Columbus Blue Jackets notes: Forwards juggled for balance, Merzlikins returns
After five games, the Blue Jackets had a shining bright spot on their roster.
More: Columbus Blue Jackets fall to Minnesota Wild at home: 5 takeaways
According to most statistical measures, the top forward line of Yegor Chinakhov, Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko were one of the NHL’s most dominant groups — combining for seven goals, 11 assists and 18 points.
It was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it?
“We’ve obviously really liked Monahan, ‘Marchy’ and ‘Chinny’ together,” Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason said Monday. “They’ve been real good, but we’re looking just to get some balance. So, we’ve shifted some people.”
The Blue Jackets’ dominant top line is no longer a thing going into a tough matchup Tuesday against the high-powered Toronto Maple Leafs. Despite Chinakhov extending his opening point streak to five games with a late goal in the Jackets’ 3-1 loss Saturday to the Minnesota Wild, the promising Russian winger moved to a new line at practice two days later.
Chinakhov is now at right wing of the second line with center Adam Fantilli in the middle and rookie left wing Mikael Pyyhtia, while Cole Sillinger fills Chinakhov’s spot at left wing on Monahan’s first line. Justin Danforth, in another corresponding switch, moves from the right wing into Sillinger’s former spot at center of a third line with Zach Aston-Reese and Mathieu Olivier as wingers.
It’s a shakeup that has nothing to do with the former top line’s dominance and everything to do with the other three lines struggling during a lackluster loss to the Wild ― a stark contrast to how the Blue Jackets fared with Johnson in the lineup as a puck-hounding, playmaking winger with Sillinger and Pyyhtia.
His accidental fall while tripping over James van Riemsdyk early in the second period of the Jackets’ 6-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres on Thursday forced Johnson from the game and likely the lineup for another long-term stint with a left shoulder injury ― the same one that required season-ending surgery last March.
Johnson’s new shoulder issue is still being assessed for treatment options, but losing him to another long-term shoulder problem is gut-wrenching for him and the Blue Jackets. They barely got a sneak peek of what the fifth overall pick in the 2021 draft could’ve done in a full season. After a dominant preseason, Johnson tallied an impressive 2-3-5 in just 10-plus periods of the regular season.
“You don’t ever want to see your teammates get injured," Sillinger said. "You want them to be in the battle with you and playing with you, but with that being said, it’s part of the game. We don’t want to be saying this for years to come, but it’s just more adversity that we’re facing and we’re going to get through it.”
Losing Johnson on top of Johnny Gaudreau’s tragic death, offseason trades that subtracted Patrik Laine and Alexandre Texier plus dual shoulder injuries to captain Boone Jenner and Dmitri Voronkov just 14 hours apart in the preseason leaves the Blue Jackets with an NHL forward crisis.
Whatever depth they had among forwards starting camp is already zapped. It’s now up to Aston-Reese, Danforth, van Riemsdyk, Sean Kuraly and Kevin Labanc to provide whatever production they can with the bottom two lines, while Evason and his staff tinker with the top two.
The hope in moving Chinakhov with Fantilli is to spark the Jackets' dynamic second-year center, who’s coming off his own season-ending injury as a rookie (calf laceration). Fantilli has scored two goals, but Evason said his offensive analytics show potential for a lot more.
“I see great things from his game ... great,” Evason said. “He’s killing penalties a little bit. He’s playing on the power play. He’s playing hard every night. He’s driving the offense. And, I’ll be honest with you, that’s maybe why we shifted some people around, to give him some offensive people to play with. Hopefully him and ‘Chinny’ and (Pyyhtia) will mesh really quick, and we’ll have a line that can produce and keep the puck out of our net.”
Moving Sillinger, meanwhile, puts him in a spot once reserved for Gaudreau and then Jenner before necessity put Chinakhov with Monahan and Marchenko. Evason and his staff still view Sillinger as a center in the long-term, but the Jackets are already in a desperate situation.
“We’re giving this a chance to see how it is,” Sillinger said. “We know ‘Chinny’ and ‘Marchy’ have chemistry together, and ‘Monny’ with them has been really good ... but maybe it’s trying to find more balance in the lineup, especially playing (Toronto).”
Columbus Blue Jackets goalie Elvis Merzlikins nearing return
Three goalies practiced Monday, including Elvis Merzlikins.
The Jackets’ highest paid netminder re-joined the main playing group for the first time since missing two games with a hand/wrist injury that may have occurred in the Jackets’ 4-3 loss to the Florida Panthers last Tuesday in the home opener. Jet Greaves, an emergency recall who backed up Daniil Tarasov the past two games, was loaned back to AHL Cleveland after Monday’s practice.
A source initially said Merzlikins needed to miss some time with “physical fatigue,” before that was quickly changed to “upper-body injury.”
Merzlikins was also spotted using a hockey glove rather than his blocker during a solo workout last week with goaltending coach Niklas Backstrom. Sending Greaves back to Cleveland means Merzlikins is expected to dress Tuesday against the Maple Leafs, but Evason hasn't revealed his goaltending plans yet.
“He seemed fine (practicing),” Evason said. “He got through the entire practice, so where we go now will depend on what we see or hear from the training staff.”
@BrianHedger
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets shake up forwards for Toronto Maple Leafs
