Last night’s game against Carolina was hallmarked by some outstanding performances by the youngsters on the ice: two goals from Marko Dano and the game-winner off the stick of Michael Chaput carried the Jackets to a 6-3 win over the Canes.
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Following that, the team held an arduous practice, and then coach Richards spoke with the media and announced three additional roster cuts. Chaput’s and Dano’s performance paid off, they survived this round of cuts. In Richards’ press conference (which you can see here), he announced that the Jackets have reassigned goaltender Oscar Dansk, defenseman Dana Tyrell, and right-wing Simon Hjalmarsson.
Still on the roster are centers Michael Chaput and Alexander Wennberg, and right wing Marko Dano. All three look likely to make the lineup at the start of the regular season, especially with injuries haunting the Jackets’ top line. Once Brandon Dubinsky and Nathan Horton come back out to play, though, things will get a little tighter in the roster.
The cuts made today, though, weren’t very surprising. The Jackets are confident in their goaltending pair of Sergei Bobrovsky and Curtis McElhinney, so for Dank it was just a matter of time. He’ll go back down to Springfield and battle for the starting spot there, and if injuries strike the top two goalies we’ll probably see him back on NHL ice again this year.
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As for Tyrell, the Jackets’ defense is stacked with veterans, and not nearly as marred by injury as their forward lines. Last night’s defensive pairs consisted of Fedor Tyutin and Dalton Prout, Jack Johnson and David Savard, and Tim Erixon and James Wisniewski. That’s one veteran per line, and every position filled by a player who has NHL experience.
Also, Ryan Murray is likely to return to play soon, as Richards said he was benched yesterday solely for maintenance purposes. That’s some tough competition. Tyrell will now need to clear waivers before he can join the Falcons in Springfield.
As for Hjalmarsson, Richards said in his interview that he just needs more time to adjust to “North American hockey”. He doesn’t have much experience with this style and speed of play, so sending him down to Springfield for development makes sense.
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The Jackets now have 29 players on their roster, meaning they’ll still have to cut six players before the start of the regular season. One more game to go, as the Jackets face the Nashville Predators for the second time this preseason on Saturday. After that, look for the coaching staff to make the final decisions on who we’ll see on the ice in Buffalo on the 9th.