CBJ Calendar Year in Review: 2022

As the trade deadline approaches, the team is open for business. They have three players seemingly on their way out for sure: Gustav Nyquist, Vladislav Gavrikov, Joonas Korpisalo; and several others popping up in trade rumors. This should be a busy deadline for the Jackets as they look to weed out players who aren’t going to be part of the future core here.

Expiring deals:

RFA: Mathieu Olivier, Carson Meyer, Tim Berni, Marcus Bjork, Jake Christiansen, Yegor Chinakhov

UFA: Gustav Nyquist, Vladislav Gavrikov, Gavin Bayreuther, Joonas Korpisalo

This one should be pretty cut and dry. It seems like the team is prepared to move on from Nyquist, Gavrikov, and Korpisalo. Bayreuther has struggled to keep a steady job even with a depleted roster, which points towards him leaving the organization as well.

I can see every RFA listed above being brought back. Getting Yegor Chinakhov locked up soon seems like an important task, while Olivier and Bjork have been strong for this team and seem like obvious returnees. Meyer has done everything asked of him by this organization, but still finds himself up and down between the Jackets and the AHL. Is he a long-term piece of this team?

Christiansen is the most polarizing player on the list of RFAs – but he should be brought back if Gavrikov is not returning to this team next season. Depth down the left side is going to be a struggle, if the team does not make any other deals.

One hot take:

Jack Roslovic is dealt by the team either at the trade deadline or the draft over the summer, and he’ll be a throw-in part of a deal to bring in a center or left-shot defenseman.

It’s no secret that Jack and the coaching staff have had their share of disagreement this season. Whoever you lay blame on is irrelevant; but the end result is that things just aren’t working out and this team is moving in a different direction here. With so much depth at the forward spot, they can afford to trade him away – especially if Kent Johnson keeps finding traction as an NHL center.

Way too early guess at the 2023-24 roster, as it stands:

Johnny Gaudreau – Boone Jenner – Patrik Laine

Yegor Chinakhov (RFA) – Jack Roslovic – Jakub Voracek

Kent Johnson – Cole Sillinger – Kirill Marchenko

Eric Robinson – Sean Kuraly – Justin Danforth

In the hunt: Alexandre Texier, Mathieu Olivier (RFA), Liam Foudy, Emil Bemstrom

Zach Werenski – Nick Blankenburg

Jake Bean – Andrew Peeke

Tim Berni – Erik Gudbranson

Adam Boqvist

In the hunt: Jake Christiansen (RFA), Marcus Bjork (RFA), David Jiricek

Elvis Merzlikins

Daniil Tarasov

As you can see, there isn’t much immediate help coming in the way of change with this group. A lot of that depends on the readiness of some prospects – David Jiricek in particular looks like he could be ready for a role next year. But with the depth down the right side, one of two things will have to happen: someone will have to play their off-side, or the team is going to have to make a move. We’ll have more on that in the coming weeks.

Should the team be fortunate enough to land a top-3 pick at the upcoming draft, it’s entirely possible that their top-line center question will be answered as well. Any number of players the team would select in that range, should be ready to step right into the NHL.

Some of the upcoming decisions for this team will also hinge on the status of two players who are currently out of the lineup: Jakub Voracek and Alexandre Texier. Voracek is “unlikely to return this season”; while Texier remains in Europe to be closer to his family. Should neither of these players return, the plans are going to be different as well.

In the end, as the rebuild enters its next stage and the team looks to add one more core piece at the draft, our only hope is that they can remain competitive in many of their remaining games. Or maybe better yet, they can play spoiler down the stretch and ruin some other team’s chance of a playoff spot.