Shorthanded Blue Jackets need to pull together tonight against the Sabres

Finally, it's time to put the summer of discontent behind us, and get back to watching our favorite team play hockey. The Blue Jackets are in action tonight against the Buffalo Sabres, kicking off a campaign that is much anticipated for a variety of reasons.

Unfortunately, this season begins on a sour note. The Blue Jackets will be without three of their top five defensemen, leaving them very thin on the blue line to start the year. Ivan Provorov joins Damon Severson and Dante Fabbro on the IR list, all three of them out week-to-week.

That leaves the Blue Jackets with just three guys who played here full-time last season, meaning head coach Rick Bowness is going to have to lean heavily upon them. Zach Werenski, Denton Mateychuk, and Erik Gudbranson will have to eat up a lot of the workload.

Joining them are newcomers Emil Andrae, Carson Soucy, and returning 7th man Jake Christiansen. Finding the right usage for these guys is going to be absolutely critical, right out of the gate. The Jackets can ill afford to have another slow start this year, regardless who is in or out of the lineup.

Whether fair or not, this depleted blue line is going to be the storyline for the team to start the year. More than anything, it's going to take a full team effort to overcome it; which is something Bowness has preached ever since being hired by the team.

The forwards are solid.

Part of that full team effort means getting more productivity out of their forwards, especially on the defensive side of the puck. The good news here is, this team is really deep down the middle. Having both Sean Monahan and Charlie Coyle down the middle is quite a luxury, and those two in particular should be able to help this team get out of their own end.

The key to getting through this is simple, smart hockey. This team needs to play within their system and work as one cohesive unit, regardless who is missing. That needs to be the main focus of the coaching staff, especially early on this year.

If it all falls apart, the reliance upon Jet Greaves to make the big saves just became even more critical. He's paid to be a starting goalie now, which is well-earned based on his last campaign. The team will need him to come up big tonight, and for the next few weeks.

Here is your full lineup projection:

What to watch for, and how to tune in.

Obviously, the most notable thing we're looking at tonight are the new faces. Matthew Knies, Valeri Nichushkin, and Ryan Lomberg are all set to make their CBJ debuts up front. Alongside the new guys on the blue line, there are plenty of new faces to get used to.

Above all, I'm interested to see how Adam Fantilli looks. He missed all of the preseason while his agent and the team hashed out his franchise record-setting contract. We expect big things from #19 this year, and he needs to have a good start to this season.

In case you've missed it, the Blue Jackets will now be airing games via their own Blue Jackets Hockey Network. If you live in market, games are available via many local providers, or Amazon Prime. For out of market fans, nothing has changed: you can still tune in via ESPN+.

With 7 of their first 9 games at home, lets hope our boys can start this season hot. Let's go Jackets!

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow