Game Day 1: Elvis Merzlikins Gets The Nod In Net For The Blue Jackets' Opener Against The Minnesota Wild

MINNESOTA WILD THURSDAY, OCT. 10 8:00 P.M. XCEL ENERGY CENTER  ST. PAUL, MN

MINNESOTA  0-0-0 (0 pts; —%) t-4th, Central Division ROSTER SCHEDULE

After a brutal offseason, the Columbus Blue Jackets take the ice to begin the 2024-25 season Thursday night when they take on the Minnesota Wild.

The summer turned tragic Aug. 29 when forward Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew were killed in an alleged drunk-driving incident. The team will wear a special helmet decal for the entire season and the Wild will hold a moment of silence for Johnny and Matthew before the game.

Thursday's game will be the first chance for Columbus to play in Johnny's memory and spirit, as the team has said they'll strive to do.

Here's what else to know as the Blue Jackets take the ice for the first of 82 regular-season games.

WHAT TO KNOW: 

• Elvis Merzlikins will get the start between the pipes for the Blue Jackets, per head coach Dean Evason. Merzlikins was steady throughout the preseason and was rewarded with the opening night nod.
   
• Evason will be coaching his first regular-season game with the Blue Jackets. He previously coached the Wild until his dismissal last fall. Does that make this game extra important to Evason? "We're going to the team that fired me, and we're playing them the first game. Sure, it's important," Evason told Bob McElligott on The Inside Edge. "But is it more important than game 14 to win? No."
   
• The Blue Jackets had a four-game homestand to start the 2023-24 season, but their first road game of last season was also against the Minnesota Wild. They won 5-4 in overtime, with Adam Fantilli scoring his first career goal. The second-year player has looked excellent in camp and the exhibition games after a season-ending injury last season limited him to 49 games — look for big things in his elevated role as the definitive second-line center.
   
• Lines are fluid, but here's the expectation of how they start Thursday night. With news out Thursday that captain Boone Jenner will be out for at least most of the season, it will be 23-year-old Yegor Chinakhov with the first opportunity to take Jenner's role as the top line winger opposite of Kirill Marchenko. Newcomers James van Riemsdyk and Kevin Labanc will give Fantilli a veteran presence on the second line. The duo has 1,489 combined games of NHL experience (van Riemsdyk 1,011; Labanc 478). 
  
  On defense, Jake Christiansen has been bumped to the second pairing and plays along Damon Severson. Evason liked his aggressive style through training camp. Jack Johnson and Erik Gudbranson get the nod as the third pairing over Jordan Harris and David Jiricek; veterans over youth for opening night, it seems.
  
  Full line projections: