It was anything but a smooth ride.
But the Columbus Blue Jackets have finalized their roster for the season-opener Thursday night in Minnesota against the Wild.
Injuries to Boone Jenner and Dmitri Voronkov — both believed to be long-term — put the Blue Jackets in the positioning of needing to either play guys who they felt might not quite be ready to be a mainstay in the NHL, or check the market for available players to fill those roles.
They opted (wisely) for the latter choice, signing Kevin Labanc over the weekend to a one-year deal and claiming Vegas forward Zach Aston-Reese off waivers Monday.
That gave the club some flexibility, which they exercised late Monday by sending forward James Malatesta to the Cleveland Monsters. He had an excellent camp, but — similar to the decision made with defenseman Denton Mateychuk — the team decided a big role in Cleveland was more valuable to their development than a limited role in Columbus.
INTRODUCING YOUR 2024-25 OPENING NIGHT ROSTER
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 7, 2024
https://t.co/z1hX0RhE7b@RuoffMortgage | #CBJ pic.twitter.com/ZHVB3teFfz
In addition to the Malatesta move, Boone Jenner was placed on injured reserve. Forwards Justin Danforth, Jordan Dumais, and Max McCue were placed on the Injured/Non-Roster list.
Here's a look at those decisions resulted in, as well as an idea of what lines could look like when the Blue Jackets play the Minnesota Wild in Thursday night's season-opener:
FORWARDS:
Line 1: Yegor Chinakhov — Sean Monahan — Kirill Marchenko
Line 2: James van Riemsdyk — Adam Fantilli — Kevin Labanc
Line 3: Mikael Pyyhtia — Cole Sillinger — Kent Johnson
Line 4: Zach Aston-Reese — Sean Kuraly — Mathieu Olivier
Scratch: Dylan Gambrell
DEFENSE:
Pair 1: Zach Werenski — Ivan Provorov
Pair 2: Jake Christiansen — Damon Severson
Pair 3: Jack Johnson — Erik Gudbranson
Scratches: Jordan Harris / David Jiricek
GOALIES:
Elvis Merzlikins — Daniil Tarasov
