Game Day 6: Cole Sillinger Bumped Up To Top Line As Blue Jackets Complete Home Stand Tuesday Night Against Maple Leafs

When the Columbus Blue Jackets face the Toronto Maple Leafs to complete a four-game homestand Tuesday night, there will be another noticeable change at the top of the lineup — but this one isn't as a result of injury.

Cole Sillinger has been elevated to the top line by head coach Dean Evason and will skate with Sean Monahan and Kirill Marchenko, while Yegor Chinakhov will move to the second line centered by Adam Fantilli and opposite of Mikael Pyyhtia.

The move to swap Chinakhov and Sillinger may be Evason's first controversial decision. Chinakhov has been red-hot to start the season — he has points in all five games and leads the team with three goals — but the Blue Jackets desperately need to add a second scoring line. By putting him on the second line with Fantilli, the hope is two-fold: that it will allow Monahan and Marchenko to continue their booming chemistry at the top of the line, and that pairing Chinakhov's goal-scoring ability with Fantilli's blossoming development at center will pay dividends.

Here's what else to know when the Blue Jackets complete their early-season homestand:

• The Maple Leafs will be on the second half of a multi-city back-to-back. They were one of the team's involved in the only game across the league Monday night, a 5-2 home win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Columbus should look to jump on this right out of the gate. 
   
• After missing the last two games as a healthy scratch, Kevin Labanc is back in the lineup. The Blue Jackets went with 11 forwards in Saturday night's loss to the Minnesota Wild, but Labanc's reinsertion into the lineup gives them 12. He'll play with Sean Kuraly and James van Riemsdyk in the bottom six. 
   
• For the second straight game, David Jiricek will be part of the lineup. With the Blue Jackets going back to the 12-6 look, Jordan Harris is a scratch. As for Jiricek, this is another chance to become that long-term mainstay on the Columbus blueline that he was expected to be. In related news, the team announced Tuesday that Erik Gudbranson underwent a successful shoulder surgery, without giving a timetable on a potential return. 
   
• A quick note: this game will see a 7:30 puck-drop. ESPN and the NHL are bringing back the Frozen Frenzy, a night in which all 32 teams are in action at staggered start times. The network will cover various games in small spurts throughout the night, with games starting in (mostly) 15-minute increments beginning at 6:00 p.m. No worries: the game will also be broadcast as regular on the FanDuel Sports Network, previously known as Bally Sports Ohio. Thus far, the only change appears to be the name and logo. 
   
• Daniil Tarasov is in net, backed up by a returning Elvis Merzlikins. He missed the last two games with a short-term, upper-body injury. Here are the complete line projections: