Examining Blue Jackets' upcoming roster crunch

After a miserable 2022-23 campaign, the Blue Jackets’ mandate for the 2023 offseason was to pursue significant and meaningful upgrades to their roster that could result in the team having a legitimate chance to reach the postseason next spring.

New head coach Mike Babcock’s contract reportedly carries only a two-year term, suggesting immediate results are expected from his hire. Seeing as marquee 2022 free-agent signing Johnny Gaudreau turned 30 earlier this month, it’s easy to see why the team’s general manager, Jarmo Kekäläinen, has so earnestly pursued NHL-ready talent for his club.

The team made some big additions this summer, headlined by two experienced blueliners: Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson. They also have quite a few intriguing young players set to take on potentially significant roles for the franchise, such as 2022 top draft pick David Jiříček, 2021 top pick Kent Johnson (who authored an impressive 40-point rookie season) and Kirill Marchenko, who scored 21 goals as a rookie.

In addition to those names, they could end up getting meaningful contributions from rookie players, such as Hobey Baker winner Adam Fantilli (who could even instantly slot in as a top-six center) and Russian import Dmitri Voronkov, a rangy six-foot-three pivot who scored 26 goals and 43 points across 78 KHL games last season. Babcock will have a diverse group of players to choose from for any role he seeks to fill in his lineup, and with franchise defenseman Zach Werenski back from injury, there’s legitimate hope for a major bounce-back season in Ohio.

The byproduct of the number of new players the Blue Jackets have is that competition for spots in the team’s opening-night lineup will be stiff, and Kekäläinen and Babcock will have some important decisions to make this fall that could massively impact the careers of a few players.

Columbus simply has more players who may legitimately merit NHL roles than they have NHL jobs to offer. As a result, some players could end up in the AHL or exposed to waivers, but if they were employed by another team, they’d be preparing to skate in an NHL opening night.

Up front, there are significant training camp battles likely to occur both at center and along the wings. Gaudreau, Laine and Johnson are locks for top-six roles and Marchenko isn’t far behind them, but after those names, the competition for roles on the third line, fourth line or spare forward spots is set to be fierce.

Soon-to-be-24-year-old Alexandre Texier scored 11 goals and 20 points in his most recent 36-game NHL season and is returning to the NHL after a productive season playing with the ZSC Lions in Switzerland. Jack Roslovic has had his fair share of inconsistencies in Columbus, but has nonetheless scored 123 points in 206 total games as a Blue Jacket, a 49-point 82-game pace.

They should each be seen as front-runners for roles along the wings of Babcock’s third line, but they’ll have some stiff competition.

Last season, Trey Fix-Wolansky, at the age of 23, scored 71 points in just 61 games for the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters. He’ll now need to clear waivers in order to be sent to the AHL, and therefore could be an intriguing name to watch for teams looking to profit off the number of NHL-relevant wingers the Blue Jackets have.

Another player in contention for a roster spot is 22-year-old Yegor Chinakhov, a 2020 first-round pick. He remains waiver-exempt but has only played seven career games in the AHL. At this stage of his career, it would likely be less than ideal for Chinakhov to spend this season (the last before he’s waivers-eligible) in the AHL.

It’s an important year for Chinakhov to deliver on the faith the Blue Jackets showed in him when they picked him 21st overall, and he’ll have his work cut out for him in the preseason as he tries to beat out Roslovic or Texier for a third-line role.

A second Blue Jackets first-rounder, Liam Foudy, finds himself on the team’s roster bubble. Unlike Chinakhov, he has the disadvantage of being waivers-eligible for the first time in his career.

Foudy faces a make-or-break preseason as he looks to secure a fourth-line role competing against more established names such as Eric Robinson and Mathieu Olivier. While it would be a surprise to see the 2018 18th overall pick’s name on season-opening waivers, the possibility can’t be ruled out.

This immense level of competition along the wings extends to the center position, where the Blue Jackets have a wide-open set of options. The team has flirted with the possibility of trying out Laine as a pivot, and it’s that possibility as well as the presence of players such as Fantilli that could force a player like Roslovic, a longtime center, onto the wing. The most intriguing spot to look out for is likely to be the third-line center role, assuming Jenner and one of Laine or Fantilli each take up a top-six job.

2022 first-rounder Cole Sillinger had a brutal sophomore campaign but scored 31 points as a rookie and is still viewed as a crucial part of Columbus’ long-term future. But a variety of factors could lead to him starting the year with AHL Cleveland.

First and foremost, there were many who believed that Sillinger would have been better served last season regaining his confidence in the AHL with the Monsters, where he ended up playing in 11 total games (compared to 64 in the NHL). That attitude could lead to Columbus opting to start Sillinger off in Cleveland, hoping that he’ll force his way into the NHL roster with some strong play and re-emerge in the NHL with sky-high confidence.

Sillinger is waivers-exempt, so the team could prefer to begin his season in the minors in order to avoid having to place a player such as Fix-Wolansky, Justin Danforth or a defenseman on waivers.

The addition of Voronkov could also push Sillinger to the AHL, assuming the Russian is able to quickly translate his KHL success to the smaller North American ice surfaces.

A potential battle between Voronkov and Sillinger for an opening-night job down the middle of Babcock’s lineup could be the most intriguing storyline to track during the Blue Jackets’ preseason.

On defense, Columbus faces an arguably even more crowded situation. The top three defensemen are set in stone, with Werenski, Provorov and Severson guaranteed to play top-four roles. Beyond them, the team has a group of five players competing for what is likely to be just four open NHL jobs: Andrew Peeke, Erik Gudbranson, Jake Bean, Adam Boqvist and Jiříček.

Jiříček, 19, was exceptional in the AHL last season (he scored 38 points in 55 games, leading all regular under-21 defensemen in scoring on a points-per-game basis) and appears more than ready for an NHL role. But handing Jiříček an NHL job could mean placing one of those names on season-opening waivers, or forcing Kekäläinen to carry eight defensemen on his roster when the team already, as mentioned, has an abundance of capable forwards and a few who would need to be waived if they don’t earn NHL jobs.

While a battle between young centers such as Sillinger and Voronkov could end up a highlight of the preseason, the situation of the Blue Jackets defense means the ultimately higher-stakes lineup competition is on Babcock’s blueline, where the threat of waivers potentially looms large for some experienced players.

The NHL preseason isn’t a time generally associated with high-stakes battles. The games don’t count for the standings, and the priority for many players is simply preparing themselves for the rigor that comes with the regular season. But for the many players who find themselves on their team’s roster bubble or competing for an open lineup spot, the preseason carries an immense importance for the future of their career.

With a new head coach, many Blue Jackets players will have a blank slate to prove themselves and earn a role this fall. That presents numerous opportunities for not only Blue Jackets players, but also the 31 other teams that could be eyeing a Columbus skater they hope will end up on the season-opening waiver wire. The training-camp battles set to play out at every skater position in Columbus are likely to make the team’s training camp and preseason one of the league’s most interesting this fall.