2023-24 was another long and tough season for the Columbus Blue Jackets. It was the team’s sixth 82-game season in which they got less than 30 wins. While it was a seven-point improvement over 2022-23, they have a long way to go before even thinking about making the playoffs.
The Blue Jackets are now looking for their first new general manager in over a decade and once they’re named, they’ll have a lot of work to do. Almost 20 players are on expiring contracts and most of them are youngsters with a bit of potential. As the team continues to set up its salary cap situation for its next core, there are a few players who should be considered for long-term extensions. Let’s explore three.
Kirill Marchenko
I’m not sure many players have been through the Blue Jackets locker room that have as much skill and are as universally beloved as Kirill Marchenko. He gives off golden retriever energy and is clearly a glue guy through some tough times. He’s brought some comic relief through some antics including when he played translator for Dmitri Voronkov. That’s not even mentioning that he’s only 23 years old and has scored 20 goals in his first two NHL seasons. The skill is there and the personality is there. Marchenko should be signed to a long-term contract.
Cole Sillinger
It feels like Cole Sillinger has been a Blue Jacket forever, but he’s only just turned 21 on May 16. The 12th overall pick in 2021 was the only player of his draft class to play more than 20 games in the 2021-22 season. His sophomore season was a bit of a step backward, but he’s taken that step forward again looking more confident in this past season.
It’s not often you have a 21-year-old player with 220 games of NHL experience and Sillinger has earned every game of that experience. There aren’t many situations he hasn’t played in over his three seasons. Often thrown into the deep end by these weaker Blue Jackets teams, he’s learned to swim the hard way.
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Sillinger still has some work to do in the faceoff dot and improving his overall 200-foot game, but he’s on the right track. His shot blocking, hits, and time on ice have gone up significantly and he’s looked far from out of his element. If he continues to develop, he’ll be an invaluable part of the team’s top-six. Locking him up long-term now would benefit the Blue Jackets.
Yegor Chinakhov
Yegor Chinakhov is a tough case to crack on exactly what kind of contract he’ll be signed to as a restricted free agent (RFA) this summer. Along with Sillinger, he broke into the NHL in the 2021-22 season, but had a bit of a different path. His rookie season was not quite as successful as Sillinger’s, with seven goals, 14 points and a second-worst on the team minus-27 rating. In his second season, he was held to only 37 games played across Columbus and Cleveland because of an injury, with an okay offensive output for a bottom-six forward.
This season is where the change began. After a short stint in Cleveland, he was called up and just looked confident. Due to injuries, he was given the opportunity and seized it, becoming a fixture in the Blue Jackets’ top-six. It’s not entirely evident if you look just at his point production – 16 goals and 29 points in 53 games isn’t the most eye-popping thing in the world, but when you actually watch him play there is a lot to like. There was a stretch in late December through January where Chinakhov was the team’s best forward. During that stretch, he was defensively in the right positions and earned 18-20 minutes regularly.
He’s also an elite skater with a really hard shot. That’s not just something I’m saying, the numbers agree. Chinakhov ended the season tenth in the NHL for 22-plus miles per hour (MPH) speed bursts, with 24, and sixth in 90-plus MPH shots on goal, with 29. That’s not a prorated ranking, that’s based on the gross number, and he only played 53 games this season. Someone who can skate like the best and can shoot that hard is going to be really valuable to the Blue Jackets in the future. Still only 23 years old, he just needs to stay healthy and the sky is the limit.
With 18 players on expiring contracts in the Blue Jackets’ organization, whoever ends up as the team’s next general manager will have a lot of work to do getting the salary cap situation in order. Marchenko, Sillinger, and Chinakhov could be a great trio to consider locking up long-term as key players in the next core of the Blue Jackets.
