Under the radar, Yegor Chinakhov is breaking out for the Blue Jackets this season

Yegor Chinakhov is more than just a great shooter.

I've long talked about how underrated Yegor is without the puck, and this year his play is paying off on both sides of it. Through 12 games, he has 9 points; which is impressive because it's not coming off of his shot. With just 3 goals on the season, it feels like he's been a little bit snakebitten. This is bad news for the rest of the league, because he is quietly becoming one of the most complete players on this team.

With top-six minutes so far (averaging 17:59 per game), Chinakhov has a +7 rating, which is two higher than Kirill Marchenko for the team lead. If we dig deeper, however, it gets even better. Chinny leads the Jackets with a 63% Corsi %, is second on the team in on-ice xGF% (68.3%), and has a team-best on-ice goal differential of +12, +4 ahead of anyone else.

All of this while ranking in the 96th percentile in speed, and in the top-15% or so in shot power. If you scroll down on this page and look at where he's shooting from, you can see that he's generating a lot of high danger chances. With that considered and knowing his shot, the goals are certainly not far off. When he starts finding the net, he's going to start dominating games offensively.

The kind of player who wins you hockey games...

One stat that caught me off guard: Yegor Chinakhov is fifth on the team in hits, with 16. He's thrown this many hits and played this much hockey, without taking a single minor penalty so far. When you put it all together: this has been a spectacular start to the season for Yegor. He's been incredibly reliable on both sides of the puck. He's great on the forecheck. Arguably the best skater on the team. Not arguably its best shooter (now that Patrik Laine is gone).

Jarmo Kekalainen and his scouts were right. Chinakhov was easily one of the top-10 players taken at the 2020 NHL Draft. He already ranks 11th in that class in points, and his 157 games are fewer than all but one player ahead of him on that list. Some players from that class have played 100+ more games already in their careers. He'll be on the rise, if he keeps up his momentum.

I guess nobody can say they don't know who he is, any longer. Or, maybe he'll just have to keep reminding them.