Blue Jackets season preview, Yegor Chinakhov is due for a breakout year

The Blue Jackets have a handful of players that need to take the next step forward. In the case of Yegor Chinakhov, I'm not sure that's really a fair statement. He is due for a breakout year, but in reality, we were already bearing witness to a breakout last season.

Chinakhov started the year on IR, only to come back to a stay with the AHL's Cleveland Monsters. He quickly proved to be too good for that league, scoring 3 goals and 4 points in 3 games.

After earning his way back to the NHL, he had a really slow start offensively, scoring just 1 goal and 1 assist through his first 11 games. Then, something clicked. Maybe it was the chemistry he had with line-mates (and fellow countrymen) Dmitry Voronkov and Kirill Marchenko.

Whatever the case, Chinakhov scored 15 goals and 28 points in his next 42 games for the Blue Jackets, before finishing his season back on the IR.

While a 16 goal, 29 point season may not scream breakout to you, consider this: if you can get him to score at that pace over a full season, that's a 25 goal, 45 point year. Better yet, if you wipe out the 11 games it took him to find his way ... well, you get where I'm going.

Chinakhov was rewared with a fresh 2-year, $4.2 million dollar contract with the Blue Jackets this summer ($2.1m AAV). This pays him like a third line player, and even if he's "only" as productive as he was last season, he'll be well worth that money.

With the changes made by this team over the summer, I think he's going to be quite a bit more productive. The Blue Jackets will be stronger down the middle, which will make his game easier from an overall perspective.

Yegor doesn't get enough credit for how hard he works, on both sides of the puck. Imagine him spending less time back-checking and defending in his own end; and more time rushing the puck up the ice or finding open space because he has a more competent center beside him.

I can see him being a solid second line player for this team. I can also see him used in both special teams situations. His work ethic, size, skating, and shooting ability will make him a dangerous player whenever he's on the ice.

One bold prediction: Chinakhov will score 30 goals and 55 points this season.

This might not be very bold, if you consider his pace last season; which was achieved on one of the worst teams in the league. But, the Blue Jackets haven't had a 30 goal scorer since the 2018-19 season - so we can't aim too much higher here.

If he can stay healthy and play in a role suited to his skillset however, I think this is easily attainable. He's one of the best skaters and shooters in the entire league.