Last week, the Columbus Blue Jackets completed a bit of business that needed to be done. Star player Patrik Laine requested a trade after a tough few seasons on and off the ice, and new general manager Don Waddell did the best he could in a tough situation sending him to the Montreal Canadiens.
While the Blue Jackets were arguably a better team with Laine than without him, this trade does do a bit of good. Other than bringing back a decent young defender, it gives the forward corps a bit more breathing room as a plethora of young prospects are trying to make a name for themselves at the NHL level. Last season Laine was missing for a majority of the action, so there was always a bit of a question about who would fall out of the Blue Jackets’ top-nine forwards when he returned. Now that’s not an issue anymore, and those lines are relatively secured.
Let’s take a look ahead at the players who will make up the top three-quarters of the Blue Jackets’ forward lines this season. I will say, that the nine players on this list are a lock to play, but there will likely be a lot of shuffling in different positions and combinations based on who is producing and who is not.
Possible Line 1 – LW Johnny Gaudreau, C Sean Monahan, RW Kirill Marchenko
The locks on this line are Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan at the number one left-wing (LW) and center (C) position. The two have years of chemistry built up together from their time together with the Calgary Flames and it would be a mistake to not put them together right off the hop. While Monahan isn’t an upper-echelon top-line center, his comeback over the last couple of seasons suggests he is good enough to do a manageable job of filling that role and brings stability that the team hasn’t had in that position in a very long time.
Gaudreau has been the Blue Jackets’ most consistent offensive producer through his first two seasons with the team – as advertised when he signed his mammoth contract in free agency – and so he’s deservedly slotted in on the top line.
Now this is where the speculation begins because you could honestly make a case that any of the remaining forwards should get a shot playing right wing (RW) on this top line. I went with Kirill Marchenko, who had a lot of growth and development last season. He’s a good shooter who could finish on passes from Gaudreau and is creative enough to handle himself in tough situations. Captain Boone Jenner would also look great in this spot as a guy who can dig out pucks to feed the other two or can finish as a good goal scorer.
Possible Line 2 – LW Dmitri Voronkov, C Adam Fantilli, RW Yegor Chinakhov
The speculation continues, I think it would be hard to break up all of the Russians based on how good they were together last season. So I’ve opted to keep the gargantuan Dmitri Voronkov and super speedy Yegor Chinakhov together.
Voronkov is the power forward the Blue Jackets have hoped he would be since they drafted him in 2019. He had a solid rookie season with 18 goals and 34 points; he was actually the team’s fifth-highest point scorer. Off the ice it was a whirlwind year adjusting to North American culture, so once he’s a little more settled I can only imagine improvement there. His size, physicality, and nose for the net make him an asset to any line.
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Chinakhov established himself as an NHL player in 2023-24 and it’s hard to imagine a step back this season. In only 53 games he was tenth in the NHL in 22-plus miles per hour (MPH) speed bursts with 24 and sixth in the NHL in 90-plus MPH shots with 29. He is the only player in the top ten for both of those categories which is a really impressive feat. So he’s an elite skater and shooter and has been solid defensively. If he can stay healthy for a full season and just finds a way to hit the net more, the Blue Jackets may have a star in the making.
Fantilli centers this line because it’s hard to imagine the Blue Jackets’ golden boy and likely future franchise star not given a top-six forward role. He was hurt last season, but certainly showed what the hype was all about and that he’ll be a major player in the NHL over the course of his career.
Possible Line 3 – LW Kent Johnson, C Cole Sillinger, RW Boone Jenner
This line is likely to start as a conglomeration of players who simply don’t fit in the top-six. Kent Johnson is an uber-skilled forward who, after a remarkable junior and college career, has shown glimpses of that ability in the NHL. He had a sophomore slump last season, but has the potential to bounce back in a big way this season.
Cole Sillinger had his own bounceback last season, and should be on his way to continued personal growth in 2024-25. He showed to be a reliable two-way center capable of picking up special teams minutes. He’ll continue to work on consistency and will eventually slide up into a higher center role as he’s earned it.
It will be interesting to see where Jenner slots in this season. The always dependable forward has been the team’s undisputed number one center over the last two or three seasons, but has been displaced by the addition of Monahan. He is capable of playing all three forward positions, is great in the faceoff dot, and plays as the engine for any line that he’s on. I would expect to see Jenner moved from line to line often as the “fixer” when certain players need a jolt throughout the long 82-game schedule.
When it comes to this list, these players will be who make up the team’s top-nine but the positions and lines that they play on will change throughout the season. Each player other than Gaudreau, Monahan, and Marchenko has shown an ability to play two or three different forward positions, with six of them capable of playing center. This season will be one of experimentation to see what sticks as the Blue Jackets continue to shape their core of the future.
