clarified that Voracek did not necessarily have a timetable and that the team was going to give him time to see if his symptoms subsided before a return to the ice was considered. Today, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline published a more in-depth look at Voracek’s situation, speaking personally with Kekalainen on the expectations around the veteran winger, and things may look worse than they had seemed at first.
Postponed Game Against Predators Rescheduled To January 17th
- Last month, the Predators had a pair of their games postponed due to a water main break in their arena. Today, the league announced the makeup dates for those contests. Nashville will host the Blue Jackets on January 17th while they will host the Avalanche on April 14th, one day after the regular season is set to conclude.
Patrik Laine, Elvis Merzlikins Activated From Injured Reserve
The Columbus Blue Jackets are getting healthier. Patrik Laine and Elvis Merzlikins have both been activated from injured reserve, with Daniil Tarasov loaned back to the AHL to make room. The move suggests both will be ready to return tomorrow against the Winnipeg Jets.
Laine, 24, has played eight games this season between two separate stints on IR and has just two goals so far. The Finnish sniper signed a four-year, $34.8MM deal in the offseason that secured his future with the Blue Jackets, and put him in line for a career year across from newcomer Johnny Gaudreau. Things haven’t gone according to plan, with Laine and a huge chunk of the Columbus roster spending more time on the shelf than the ice.
For Merzlikins, things haven’t gone well even when he was healthy. The 28-year-old netminder posted a .864 save percentage through nine appearances, his last coming on November 15. He has recorded a performance above .900 just once this season, and has allowed at least five goals in four of nine games. If the Blue Jackets have any chance of climbing back into the race, they need Merzlikins to find the level of play he showed as a rookie, when he finished fifth in both Calder and Vezina voting.
Coincidentally, Tarasov has actually been much closer to those numbers this season, posting a .912 in six appearances. While the team has faith in Merzlikins as the starter, they shouldn’t hesitate to go back to the young Tarasov if the former continues to struggle.
Columbus Blue Jackets Sign Luca Del Bel Belluz, James Malatesta
The Columbus Blue Jackets have added another pair of talented youngsters to the organization, signing Luca Del Bel Belluz and James Malatesta to three-year, entry-level contracts. Del Bel Belluz is currently playing with the Mississauga Steelheads of the OHL, while Malatesta is with the Quebec Remparts of the QMJHL, where they will both remain for the rest of the season.
Del Bel Belluz, selected 44th overall in this year’s draft, was considered at one point as a potential first-round talent. The 19-year-old center has actually had a rather disappointing season so far, despite still scoring at a good pace. His 26 points in 21 games aren’t quite what many expected in his third full OHL season, especially after the pace he scored at in his draft year. There’s still plenty of time for the super-skilled forward to develop, and he’ll join a Columbus system that is packed full of offensive talent.
Another entry in that group is Malatesta, the 5’9″ forward with 19 goals in 23 games so far. Selected in the fifth round in 2021, he has bounced back nicely after some struggles last season and is once again one of the most dangerous players in the league when given space to operate. While there is still lots of work to do before Malatesta sniffs the NHL, earning an entry-level deal is a good start.
Neither player will count toward the Blue Jackets’ 50-player limit this season and neither one will burn the first year of their contract. Del Bel Belluz only turned 19 a few weeks ago, meaning his contract could slide again next season as well.
Patrik Laine Will Travel With Blue Jackets
The Columbus Blue Jackets have had just about everything go wrong this season, including two injured reserve stints by star forward Patrik Laine. The latest one, which has kept him out of the lineup since November 12, might be coming to an end soon. Laine is expected to travel with the Blue Jackets when they head to Winnipeg to take on his former team on Friday, though it is not determined yet whether he’ll play in that game, according to team reporter Jeff Svoboda.
The 24-year-old sniper just hasn’t been able to get anything going this season, after getting injured in the opener and then again after his eighth appearance. He does have two goals and four points, but there has been no rhythm to his season so far.
Big things were expected of Laine, after a point-per-game campaign in 2021-22 and the addition of Johnny Gaudreau in free agency. The two seemed like a strong match stylistically, with the smaller Gaudreau able to create shots for his teammates with ease. While the newcomer does lead the team in points with 22, it hasn’t generated many wins.
The Blue Jackets sit dead last in the Metropolitan Division, five points behind a team that just went through a ten-game losing streak. Laine is just one of the many injured Columbus players, a list that includes Jakub Voracek, Elvis Merzlikins, Jake Bean, Justin Danforth, Nick Blankenburg, Adam Boqvist, and – perhaps most importantly – Zach Werenski.
Getting Laine back would be a huge boost, though it’s hard to imagine the Blue Jackets getting back into the race at this point.
Sweezey Returned To AHL
- After ten days with the club and no action, Billy Sweezey has been sent back down by the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 26-year-old defenseman is probably not complaining, given the fact that he earned the NHL salary of his two-way contract – the first of his career – for that period. Sweezey signed a two-year deal in March after a good season with the Cleveland Monsters in 2021-22, when he racked up 114 penalty minutes and 11 points in 70 games.
Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Tim Berni
The Columbus Blue Jackets, ravaged by injuries and floundering at the bottom of the league standings, are going to give an interesting young prospect a chance. Tim Berni has been recalled from the minor leagues, with Brendan Gaunce returned to the AHL to make room.
Berni, 22, was picked 159th overall in 2018 but made a name for himself while playing for Switzerland at the World Juniors and for his club team back home. A three-time member of the Swiss junior contingent, he captained the team at the 2020 tournament. He won a National League title in 2018 with the ZSC Lions after a late-season recall, and continued playing strong defense for the club for the next few seasons.
Last year, he came to North America and played the entire season with the Cleveland Monsters, racking up 15 points and 44 penalty minutes in 72 games. The left-shot defenseman isn’t really an offensive piece, but has an incredible work ethic in his own end and aggressively shuts down plays with quick feet. ‘
In what has become a lost season for the Blue Jackets, getting a glance at Berni in the NHL will give the organization a bit more data for contract negotiations in the summer when his entry-level deal expires. Is this someone who could potentially contribute down the road, or is he limited to minor-league success? With so many regular defensemen injured, Columbus will get a chance to answer some of those questions.
Johnny Gaudreau's Status Unclear For Monday's Game Due To Illness
- Columbus Blue Jackets winger Johnny Gaudreau did not practice today due to an unknown illness, says Jeff Svoboda of BlueJackets.com. Per Svoboda, Columbus head coach Brad Larsen said he’ll know more tomorrow about Gaudreau’s availability for tomorrow night’s game. Gaudreau has not missed any games thus far with the illness. While the team is struggling this year, the first-year Jacket has not, posting 20 points in 20 games to date.