The Columbus Blue Jackets are the 2021 Traverse City Tournament Champions. Here is the recap, the stars, and who to look ahead to going forward.
September 16 v Toronto Maple Leafs
The first period had two Toronto goals in less than three minutes. Undrafted forward Alexander Steeves scored the first goal with the help of Leafs’ top prospect Nick Robertson. Semyon Der-Arguchintsev (SDA) notched the second goal with help from Noel Hoefenmeyer and Pavel Gogolev.
The second period was brought even by training camp invitees in forwards Tristian Mullin and Cole Fonstad. Mullin scored the first goal for Columbus in the tournament with no help. Fonstad’s goal was assisted by Mullin and James Malatesta, who I had ranked tenth in my top prospect rankings.
Toronto pushed back against the Columbus comeback with a go-ahead goal by forward Matt Hellickson with an assist from winger Mikhail Abramov.
Yegor Chinakov evened the game for Columbus in the opening seconds of the third period; centers Cole Sillinger and Tyler Angle had the helpers.
The overtime game winning goal came from Josh Dunne; defender Jacob Christiansen and forward Carson Meyer had the assists.
Ian Scott was the star in the pipes for Toronto, stopping 31 of 35 shots; Jet Graves stopped 19 of 22 for Columbus.
CBJ Three Stars
1. Tristian Mullin — goal (1), assist (1)
2. Josh Dunne — OT GWG (1)
3. Yegor Chinakov — Goal (1)
September 17 v Dallas Stars
The Columbus Blue Jackets held on to defeat the Dallas Stars by the final score of 5-3. Chinakov opened the scoring just 26 seconds into the game. Linemates Sillinger and Angle had the helpers.
Dallas’ top prospect Riley Tufte evened the scoring 90 seconds later with the help from line mate Wyatt Johnston. Johnston and Tufte collaborated for the go ahead goal.
To close out the first period, Jake Gaudet got the tying goal with 11 seconds left. Mullin and Fonstad had the assists.
Dallas’ final goal was scored on the power play in the second period, and it came from Jacob Peterson with the lone assist from Ty Dellandrea.
The final three goals were executed by the top six forwards of the Blue Jackets in this tournament: the Chinakov and Mullin lines. Cole Sillinger scored his first of the tournament to even the game at 3-3; Cole Clayton had the assist. Chinakov had his second of the game, which the first of the power play for the team,and was the game winning goal; Christiansen and Sillinger had the helpers; and Jake Gaudet had the go ahead goal for Columbus.
Remi Porier was in the net for Dallas, stopping 20 of 25 shots; Graves stopped 29 of 32.
CBJ 3 Stars of the Game
1. Yegor Chinakov— 2 goals (3),
2. Cole Sillinger— goal (1), assist (2)
3. Jake Gaudet — 2 goals (2)
September 19 v Detroit Red Wings
A scary hit was the headline of this domination, where Columbus took a 7-3 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
Let’s start with the scary moment that went down in the first period. James Malatesta dished a shoulder hit up high on Wings’ defender Jared McIssac, which caused play in the game to delay as he was assisted off the ice by other staff. Since the incident, Wings’ medical staff indicated that he is
“ok, and not going to let stop him” according to Helene St. James from the Detroit Free Press.
Onto the goal scoring action...
Columbus opened the scoring with the first three goals of the game. Undrafted shocker Peter Reynolds opened the scoring with his first of the tournament; Ben Boyd and Narvin Mutter had the assists. Cole Sillinger had the first short handed goal for Columbus of the tournament; Tyler Angle had the lone assist. Josh Dunne had the 3-0 goal; Jacob Christiansen had the assist.
Detroit center Chase Pearson closed out the first period with an unassisted tally to make it 3-1.
Detroit winger Pasquale Zito opened the second period goal scoring with a power play marker; defender Donovan Sebrango and center Joe Veleno had the supporting points.
Yegor Chinakov was on an absolute roll this game against Detroit. Chinakov kept the Jackets ahead with what would be the game winning goal at 4-2, with his fourth goal of the tournament. Just like earlier in the frame, this was also a power play goal, the first of the game for Columbus; Josh Dunne and Jacob Christiansen had the asssits.
Chinakov’s second goal of the game and fifth of the tournament came unassisted 5 minutes into the third.
Detroit’s Mason Ward had an assist goal minutes later.
Chinakov‘s hat trick goal was a power play goal for his sixth of the tournament; Christiansen and Angle had the assists. The closing point was scored by Ben Boyd unassisted.
Jan Bednar stopped 28 of 35 shots for Detroit; Emrik Despatie stopped 17 of 20 shots for Columbus.
