Another injury, another opportunity for a Columbus Blue Jackets player to make his mark

The Blue Jackets will be without forward Miles Wood for at least the next week. The forward was struck near the eye by an errant Dougie Hamilton stick on Monday night, causing him to miss most of the home opener against the New Jersey Devils.

The play happened on a net-front scramble, with Wood trying to bang home a rebound and Hamilton trying to lift his stick to keep him from doing so.

Through the first three games of the season, Miles has 1 goal, 2 penalty minutes and a +1 rating. He's been a nice addition to the fourth line and on the penalty kill, where his speed and tenacity has fit right into Dean Evason's system.

In his absence, we will finally get a chance to see Yegor Chinakhov in meaningful action. The disgruntled winger requested a trade over the summer, only to rescind that request just before the start of training camp.

This came after a meeting with Evason, where the two supposedly cleared the air and came to an agreement about playing time. Since then, Yegor has changed his representation and all has been quiet on the trade request front.

After a lackluster preseason, Chinakhov found himself back in Evason's doghouse. He has yet to play so far this season. For a team that could use some added scoring punch, I'm interested to see what Yegor can do with his chance to showcase himself.

At practice on Wednesday, he was used on the fourth line alongside Zach Aston-Reese and Isac Lundestrom:

This means that Yegor will have to earn his way up the lineup, if he's hoping to get back into the scoring role where he started last season.

With his skating and shooting ability, it's baffling to me that he can't crack this lineup. It will be tough for him to supplant anyone in that top-six, but he certainly has the ability to do so. He just needs to put it all together and be consistent in his game.

A quick start tomorrow night against the Colorado Avalanche could be big for his confidence. Hopefully he can make the most of this opportunity and make Evason's decision to take him back out of the lineup more difficult.