You are almost there, Blue Jackets’ fans. Just one more sleep until the team’s 25th anniversary season gets underway Thursday night in Nashville. We have a lot of news to talk about.
Welcome back to Blue Jackets’ News & Rumors. There’s one major question still hovering over the team. While we don’t know the answer yet, there’s a good chance the team does.
That all-important question is where we’ll start this week.
Who’s the Starter?
As of Wednesday morning when this article posted, this answer remains unknown. Will it be Elvis Merzlikins? Will it be Jet Greaves? While Thursday night’s starter is a mystery, head coach Dean Evason provided some insight into the goalie competition. He ultimately shared what the initial plans are.
The Hockey Writers asked Evason on Tuesday not to name his starter, but what factors would be considered in making that choice. This led to him giving a pretty honest answer about what he thought of both Merzlikins and Greaves.
“To be completely honest with you, we were having serious discussions on who should start,” Evason said. “And we think regardless of the choice that we make, it’ll be a good one. Because both played extremely well in all of the games that they conducted themselves in. And not only that, but in practice as well, the work ethic. There’s nothing separating.”
Evason admitted both his goalies are on basically even footing in terms of performance. Then the head coach shared his insight into how he’d handle the first two games against Nashville and Minnesota.
“So I’ll tell you this. Whoever starts (Thursday) probably won’t play the second game because of that.”
At practice Tuesday, it was worth noting that Merzlikins worked the home net. In case you are newer to the sport, the home net is the net closest to the player’s bench the team uses. More often than not, that is a strong indicator of who will start the next game.
It’s still too early to draw definite conclusions. The Blue Jackets do practice on Wednesday before making the trip down to Nashville.
Regardless how things shake out, the Blue Jackets will need both Merzlikins and Greaves at the top of their games to start the season. How they do will go a long way in determining how the season will go.
State of the Middle-Six
While most of the Blue Jackets’ roster was pretty easy to figure out most of camp, some line combinations were being looked at. When the dust settled on the preseason, there was a notable change in the middle six.
Cole Sillinger is on the second line. Kent Johnson will start on the third line.
Sillinger was one of the most noticeable Blue Jackets throughout camp. He made an impact by playing his honest, straight-forward game. While he started on Charlie Coyle’s line, he will play with Adam Fantilli and Boone Jenner to start the opener.
Fantilli loves the kind of game Sillinger brings to that line overall.
“He can really do it all,” Fantilli said of Sillinger. “So utilizing, I think, the strength of his game is something that I’m focusing on and knowing that he’s a guy that can play really soundly and is good at getting pucks back on the forecheck. I want to put him in positions like that and play off him to make sure that he’s playing in his strengths and I’m playing in mine.”
Fantilli also said that Sillinger is one of his best friends on the team. They talk all the time. They’ve brought that talk on the ice which has helped them get comfortable.
“We’re talking to each other a lot, making sure we’re in the right spots,” Fantilli said. “I’ll tell him tendencies that I like to do in the O-zone. If I’m doing this, I need you to land here. If you’re doing this, I’m going to be here. So this option will be there. We’ve been talking a lot of things out and we’re feeling good.”
Coach Evason believes this line will bring the effort every time they’re on the ice.
“It’s the work. They’re all workers,” Evason said. “You have skill, but they’re all intense, working straight-forward guys. I know Fantilli can get a little east-west, but having those two guys (Jenner, Sillinger) playing a forward game is our thought process that they can play the game with pace (and) put heat on teams not only defensively as far as forechecking, checking wise, but they can put heat on teams with their offensive ability to play the game with the pace that we need to play with.”
That same thought process applied when deciding to put Johnson on the third line with Coyle and Mathieu Olivier. It was putting a playmaker with two players with a more direct approach.
“That is exactly what the thought process was,” Evason said. Olivier obviously plays a forward game and Charlie is just so good in all areas. Both big, strong guys and Kent’s not the biggest guy so they can muck it up a little bit for him. Hopefully both of those (middle-six) lines can find chemistry right away.”
New Food Choices
The Blue Jackets invited members of the media to their Diamond Cellar Club on Tuesday with an opportunity to sample some of their new food offerings available.
With everything from the vegan Korean Sloppy “No” to pretzel bites with pico and queso to barbacoa tacos, there was a little something for everyone. And let’s not forget the cream puff and the warm, melt in your mouth chocolate chip cookie.
The Hockey Writers spoke to head chef Sean Barger about the new offerings this season and what goes into deciding what to offer to fans.
“One of the first things we do, and this is what everybody does, is look at trends,” Barger said. “Will that trend fit in our market? Columbus isn’t Portland. It isn’t Tallahassee. It isn’t Nashville. There are items from those areas that would work here, but we want to make sure (with) our clientele, that we capture their needs.”
“We get hundreds of surveys every game. Then we filter through those,” Barger continued. “If we get a large want for X, Y and Z, that’s what we want. That’s what we lean into. Then there are times where we’re like, you know what? We haven’t gotten any comments about this. Let’s try it out. It sounds like a lot of fun.”
You May Also Like
- Blue Jackets News & Rumors: Goalie Plans, Middle-Six Forwards, New Food & More
- 3 Blue Jackets’ Takeaways From Their 2025 Preseason
- Blue Jackets Conclude Preseason With Loss to Capitals
- Blue Jackets Kept Promise of Being Team That Won’t Be Pushed Around
- Kampf Among 12 Players On Waivers & Hunt, Schwindt, Solovyov Claimed
One of the biggest challenges Barger and his staff have to handle is where in the arena to make these special menu items available. They will pick 1-2 spots and make sure fans know where to go.
In terms of how food is selected, Barger is joined by his general manager and his food and beverage director when making the final call on what to offer. He says this menu is one of the most exciting they’ve offered yet.
“I think we’ve had a lot more fun which is always my focus with food,” Barger said. “Just creating and making sure in that creative process we’re touching all of the points that we need to touch and making sure everybody feels included.”
The Diamond Cellar Club offers fans the best view of center ice from the club level where there is nothing obstructing the view of the ice. If you’re looking for an experience you’ll never forget and food choices to match, check them out.
Side Dishes
- Evason said Tuesday that Kirill Marchenko did not practice with the team due to a personal matter. He is fine and expected to play in Nashville on Thursday.
- Here were the lines in practice Tuesday. Yegor Chinakhov skated in Marchenko’s spot and could be a healthy scratch to start the season.
- Dmitri Voronkov – Sean Monahan – Yegor Chinakhov*(Marchenko)
- Boone Jenner – Adam Fantilli – Cole Sillinger
- Kent Johnson – Charlie Coyle – Mathieu Olivier
- Zach Aston Reese-Isac Lundestrom-Miles Wood
- Zach Werenski-Dante Fabbro
- Ivan Provorov-Damon Severson
- Denton Mateychuk-Erik Gudbranson
- Jake Christiansen
- Elvis Merzlikins/Jet Greaves
