The Blue Jackets need their lineup to click tonight, for now and into the future

With two massive points on the line, the Columbus Blue Jackets need their new-look lineup to click tonight in Detroit. But the implications go far beyond tonight. This could be the last chance for some of their young guys to work together.

As the Blue Jackets prepare to take on the Red Wings tonight, they skated with a much different lineup this morning:

It's no surprise that there are massive changes at hand here. But, it was a little bit surprising to see them lined up the way they were.

Right off the bat, the top line still features Adam Fantilli, but Rick Bowness has him with two very different wingers. Kent Johnson re-enters the lineup after serving as a healthy scratch in the team's last game, and he gets thrust back into a scoring role. A prime scoring role.

Meanwhile, Cole Sillinger is elevated to serve as a two-way presence alongside the team's two most skilled young players. This is no accident. It sounds like Bones knows exactly what he wants:

It goes without saying, but the Jackets need that line to click. They need to find offense right away. But, for the longer-term success of this franchise, they need those three players to be able to play together. Especially in crucial games like this one.

Whether this team wins or loses tonight, I think it's vital that this trio is able to go out and play a strong hockey game. That has the makings of a legitimate top line in this league for many years to come, assuming everyone can get onto the same page and stay there.

Outside of the obvious implications, I think this lineup will help boost Kirill Marchenko as well. By taking him off of the Fantilli line, Bowness has now forced his opposition to decide which line they want to shut down. Either way, it should free up space for #19 or #86.

And, I like the look of that second line. Charlie Coyle has been a better playmaker than he gets credit for; and his size and two-way acumen is a perfect fit alongside two hard-working, skilled wingers like Marchenko and Conor Garland.

Meanwhile, the bottom six looks like a bottom six again. There are no skilled players buried here. This is a nasty group that is responsible on both sides of the puck. With the defensive responsibilities taken care of, that third line should also be able to chip a goal in every once in a while.

Changes on the blue line, also.

On the back-end, Bowness has reunited Zach Werenski with Dante Fabbro. Those two served as this team's top pair for most of last season. At the very least, we know what we're going to get here.

Ivan Provorov and Denton Mateychuk should give this team a serviceable enough second pair, while Jake Christiansen and Erik Gudbranson remain together. On paper, this all makes sense.

I'm interested to see how this team looks tonight. My hope is that Bowness doesn't abandon these lines too early in this game. I would like to see him give it a real chance, because this team needs their young players to get going. Hopefully it all works.