The Columbus Blue Jackets selected Russian Yegor Chinakhov with their first pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, taking him 21st overall.
Chinakhov, 19, is a 5'11", 180-pound winger who played most recently with the Avangard Omsk of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Passed over in the 2019 draft, Chinakhov is regarded as a scoring forward who will need to work on his two-way game. For Avangard, he has five goals and a pair of assists in 12 games. Last season, playing with Omskie Yasterby, Chinakhov had 27 goals and 42 assists in just 56 games.
Chinakhov was named Rookie of the Month in the KHL for the month of September, notching three goals and two assists in nine games.
Chinakhov represented Russia at the 2018 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the 2019 IIHF World U18 Championships.
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | Omskie Yastrevby | MHL | 4 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 2 |
| 2018-19 | Omskie Yastreby | MHL | 37 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 4 |
| 2019-20 | Izhstal Izhevsk | VHL | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 2019-20 | Omskie Yastreby | MHL | 56 | 27 | 42 | 69 | 16 |
| 2020-21 | Omsk Avangard | KHL | 12 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 4 |
The next pick for the Blue Jackets will come in the third round, at #78 overall. They acquired that pick earlier Tuesday from the Montreal Canadiens, along with center Max Domi, in exchange for forward Josh Anderson.
Day 2 of the draft will begin Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.
