Blue Jackets News & Rumors: Roster Set & Preseason Takeaways

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Welcome back to Columbus Blue Jackets News & Rumors. We have a lot to talk about this week. Monday’s 5 P.M. eastern deadline has passed to set cap compliant rosters around the NHL.

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The Blue Jackets have set their initial 23-man roster. We’ll give you a breakdown of the roster and then discuss a couple of key takeaways from this preseason.

Contract Status Influenced Roster

At the end of the day, the Blue Jackets set their 23-man roster with waivers status in mind. Those players on the bubble who didn’t need waivers were assigned to the Cleveland Monsters for the most part.

Here is the Blue Jackets’ initial 23-man roster.

  • Goalies: Elvis Merzlikins, Spencer Martin.
  • Defense: Zach Werenski, Ivan Provorov, Damon Severson, Erik Gudbranson, Jake Bean, Adam Boqvist and Andrew Peeke.
  • Forwards: Cole Sillinger, Sean Kuraly, Adam Fantilli, Johnny Gaudreau, Justin Danforth, Liam Foudy, Patrik Laine, Boone Jenner, Alex Texier, Eric Robinson, Emil Bemstrom, Kirill Marchenko, Kent Johnson and Jack Roslovic.
Zach Werenski Columbus Blue Jackets
Zach Werenski is back and ready to help lead the blue line. (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

Here are the moves that happened to get to these 23.

  • Yegor Chinakhov (back strain), Jordan Dumais (upper body) and Daniil Tarasov (knee) were placed on the injured/non-roster list.
  • Mathieu Olivier (leg) was placed on injured reserve.
  • Nick Blankenburg, David Jiricek and Dmitri Voronkov were assigned to the Cleveland Monsters.
  • Denton Mateychuk was assigned to Moose Jaw of the WHL.

Notice the pattern here. Blankenburg, Jiricek and Voronkov all did not need waivers to get to the AHL. The only way they would have stayed is if they were that much better than someone who needed waivers. The team would have risked losing someone otherwise.

They are all on the short list to be called up to the Blue Jackets in event of injury. Blankenburg played like his usual self in the preseason and didn’t do anything really bad. The team simply elected to take advantage of his waivers status.

The same can be said for Jiricek and Voronkov. With development being a key focus for the Blue Jackets, putting each player in Cleveland to start is the right move at the right time. There is no need to rush at this stage. Let them play meaningful games with big minutes.

In Voronkov’s case, it’s expected once he gets used to the pace of the game, he’ll be back with the Blue Jackets. He has an out clause that can see him return to Russia if he’s not on the roster by Dec 31. In Jiricek’s case, he’s close but he still needs to play big minutes. Having him start with the Blue Jackets now wouldn’t have guaranteed the minutes he’d need.

For Mateychuk, age was the factor. While he was outstanding and is close, he didn’t do quite enough to unseat a veteran who needed waivers. Like the others, they don’t need to rush him. Let him go back and dominate while getting a chance to play a huge role for Team Canada at the World Juniors.

Of particular note about waivers, Sillinger and Blankenburg each need just 17 NHL games before they’ll need waivers for the AHL. That’s because of the number of games they’ve each played and when they signed their ELC. Sillinger was 18 and would need 160 games. He’s at 143. Blankenburg signed at 23 and would need 60 games. He’s at 43.

While it was curious to see if there would be a bold move, contract status became important in making their final decisions.

Preseason Takeaways

The Blue Jackets went 4-3-1 in the preseason including their 4-2 win in Washington on Saturday night with a dress rehearsal kind of lineup. A lot of things happened. Here are my overall takeaways from the preseason in quick hit form.

  1. The bubble players that made the biggest impressions in my view were Bemstrom and Danforth. Bemstrom was a force at both ends of the ice while Danforth showed he’s over his injury while making an impact no matter where he was lined up.
  2. Merzlikins saved his best for last. His game in Washington Saturday night was much needed for him and for the team. They’re going to need a lot more of that in order to compete this season.
  3. Outside of the goaltending, the biggest question I have going into the season is who will play with Werenski on the right side?
  4. Speaking of Werenski, after missing most of last season, watch out for a major bounce back from him. It’ll take some time to shake all the rust off. But once he’s in a rhythm, look out. Word is he’s taken on more of a leadership role in the room. When you’re the fourth highest cap hit amongst all defensemen in the NHL, these are the kind of things you want to see.
  5. Coach Pascal Vincent is off to a good, early start. Players are buying in. He’s the kind of coach that’s good to move on from what happened with the Mike Babcock situation. His ability to be good with people will be a huge asset for the team.

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  1. The player I’m most concerned about now? Adam Boqvist. With so many young defensemen pushing for spots soon, he needs to start showing his potential. His preseason was just ok. It’ll be curious to see which of the seven sits out first. He’s a candidate for that. But this is a huge season for him. There’s still a lot to like but he has to show he’s stronger and has made strides defensively.
  2. Laine at center will be a thing early on. His line was dominant in the preseason. Now they have to carry that over to the regular season. If it does, that gives the Blue Jackets a brighter outlook not only this season but beyond.
  3. Fantilli showed the part. His game in Washington where he scored the winner is a perfect snapshot of what he’s about. He got crushed by T.J. Oshie. He stuck with it and then won the game. His skill is impressive. His desire to win is even more so.
  4. Kent Johnson is primed to have a big year. A season of he and Fantilli together could be something special to watch.
  5. The Monsters are loaded. If you get a chance to get to Cleveland, it’ll be worth it. Jiricek, Blankenburg, Stanislav Svozil and Corson Ceulemans on that blue line is nasty. We’ll see how long they’ll be able to stay together.