It would surprise no one if the Columbus Blue Jackets enter 2025 Training Camp with what they currently have. Most of their major business appears to be done.
However, one and perhaps two major questions continue to hover over the Blue Jackets as we approach the end of July. The answer to these questions could reveal what the opening day roster will look like.
Welcome to 2025-26 Blue Jackets Roster Projection 3.0. In case you missed the first two projections, you can see those below.
- 2025-26 Blue Jackets Roster Projection 1.0: Significant Questions Persist (End of May)
- 2025-26 Blue Jackets Roster Projection 2.0: Forwards Taking Shape (End of June)
When we last left this exercise, the Blue Jackets completed a trade with the Colorado Avalanche to acquire both Charlie Coyle and Miles Wood. Both players are expected to play a key role in the bottom six.
Since then, the Blue Jackets have made news on multiple fronts. On top of another signing in their forward ranks, the team now has to navigate a trade request that has gone public. Let’s talk about it all.
Forwards
We’ll start with the trade request. Through his agent, Yegor Chinakhov has requested a trade from the Blue Jackets. As of this writing, he is still on the team.
There is a chance Chinakhov starts the 2025-26 season on the Blue Jackets if a suitable trade isn’t available. Therefore, we will continue to project him in the lineup until otherwise proven.
For Chinakhov, he didn’t like the way things were handled after returning from injury. While he was able to return for a handful of games, he found himself on the outside looking in down the stretch of the season.
All indications point to Chinakhov being completely behind his injury. He’s in the midst of preparing for the upcoming season as he normally would.

GM Don Waddell isn’t going to simply give Chinakhov away. The player does have value given what he can bring to the table. Teams are likely calling the Blue Jackets perhaps thinking the price will be lower given both the injury history and the trade request.
That’s not the case. Trading Chinakhov would leave an important opening on the roster. The Blue Jackets aren’t interested in futures. They would want a player that can help their roster now.
Since the market is at a standstill given numerous factors, getting now help won’t be easy. That’s why the potential of Chinakhov starting the season with the Blue Jackets is a strong possibility. As we’ve discussed before, it’s in everyone’s best interest to make it work for now. It’s also the easiest solution available at this time.
Chinakhov was a top-six player last season before the injury. He wants to be in that position again. Should he come to camp ready to work, he could find himself in that position again.
The reality of the Chinakhov situation is that he could play a variety of roles on the team. He’s now the ultimate wildcard of the rest of the offseason. Until there is final clarity, we really won’t have a sense of what the opening-night roster could look like.
That’s not the only unknown at this point. Rumors continue to swirl around that despite recently signing a contract, the Blue Jackets might still be interested in trading Dmitri Voronkov.
This started back when the Blue Jackets were in on trying to acquire Noah Dobson. Reports suggested the Islanders wanted Voronkov in a potential deal.
When Dobson chose the Montreal Canadiens coupled with Voronkov signing his new contract, that talk quieted down. However, his name is being reported as out there. If that is true, the question is why.
First, the Blue Jackets have already established that they’re willing to listen on Voronkov. There are questions about his conditioning given the way his last couple of seasons ended. Is there enough concern that they think this will be a continuous problem?
Big, power forwards aren’t often available. Teams are going to inquire if there’s even a remote chance of making a deal. Voronkov has seasons of 18 and 23 goals in the NHL. At 6-foot-5 and hovering around 230 pounds, he’s only scratching the surface of just how good he could be.
Potential teams who want to trade for him also have cost certainty for the next two seasons. They’d also have team control as he’s an RFA after the contract expires.
The only way we feel Voronkov is traded is if an impact player comes the other way. Dobson would have fit that description. While it’s highly unlikely a player of Dobson’s caliber is available, you have to wonder if the Blue Jackets are still concerned about a particular area of their team that they want immediately addressed.

Like Chinakhov, we will project Voronkov into this lineup since he is under contract.
