Merzlikins questioned whether Greaves could handle a heavy workload<\/a> in his first NHL season. It didn\u2019t seem to be a problem last spring when Greaves played six games in nine days (the final five in Columbus) and became a sensation.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s hard to predict playing time. The Blue Jackets have 15 back-to-backs on the schedule, so there\u2019s work for two here. But we suspect Jet Greaves is cleared for takeoff. And we safely predict you\u2019ll be tired of Jet puns by early December.<\/p>\n
3. Chinakhov \u2026 boom or bust<\/p>\n
This is a tricky one. A truly bold prognosticator would say that Chinakhov is going to score 30 goals in a breakout season, or that the situation is going to get messy until the 24-year-old Russian is traded. The guess here is that it\u2019s going to be one or the other.<\/p>\n
In Tuesday\u2019s preseason game vs. Washington, Chinakhov played on the top line with center Sean Monahan and winger Dmitri Voronkov, taking Kirill Marchenko\u2019s spot. But just one day earlier in practice, he appeared as the extra forward on the fourth line, alternating shifts with Zach Aston-Reese. That\u2019s how it was on Thursday, too.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a spot for Chinakhov in the top six, but he has to grab it. In this case, it probably means supplanting second-line wingers Boone Jenner or Kent Johnson, or taking Voronkov\u2019s spot up top. None of these will be easy, but that\u2019s life in the NHL.<\/p>\n
Chinakhov isn\u2019t out of place on a third line with center Charlie Coyle and Cole Sillinger, but the Jackets really like playing Mathieu Olivier, who had 18 goals last season, above their fourth line. Chinakhov doesn\u2019t make sense on a fourth line, and he doesn\u2019t want to be there.<\/p>\n
This prediction in a nutshell: we\u2019ll know by November which way this is going.<\/p>\n
4. Marchenko joins \u201940\u2019 club<\/p>\n
Many have discussed Marchenko as having a breakout season in 2024-25, and he did score a career-high 31 goals. But he wasn\u2019t exactly an out-of-nowhere scorer.<\/p>\n
Marchenko, who turned 25 this summer, had 21 goals as a rookie and 23 goals in 2023-24. Then he met Sean Monahan, gained a regular role and linemates on the top line, and saw his minutes swell by more than two minutes per game. Voila! Thirty-one goals.<\/p>\n
Why are we convinced Marchenko\u2019s production is still climbing? A whopping 29 of his goals were scored at even strength. Only Tage Thompson, Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrnak, William Nylander, Brandon Hagel, Alex Ovechkin and Kyle Connor scored more at even strength.<\/p>\n
In other words, if the Blue Jackets\u2019 power play \u2014 you may have heard this before \u2014 can be merely average, Marchenko should have double-digit goal potential from his left half-wall.<\/p>\n
Put Marchenko in the Blue Jackets\u2019 exclusive \u201c40 club,\u201d which currently has two members: Rick Nash (twice) and Cam Atkinson.<\/p>\n
5. Boone\u2019s here to stay<\/p>\n
NHL player contracts are a big topic across the league these days, with Kirill Kaprizov\u2019s massive deal with the Minnesota Wild and Connor McDavid\u2019s lingering contract talks with the Edmonton Oilers. The Blue Jackets have some big deals to sign in the coming years, too.<\/p>\n
But here\u2019s one that won\u2019t draw the attention of Kaprizov or McDavid, or even the Blue Jackets\u2019 Adam Fantilli, who is a restricted free agent next summer.<\/p>\n
This will be Boone Jenner\u2019s 13th season with the Blue Jackets, but \u2026 doesn\u2019t it seem like he\u2019s just always been here? Jenner, currently at a franchise-record 741 games, could be the organization\u2019s first 1,000-game player, but he\u2019ll need a new contract to get there.<\/p>\n
Jenner, 32, is an unrestricted free agent next summer. He\u2019s currently under a club-friendly deal that pays him $3.75 million per season.<\/p>\n
It says here that Jenner will sign a contract at some point this season \u2014 it doesn\u2019t sound as if talks have started seriously yet \u2014 that will keep him in Columbus for his entire career. The player and the franchise don\u2019t want it any other way, it seems.<\/p>\n
6. Fewer fights for Olivier<\/p>\n
Mathieu Olivier led the NHL with 15 fighting majors last season, and he was second in the league in penalty minutes with 139. After rising in the ranks for the previous two seasons in Columbus, most agree that he is now the most feared fighter in the league.<\/p>\n
One other aspect of Olivier\u2019s game bloomed last season, too. He scored 18 goals, which was seventh on the Blue Jackets and more than Olivier had scored in his entire career. He forechecks like a demon. He\u2019s immovable at the net-front. His hands are as soft as kittens.<\/p>\n
With all of this now part of the brew, we expect Olivier to work more with his gloves on this season.<\/p>\n
His \u201cmost-feared fighter\u201d status will cause some young roughs to step to the champ, but mostly it will make the middleweights and part-time scrappers shy away from the challenge. It can be really hard, actually, for some guys to get a fight.<\/p>\n
Further, Olivier\u2019s role on the Blue Jackets \u2014 he\u2019s been a third-line player throughout camp, just like he was last season \u2014 will require him to pick and choose his spots judiciously.<\/p>\n
7. Special teams \u2026 really?<\/p>\n
The Blue Jackets\u2019 power play has ranked among the NHL\u2019s 10 worst in each of the last eight seasons. The penalty kill hasn\u2019t finished higher than 20th since coach John Tortorella left town in 2021.<\/p>\n
Seriously, guys?<\/p>\n
Zach Werenski, who finished second in Norris Trophy voting, is a world-class defenseman. Sean Monahan is one of the league\u2019s best \u201cbumpers.\u201d The playmaking of Kent Johnson, the sharpshooting of Marchenko and the net-front space-eating of Jenner should make this a very good unit.<\/p>\n
Put another way: Adam Fantilli, who had 31 goals last season, is currently on the second unit, along with Dmitri Voronkov (23 goals).<\/p>\n
This is where the roster continuity can come in handy, too. These players \u2014 these units, really \u2014 have played so many games together that they have a keen sense of each other\u2019s quick-twitch tendencies, and they can play off each other with just one look of the eyes.<\/p>\n
The penalty kill will have a new look with Charlie Coyle, Miles Wood and Isac Lundestrom joining the unit. But there\u2019s plenty of grit, small-space skill and battle on this roster to be more than effective.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re not going to say the Blue Jackets should be top 10 in either or both. But we\u2019ll predict they are in the top half of the league on both sides of the ledger, which means their special teams with be a benefit to the cause, not the typical energy drain.<\/p>\n
8. Look who\u2019s back!<\/p>\n
Nick Foligno has never changed his plans. When his career is finished, he and his family will settle in the Columbus suburbs. They\u2019re actually building a home right now that should be ready by the spring. See where this is going?<\/p>\n
Foligno, who turns 38 later this month, is in the final year of his contract with the Chicago Blackhawks, and quite possibly in the final year of his career.<\/p>\n
The NHL trade deadline this season is March 6. By then, barring a major surprise, the Blackhawks will be quite a ways back in the standings and already preparing for the 2026 NHL Draft.<\/p>\n
It would likely be a thrill for Foligno to join his brother, Marcus, with the Minnesota Wild, should the Wild be in the Western Conference playoff picture.<\/p>\n
But if the Blue Jackets are above the bar in the Eastern Conference, couldn\u2019t you see GM Don Waddell making a move that would boost not only the dressing room but also Nationwide Arena? Most would agree that Foligno is among the most beloved players to wear the sweater.<\/p>\n
(Photo of Boone Jenner: Aaron Doster \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COLUMBUS \u2014 We should probably quit while we\u2019re ahead, while our reputation for prognostication is at an all-time…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":274685,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[3110,293,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-274684","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-columbus-blue-jackets","9":"tag-nhl","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-united-states","12":"tag-unitedstates","13":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115310549123498368","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}