Don't look now, but the Columbus Blue Jackets' young forwards are starting to drive the bus.
Due to injuries to three veteran forwards, the team has had no choice but to give their young forwards more opportunities. And while nobody wishes injury upon anyone, it's not difficult to say that the team is, in the long run, benefitting from the absences of Patrik Laine, Boone Jenner, and Jack Roslovic.
In the past few weeks, the Blue Jackets coaching staff has struck gold by putting together the trio of Russian forwards Yegor Chinakhov, Dmitri Voronkov, and Kirill Marchenko. Adam Fantilli has benefitted from Jenner's absence and is the clear number-one center on the team today. He looks more than comfortable playing alongside Johnny Gaudreau, who has clearly benefited from having a play-driving, puck-carrying big center to play alongside. And after a stint in the AHL, Kent Johnson has returned to the NHL with a bang, too.
Adam Fantilli's last nine games: 5-4-9
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) December 20, 2023
Kirill Marchenko's last seven games: 6-2-8
Kent Johnson's last six games: 3-5-8
Yegor Chinakhov's last five games: 5-4-9
Folks #CBJ
And suddenly, a lost season has a little bit less despair.
Before the season started, I wrote that a successful season would, first and foremost, constitute the kids improving/developing. And while the season hasn't gone as planned (obviously), it's nice to see that that's mostly happening (though David Jiricek's recent healthy scratch was a headscratcher).
Pascal Vincent and his staff have spoken about being careful with minutes/deployment with its young players, as they want to avoid stunting growth as a result of a lack of confidence. But ironically, these young players have all flourished because of their increased roles. And while ice time is still lower than I would prefer - Kent Johnson is averaging 13:07 through 17 games this season, and Adam Fantilli is second in rookie scoring despite coming in at 27th in average TOI among rookies - it's at least trending in the right direction.
Cole Sillinger, who has struggled to produce offense, looks to have found a nice groove playing alongside Johnson and Emil Bemstrom. In other words, even the third line is full of young players who are hitting their groove. When over half the forward group is 24 or younger, there are going to be growing pains.
But the growth of young players in recent weeks has been an encouraging sign. If the Blue Jackets come out of this season knowing that they have a future top-six line in the Russian trio, Fantilli is ready to be a plug-and-play top-six center, Johnson continues to learn the NHL and Sillinger regains his confidence, that's a success.
