North America is the next stop for Dmitri Voronkov.
A 2019 fourth-round draft pick by the Columbus Blue Jackets, Voronkov will soon be setting his sights on the NHL as his next step.
The 22-year-old center has played for Ak Bars Kazan of the KHL since 2018-19. Coming off his best season in which he put up 31 points (18 goals, 13 assists) in 54 games, Voronkov had 11 points (seven goals, four assists) in 23 playoff games. Ak Bars Kazan lost in the championship final against CSKA Moscow, who won their second consecutive Gagarin Cup. Vronkov had three goals in the final.
Dmitri Voronkov #CBJ
— Hockey News Hub (@HockeyNewsHub) April 29, 2023
Alexander Radulov
2-1 Ak Bars #GagarinCupFinal pic.twitter.com/3qNiRxdNBL
In February, The Athletic's Aaron Portzline said it was expected for the longtime prospect to make the move over to the NHL official once his current KHL season ended. With the season over and his KHL contract having concluded, expect an announcement soon. Portzline said on Sunday the Blue Jackets look to act fast and knock out a two-year contract with the young Russian.
While it sounds like Voronkov’s NHL outlook isn't necessarily that of a scorer, based on his KHL history, Portzline had an interesting note on that very topic from February.
It can be hard to quantify stats from other pro leagues. Voronkov is not expected to be a major offensive contributor in the NHL — most project him as a third-line center — but 16 goals for a 22-year-old in Russia is plenty impressive. Marchenko’s best season, for instance, was 15 goals in 39 games in 2020-21. Alex Ovechkin never had more than 13 goals for Dynamo Moscow (2004-05). Evgeni Malkin’s best was 21 goals with Magnitogorsk Metallurg in 2005-06. Pavel Datsyuk never had more than nine goals for Ak-Bars (2000-01). Nikita Kucherov had only one goal in 26 KHL games before coming to North America.
Regardless of whether the Blue Jackets strike it lucky in next week's NHL draft lottery and select a game-changing center in that of Connor Bedard or Adam Fantilli—and either is the best of both worlds and makes the trickle-down effect that much easier—Voronkov profiles as a third-line checking center for this Blue Jackets group moving forward. You still have to factor in Boone Jenner and Sean Kuraly. And the trickle-down continues and only gets more interesting.
Is Jack Roslovic expendable?
Injuries have a way of working out potential roster logjams but the Blue Jackets have had enough of that.
It seems like the Blue Jackets know what Roslovic is at this point. Scoring inconsistencies and defensive lapses.
Roslovic's 5v5 2.96 GA/60 was the best it's been since his 2019-20 season with the Winnipeg Jets when it was 2.37. However, his xGA/60 this season was 3.22 per Natural Stat Trick.
Jack Roslovic, Evolving-Hockey
The Blue Jackets need scoring consistency on the top two lines down the middle and Roslovic hasn't been that guy.
Goals were hard to come by last season, and yet, he finished fourth on the club with 43 points (11 goals, 33 assists) and second in helpers. That tells you more about the overall state of the Blue Jackets' offense.
Entering the final season of a two-year, $8 million deal signed last off-season, Roslovic will then be a UFA next summer. The 26-year-old, seven-year pro, feels like the kind of guy that other teams would be interested in and perhaps he’d flourish with the right team. We’ve seen that happen a lot.
As for Columbus, it’s getting crowded down the middle.
If Kent Johnson or even Patrik Laine continues garnering more looks at center, could Jenner move back to the wing?
And don’t forget Cole Sillinger who’s looking for a huge bounce-back next season.
Once next week’s lottery happens and the Blue Jackets get into the draft next month (June 28-29) to make it all official, and begin free agency which gets underway in July, the pieces will start falling into place.
There is a lot to fix with the club over the next few months, as well as installing the club's next head coach.
