Predicting the Opening Night Lines for the Columbus Blue Jackets
With the roster now complete, the Blue Jackets turn their eyes towards opening night. Today, we’ll predict the opening night lines for the team.
As we discussed in our immediate reaction yesterday, there weren’t really any major surprises for the team coming out of training camp. Nobody hit waivers yesterday, which means that no unexpected prospects or fringe players won a job. Emil Bemstrom and Liam Foudy both stick around, which may be the only real surprise, in my opinion. A lot of this likely points to the team wanting their prospects to be fully ready before pushing them into the NHL – which is the correct way to handle things. Let’s take a look at how this team might line up.
We’ll start with the easy part of the roster: the goaltenders. Elvis Merzlikins enters the season as the team’s starting goaltender. With Daniil Tarasov hitting the IR list yesterday, he’ll be backed up by new waiver acquisition Spencer Martin. I expect Elvis to start on opening night at Nationwide Arena.
On the back end, Zach Werenski will anchor the top pair. Late in the preseason, he was paired with both Andrew Peeke and Damon Severson. I think he’ll start the season alongside Peeke, partly because there’s a familiarity there; but also because Severson looked really good alongside fellow newcomer Ivan Provorov – those two will form the likely second pair. The third pairing will be anchored by Erik Gudbranson, who is joined by Jake Bean on the left side.
I have Adam Boqvist penciled in as the team’s seventh man this fall. He had some strong flashes in the preseason, but he seemed to be on the outside looking in as camp rolled on. He spent the last couple of preseason games playing in the “non-NHL” group, which is the main factor in my prediction here.
Defense corps:
Werenski – Peeke
Provorov – Severson
Bean – Gudbranson
Boqvist
This unit, as assembled, should be far superior to the one we played with last season. At least when healthy, this group should be able to help limit scoring chances against; while also chipping in offensively with each pair. In theory, this should work, but there may be some growing pains as guys get used to playing together and adjust to new roles in a new system.
Up front, it’s a lot of the same as before – but with a couple of tweaks from last year. While there may be some disappointment in certain guys making the cut, this is probably the correct move to allow the prospects more time.
Our first line center to start the season is going to be Patrik Laine. Did any of us see that coming, when the team acquired him from the Winnipeg Jets three years ago? If you answered yes, you’re lying. But not only did Patrik play center in the preseason, he looked good. Like, really good – so this experiment carries into the regular season, where he’ll have two very good players on his flanks in Johnny Gaudreau and Kirill Marchenko.
The fourth line for the Blue Jackets will be centered by Sean Kuraly. With enforcer Mathieu Olivier hitting IR to start the season, Justin Danforth will flank the right wing on this line, with Eric Robinson on the other side. This is pretty much exactly what we expected in the offseason, and throughout training camp. Danforth and Olivier will interchange on the right side as available/needed.
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The reason we skipped straight to the fourth line? It’s really hard to nail down what the middle-six lineup for the Blue Jackets is going to look like. We’ll have some combination of Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, Alexandre Texier, Cole Sillinger, Emil Bemstrom, Jack Roslovic, and Boone Jenner playing on the second and third line.
If the last preseason game (“dress rehearsal”) was any indication; we’ll have a second line of Texier, Jenner, and Bemstrom; then a third line of Johnson, Fantilli, and Sillinger. It’s entirely possible that these lines remain intact for the opener, but I do not think it will be long before we see Jack Roslovic in the lineup. With his contract and experience, the team can ill afford to keep him in the press box all season. The 14th forward for the club is Liam Foudy, who will have to keep working hard and being patient to earn his chance.
Forward lines:
Gaudreau – Laine – Marchenko
Texier – Jenner – Bemstrom
Johnson – Fantilli – Sillinger
Robinson – Kuraly – Danforth
Roslovic, Foudy
One thing that’s almost for sure: there will be a lot of shuffling here. I don’t see the team going through an entire season with their three youngest forwards on one line, for example. But, I do think this group is more than capable of both providing offense, and two-way support on each line. So maybe it works, and maybe it sticks.
With an all new coaching staff leading the way, the Jackets will look to revamp a power-play that has been mostly dormant for the last several seasons. They have the talent to make it work.
PP1:
Jenner
Laine – Marchenko – Gaudreau
Werenski
PP2:
Fantilli
Severson – Bemstrom – Johnson
Provorov
This is how the team was practicing to finish the preseason, and in theory, it should work. I’m a little bit surprised to see two defensemen on the second unit; but maybe I shouldn’t be, when you consider the fact that two of the three forwards are still extremely young – and the third one is pretty inexperienced. The biggest question I have here is: how long will it take the team to swap Fantilli and Jenner on those units?
PK1:
Kuraly – Robinson
Provorov – Severson
PK2:
Jenner – Danforth
Werenski – Peeke
These PK units would give the team a veteran center, as well as a speedy veteran on the wing – as well as some pretty stout defenders. Really, the PK could be the biggest area of improvement for the Jackets this season if they can stay healthy and get better goaltending.
Ultimately, it will come down to execution and whether or not these lines can gel early on. I do think we’ll see Roslovic soon rather than later – and the same can be said for Adam Boqvist on the back-end. They won’t want him in the press box for too long. The only question I have there is; who comes out of the lineup?
The puck drops on the regular season Thursday night at Nationwide Arena, with the Jackets hosting the Philadelphia Flyers at 7:00. Stay tuned to unionandblue.com for plenty of news, notes, opinions and rumors throughout the season!
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