Away from the trade chatter for a moment, the Blue Jackets did sign Isac Lundestrom to a two-year contract. He adds experience and speed to the bottom-six. He is expected to play in the Sean Kuraly role and is $1.2 million cheaper than what Kuraly made.
Here is how we think the Blue Jackets could look come opening night.
- Yegor Chinakhov – Sean Monahan – Kirill Marchenko
- Boone Jenner – Adam Fantilli – Kent Johnson
- Cole Sillinger – Charlie Coyle – Dmitri Voronkov
- Miles Wood – Isac Lundestrom – Mathieu Olivier
Others in the running include Zach Aston-Reese, Jack Williams, Mikael Pyyhtia and Luca Del Bel Belluz. There are a couple of assumptions here.
Chinakhov could slot in anywhere in the top-nine. He does have an opportunity to win that spot next to Monahan. His camp will obviously be a focal point.
Voronkov too could end up in a variety of roles. But that shapes up to be quite the third line if the Blue Jackets choose to go this route.
Not only is there center depth on all lines, there’s center depth on the wings too. If someone gets tossed from the dot, Jenner and Fantilli could step up. The same can be said for Sillinger and Coyle.
The Blue Jackets are also better prepared to handle an injury at center should it come up. Can you honestly remember a time when the center depth was better or this deep in franchise history?
The Blue Jackets were among the highest scoring teams in the NHL in 2024-25. There’s no reason to think they can’t do it again. But let’s see how the Chinakhov and to a lesser extent the Voronkov situations play out. Those 12 could easily be the ones in the opening night lineup come Oct 9 in Nashville.
Defense
The defense has been clarified from the last time we spoke. We now know that the Blue Jackets didn’t extend a qualifying offer to Jordan Harris. He has since signed with the Boston Bruins.
The Blue Jackets circled back to Ivan Provorov and gave him a seven-year contract. The market conditions forced the team into meeting the asking price here.
IVAN IS SIGNED ✍️
— NHL (@NHL) July 1, 2025
Ivan Provorov and the @BlueJacketsNHL have agreed to a seven-year deal! #NHLFreeAgency pic.twitter.com/PmKhrnmTMI
The Blue Jackets also made a couple of depth signings when they brought on Dysin Mayo and Christian Jaros. They fit the role of injury replacement and callup options.
Here is how the Blue Jackets’ defense looks.
- Zach Werenski – Dante Fabbro
- Denton Mateychuk – Ivan Provorov
- Damon Severson – Erik Gudbranson
- Jake Christiansen
Others in the running include Mayo, Jaros and Daemon Hunt. Hunt and the Blue Jackets continue talking about a new contract. He was extended a qualifying offer as an RFA.
What is interesting about the pairs above is that the second pair is both left handed while the third pair is both right handed. How coach Dean Evason elects to deploy his defensemen will be a key storyline of camp.
This feels like a matchup and game situation kind of thing. There is some flexibility to make changes especially if the Blue Jackets need to shut things down or open things up looking for a goal.
The Blue Jackets have to get the version of Damon Severson that makes them a better team. He shouldn’t be under as much pressure knowing that both Werenski and Provorov make more than him now. He has shown he can be the best player on the ice on certain nights. Now can he and the team find that more consistently?
Goaltending
The Blue Jackets are in position to deploy Elvis Merzlikins and Jet Greaves this season. What remains unknown is who will come up in case of illness or injury?
Waddell said back at the draft he was looking for someone to fill that role of being on the Monsters and then coming up to the Blue Jackets. Nothing has materialized yet. Teams are reluctant to give up depth knowing how important that can be.
This is a situation where watching the waiver wire in training camp could yield the answer. With teams having to make cuts to their roster, goaltenders will be made available to everyone including the Blue Jackets. We may not know who fills this position until the middle of training camp unless something develops sooner.
As for when we’ll publish Roster Projection 4.0, it depends if anything happens between now and the end of August. If not, the next projection will drop at the start of training camp.
In the end, the Blue Jackets are mostly set. Once a couple lingering questions get answered, we’ll have the full picture as to what the 2025-26 Blue Jackets will look like.