Breaking Down the Opening Night Roster of the Blue Jackets
The day has finally arrived! The Blue Jackets are set to take the ice tonight for their first regular season game, facing off against the Carolina Hurricanes in Raleigh. Excitement abounds for the new-look Jackets, who enter the season with a fresh look and hopefully further along in their roster reset. Today we’ll look at how will this team match up once the puck drops.
Doesn't look like any changes have been made to the #CBJ lines today at practice as the 23-man group hits the ice.
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) October 11, 2022
13-38-29
59-96-93
14-34-17
50-7-24
8-27
4-2
22-44
Extra: 19, 91, 77
First Line: LW Johnny Gaudreau, C Boone Jenner, RW Patrik Laine
The Blue Jackets will indeed start the season with a line featuring Gaudreau and Laine, and on paper this should be one of the deadliest scoring tandems in the entire league. When the team begins play with Gaudreau tonight, he will immediately become one of the most skilled players to ever wear a CBJ jersey. His ability to escape pressure and hold onto the puck should be a perfect fit alongside a natural scorer like Laine, and gives the team some serious offensive pop. Captain Boone Jenner takes on the top line role and will be expected to carry the forechecking and defensive responsibilities on this line. I’m really excited to see them live.
Second line: LW Yegor Chinakhov, C Jack Roslovic, RW Jakub Voracek
Another line that should be effective offensively (at least on paper), the second line for the Blue Jackets will look to provide some offensive pop. With veteran playmaker Jakub Voracek driving the play and improving two-way center Jack Roslovic down the middle, the only real surprise here is Chinakhov. But if you followed along in the preseason, it’s not surprising at all to see Yegor here. He led the NHL with six preseason goals and had great chemistry with Voracek. When you factor in his all-around play, he deserves this opportunity and if things work, I can see this being a terrific secondary scoring line. They won’t get the heavy defensive matchups, and should see plenty of good looks.
Third Line: LW Gustav Nyquist, C Cole Sillinger, RW Justin Danforth
If you were to ask me why I think the Blue Jackets will be improved this season, I would likely point directly to this line. If the team can stay healthy, this could be a very effective shutdown line – that can also chip in plenty of offense. This is a perfect third line on paper, with a veteran scorer (Nyquist), a talented young two-way center (Sillinger), and an energetic spark plug (Danforth). All three of these guys can score, but all of them are responsible defensively and you have a faceoff option on either side of the ice. It will be a lot to ask of 19 year old Sillinger, but I think this trio can match up against some of the best in the league, and just make it difficult to play against them. We’ll see if it works.
Fourth Line: LW Eric Robinson, C Sean Kuraly, RW Mathieu Olivier
Mathieu Olivier brings the physicality and a true enforcer to the Blue Jackets, something they haven’t had for years. But while his skating leaves something to be desired, he isn’t just fists; he can play in a checking role and adds a new element to the Robinson/Kuraly tandem that was so good last year. This line probably won’t light up the lamp a ton this season, but they bring energy, speed, and plenty of physicality. They’ll be the new “identity line” for the Blue Jackets, that takes the defensive zone starts, physical matchups, and tries to generate a forecheck in the offensive zone.
Extras: Kent Johnson, Liam Foudy
I would expect, with this coaching staff, we’ll see both of these guys cycled into the lineup on a pretty consistent basis. We’ve watched Johnson all summer long and everyone is excited to see what he can bring offensively. Foudy sticks around in part because his contract doesn’t allow him to be sent down without clearing waivers, but the former first round pick is talented. He could slot into one of the bottom six spots here and I don’t think the team would miss a beat, with his speed and size.
Defensively, the Blue Jackets have plenty of talent … but will they actually be able to defend?
Defense Pairing #1: Zach Werenski, Adam Boqvist
A little bit of a surprise seeing Boqvist here, but this pairing worked in the team’s final preseason games. This tandem is all offense, both guys love joining the rush and creating offense. They’re at their best when the puck is at the other end of the ice, and that’s okay. The best way to defend sometimes, is playing at the other end. But should they be forced to play in the defensive zone for stretches of time, things could get dicey. We know these guys can score; we know they can break out of their own end. But finding at least median defensive zone play here is the key, and this is one of the biggest question marks the team will have this season.
Defense Pairing #2: Vladislav Gavrikov, Andrew Peeke
This is your shutdown pair this season. Gavrikov has quietly developed into a good two-way defender, chipping in offense last season at a pretty good clip. But defensively, he’s probably the best the team has to offer, with good body positioning and strong gap control. Peeke looks much improved this fall (in comparison to last fall). He led the team in blocked shots last season and showed a physicality that the rest of the defense corps mostly lacked. This pairing should be matched up consistently against the best opposition forwards. If they can do their jobs well, it will make things a lot easier on the team as a whole.
Defense Pairing #3: Jake Bean, Erik Gudbranson
Bean has struggled throughout his early NHL career, and this may be his last real opportunity to make a case for himself as part of the future for the Blue Jackets. He’s a talented guy who was a high draft pick, and should be able to produce some offense from the back end. But he’s often out-matched physically and is easily pushed off the puck. Enter Gudbranson, who will be this team’s enforcer from the back end. He won’t provide much offense (any, really), but if he can help stabilize Bean and give this team some honesty in front of the net, the defense as a whole should improve.
Extra: Nick Blankenburg
I don’t have much to say here, except that Blankenburg was one of the best players on the ice all preseason. He just keeps proving people wrong, and I think once he gets his chance in the lineup, someone could be at risk of losing their job. Size be damned, this guy is an NHL player.
Goalies: Elvis Merzlikins, Daniil Tarasov, Joonas Korpisalo, Jet Greaves
Elvis is the starter for this team, at least for the immediate future. He had good underlying numbers last year and is at least an above average starter on most nights. So why include four of them here? At time of press, Elvis has come down with an illness, leaving Daniil Tarasov as the team’s opening night starter – and prompting a recall of Jet Greaves. Tarasov is arguably one of the top goalie prospects in hockey. Arguably only because of his health history. He’s super talented but has struggled to remain healthy, stunting his development. Korpisalo starts the season on IR, but once healthy, will look to reclaim his career as an NHL goaltender.
In all, this is a very talented lineup that should be fun to watch. Whether or not it works, is yet to be seen. But it really doesn’t have to be perfect yet, as I don’t think this team is ready to contend quite yet. If they can grow as a group, build chemistry, and see through the development of some key young players; this will be a successful season regardless where they finish in the standings. Either way, it’s refreshing to see the team showcasing so much talent, when only two seasons ago things looked so bleak.
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