On Sunday, the Columbus Blue Jackets made their penultimate roster moves ahead of Wednesday night's season opener against the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Blue Jackets are placing Emil Bemstrom on waivers to be assigned to Cleveland, should he clear on Monday.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) October 9, 2022
Ben Harpur has been released from his PTO, and goalie Jet Greaves is also headed to the Monsters. #CBJ
The moves put the roster at 26 players, meaning just three more must be moved. Here are the most likely scenarios, as well as thoughts about each remaining battle:
- As of this writing, it's unclear which defenseman - David Jiricek or Nick Blankenburg - will be with the club to start the season. While both had strong camps, Blankenburg should get this last spot. There's no sense in keeping an 18-year-old around in limited minutes, if at all. Jiricek can be sent to the AHL or back home to HC Plzen in the Czech Pro League (or the WHL, though that seems most unlikely). There are worse places for a player to continue his development. While Jiricek's physical tools are far superior to those of Blankenburg, there's no denying that the latter has impressed - again. In my opinion, it should be his job to start the season. Jiricek's time will come. Both players are waivers exempt, so there's no risk of losing either in a demotion.
- The same cannot be said for Emil Bemstrom, who was waived yesterday. It's possible another NHL team put in a claim for him, and it's possible that Blue Jackets put in a claim (or several) on a similarly waived player (no, not Nick Foligno). It's definitely possible that the Bemstrom experiment is over in Columbus.
- One of the big winners on Sunday was Liam Foudy. Like Bemstrom, he would have required waivers to move to the AHL. Unlike Bemstom, he's still in camp, meaning that he's all but surely cracked the opening night roster. That's a bit of a surprise, but perhaps the club feels like they have enough snipers on the roster and could use a bit of penalty-killing/bottom-six style of play. Still, losing Bemstrom for nothing, particularly with a player like Mathieu Olivier on the roster, could sting.
- As an addendum to the last bullet on Foudy, there's a chance that he's placed on injured reserve, which punts his future into the future. A player on IR would not count against the team's 23 player-tally.
- The last player cut will likely go to Joona Luoto, another player who is waivers exempt. The 6'3" forward had a strong end to the season in Finland's top pro league, Liiga, a league that GM Jarmo Kekalainen knows well. He didn't have a particularly noticeable training camp, though he could be a player in the mix if injuries hit or if he shows himself overly qualified in the AHL.
- All signs point to Joonas Korpisalo starting the season on injured reserve. That frees up the backup spot for Danill Tarasov.
- It appears that former first-rounders Kent Johnson and Yegor Chinakhov have made the team. Before camp started, I thought that someone like Kirill Marchenko may push one of these two out and into Cleveland. Instead, it was Chinakhov who did the pushing, leading the NHL in goals during the preseason. While it's not a done deal (but it may be by the time you're reading this), it sure feels like Johnson will be given the benefit of the doubt, and will start the season in Columbus.
- It's possible - though unlikely - that the club chooses to keep 13 forwards/8 defensemen instead of the more traditional 14/7 split. If that's the case, both Jiricek and Blankenburg will be on the opening night roster, and one of the above forwards (likely Johnson) would be sent to the AHL.
