Another summer, another trade request from a Columbus Blue Jacket. Young Russian forward Yegor Chinakhov has asked for a new home. He’s the man through whom the organization shocked hockey pundits everywhere in his selection in the first round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, despite not many ranking him on their lists at all. The organization took a chance on him, and he’s rewarded them – at times.
The forward has tantalizing potential with one of the hardest shots in the game; his top shot speed in 2024-25 (96.31 miles per hour (MPH)) and average shot speed (68.82 MPH) were each in the 97th percentile among forwards. His 14 22-plus MPH speed bursts were in the 94th percentile. This isn’t a one-year outlier, either; he’s been consistently in the 90-plus percentile for shooting and skating speeds over the past several campaigns.
However, he’s also been affected by the injury bug quite frequently. Through four seasons in North America, his most games played in a single hockey calendar are 62, and he’s averaged less than 38 games played over the last three. In his absence, several players have stepped up and claimed the top-six forward positions that he was once thought to inherit, so he clearly feels his opportunity for growth in the Blue Jackets organization has passed him by. That was made evident in a trade request made in a post on X by his agent Shumi Babaev.
He wants out, and there will be a lot of teams interested in his services. The problem here for Columbus is that, like with Patrik Laine last summer, they are not trading him at his highest value. That will significantly hurt the return because, at face value, Chinakhov is an injury-prone middle-six forward who has never recorded more than 29 points and averages 17.75 points per season. Teams will only go so high in terms of value while taking on such risk. Regardless of the return, let’s take a look at some of the teams where Chinakhov could be a good fit.
Carolina Hurricanes
This was the first team that came to my mind, because doesn’t Chinakhov really fit the mold of a Carolina Hurricane? He’s crazy fast, has a heck of a shot, and something I haven’t mentioned yet is how defensively responsible he is. 2024-25 was a bit of a step back in that regard, but in 2023-24 (which was his best season by most metrics to date), he was a dog on a bone in the defensive zone. The Hurricanes also have a lot of Russians in their prospect pipeline and have not shied away from adding folks from the Motherland.
Related: 3 Returns the Blue Jackets Should Look for in a Yegor Chinakhov Trade
The obvious connection is there between current Blue Jackets’ general manager (GM) Don Waddell and the Hurricanes, being the team he used to run. If Waddell has a player or two in Carolina’s system that he really likes, then he could use Chinakhov as fodder to bring them to his new digs. Put plainly, if he’s dealing Chinakhov for a prospect, there is no team’s prospects that he knows better than the Hurricanes’. That could make it easier to facilitate an agreement between the two sides.
Buffalo Sabres
Another obvious connection is between Chinakhov and the man who drafted him. Former Blue Jackets’ GM Jarmo Kekalainen has a new zip code in the Empire State as a senior advisor for the Buffalo Sabres. Buffalo had the 11th-worst goal differential in the NHL and could use some scoring touch with defensive responsibility. Kekalainen’s influence was surely at play when stealing Justin Danforth from Columbus in free agency, and he could let Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams know some insider information on Chinakhov’s potential.
This is a connection several people have made, but I’m not sure where he would slot into their lineup. The Sabres’ forward corps looks pretty full at face value and doesn’t have room for any of their internal prospects before even considering the addition of another middle-six forward. This one strikes me as unlikely, but bears mention because of Kekalainen.
New York Islanders
I tried to find a Western Conference team, but honestly couldn’t find one that made more sense than these three teams. We hear how much Russian players like suiting up for New York-based teams, and the New York Islanders are living proof of that. They’ve been able to sign several high-profile free agents out of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) over the years. They recently extended Russian defender Alexander Romanov to an eight-year contract extension, and Ilya Sorokin will be tending their pipes for the foreseeable future.
As a player, he suits their mold well, as they are a team flush with playmakers who are looking for finishers. Mathew Barzal, Jonathan Drouin, Maxim Tsyplakov, Bo Horvat, and Maxim Shabanov are all players whose stats tend to skew more to assists than goals, and as such, could use a shooter like Chinakhov on their flank. It also helps that the Islanders are transitioning to a younger core; he fits that age scheme.
Whoever decides to step up and meet Waddell’s asking price for Chinakhov will be getting a high-risk, high-reward player. It’s a little out of the realm of possibility to expect a point-per-game player for this season, but it’s not out of the question to think that he could reach the 50 or 60 point threshold at some point under the right circumstances. The 24-year-old still has a couple more years of growth before his ceiling is reached.
