Blue Jackets trade forward Yegor Chinakhov to the Pittsburgh Penguins

The Blue Jackets have traded forward Yegor Chinakhov to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday afternoon in exchange for forward Danton Heinen and two draft picks.

This ends a longstanding trade request from the winger, who was unhappy with his role in Columbus.

Originally selected in the first round (#21 overall) by the Jackets at the 2020 NHL Draft, Chinakhov got into 204 games with the team, spread over parts of five seasons.

In that time, he registered 37 goals, 77 points and 42 penalty minutes. Considered at one point to be a key member of the CBJ core moving forward, he fell out of favor with the team and couldn't even earn fourth line minutes of late.

Everything went sour last year.

Last season started off red hot for Yegor. He scored 7 goals and 14 points in the first 21 games of the season, and it seemed like he was starting to find his way.

But his season was cut very short due to an undisclosed upper-body injury that kept him out of the lineup for more than three months. By the time he made it back, the team was deep in a playoff battle, and he was not the same player.

As a result, he found himself in the doghouse. His role in the top-six was gone, and he isn't the kind of player that head coach Dean Evason wants in his bottom-six up front.

He voiced his displeasure over the summer, with a trade request to GM Don Waddell. To his credit, he came to camp seemingly ready to work and get back on the right track.

Before the season, everyone was saying the right things, and it seemed like the relationship could be salvaged. But a sluggish start to the season caused Yegor to remain in the doghouse, and ultimately the team has decided to honor that request.

Change of scenery was needed for both sides.

The relationship had gotten to the point that the Blue Jackets weren't using Yegor Chinakhov, despite the fact that they need a player exactly like him.

He's a terrific skater and one of the best shooters in the entire NHL. For a team that is now big, heavy, and lacking goal scoring; he seems like an obvious piece to the puzzle.

It just wasn't working here, for whatever reason. We saw flashes of the effort that made him a high draft pick, but it was nowhere near frequent enough to earn trust from the coaching staff.

Yegor deserves a fresh start somewhere else, and the Blue Jackets needed to move a body out after acquiring Mason Marchment from the Seattle Kraken. A change of scenery was necessary for both sides here.