CBJ Three Stars of the Game
1. Yegor Chinakov— hat trick (6)
2. Josh Dunne — goal (2), assist (1)
3. Ben Boyd— goal (1), assist (1)
September 20 v Toronto Maple Leafs
The last game of the tournament was a 7-6 overtime slobber knocker between Columbus and Toronto. Tyler Angle opened the scoring 21 seconds into the game; Josh Dunne and Stanislav Svozil had the assists.
Jordan Frasca evened the game at one a piece; Mikhail Abramov had the assist.
Braeden Kressler scored the first power play goal of the game for Toronto; Curtis Douglas and Jermey McKenna had the assists.
James Malatesta brought the game to even at 2 a piece with his first of the contest; the short handed goal was unassisted.
SDA put the TML back ahead at 3-2 minutes later; Matt Hellickson and Kressler had the helpers.
Josh Dunne brought the game back even for the CBJ with an unassisted goal at 3-3. Malatesta’s second of the game put the Union Blue ahead at 4-3 to conclude the second frame; Svozil had his second helper of the game.
Cole Fonstad opened the scoring for the CBJ in the third period, bringing the game to 5-3 for Columbus; Narvin Mutter had the assist.
SDA’s second of the game was off the power play bringing Toronto to within one; Curtis Douglas and Kressler had the helpers.
Malatesta’s hat trick goal pushed Columbus ahead to within two; Gerard Keane and Dunne had the assists.
Nick Robertson pushed Toronto back into the game with a power play goal; Abramov and SDA had the assists. Joseph Duzak scored the tying goal with 24 seconds left in the game; Abramov and William Villeneuve had the assists.
The overtime game winning goal was scored by Tyler Angle; Josh Dunne had the assist.
Keith Petruzzelli stopped 28 of 35 for Toronto; Jet Graves stopped 37 of 43 for Columbus.
CBJ 3 Stars of the Game
1. James Malatesta— 3 goals (4)
2. Josh Dunne— goal (3), 3 asssits (4)
3. Tyler Angle— 2 goals (2)
5 Players to Look Forward to a Jackets fan from this tournament:
Yegor Chinakov
6 goals in 4 games, including 5 in the middle two games. The streaky unknown from the 2020 draft is knocking on the door in Columbus. Some sites think he could make the team out of camp, or finish in the Calder race, but let’s be realistic— it’s a wait and see.
Tyler Angle
The seventh rounder has been given a chance to shine being on Chinakov’s wing, and he could pass and shoot in the top six this tourny.
Cole Sillinger
The son of suitcase Mike, the 12th overall pick from the 2021 draft showed off centering the top line in the tournament, leading them to being undefeated.
Josh Dunne
The undrafted center man showed his size and goal scoring abilities this tournament, and could see more ice time in Cleveland.
James Malatesta
The potential late round steal of the draft, Malatesta showed his physical and nasty side, but his speed and goal scoring against Toronto.
5 Players to Watch After Traverse City from the other teams:
Nick Robertson
Robertson could be a Calder finalist this year, and this is not hype. After playing in the 2020 playoff bubble and recovering most of 2021, this kid could shine anywhere Toronto needs him on the main roster this year. Expect him to be on the team on opening night.
Joe Veleno
Expect him to be a middle six forward in the near future for Detroit, but he is pushing close since being an underage exception status player from the QMJHL.
Riley Tufte
The first rounder from the Stars is being groomed nicely in the development system for Texas. Tufte has great ability, and could support Seguin as Benn, Radulov, and Pavelski are aging on the Dallas core.
Mikhail Abramov
Another Toronto prospect, the Russian kid could join Robertson in the coming years on the main roster in the Blue and White.
Jared McIssac
After getting dismantled by Malatesta, McIssac is a strong defensive prospect, and most developed in the North American defenseman. Seider and Evidsson are their best defenders, but weren’t a part of the tournament.
Laine Ready
Jackets’ winger Patrik Laine is ready to rebound after an underwhelming 2021 season. Laine came with Jack Roslovic early into the regular season in the trade that saw Pierre-Luc Dubois and this season’s third round head to Winnipeg.
“I just want to be a better player than I was last year. It’s going to be easy because I was (expletive) last year...”
That was one of many of the quotes said by Laine during his media availability on day one of training camp.
“...who is as blunt as any athlete I’ve ever covered:”
That quote is from Aaron Portzline of the Athletic, who covered Columbus as the beat writer for the Columbus Dispatch for many years.
Patrik Laine is no slouch of a player, being the second overall selection behind Auston Matthews in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. The Finnish winger has a lot to produce on going into this season, accepting only his qualifying offer to play the year in Columbus.
In 46 games last season with Winnipeg and Columbus, Laine had 24 points (12 goals, 12 assists).
Laine’s biggest strengths are his size, speed and shooting ability. He can get up the ice and beat any goalie that is in front of him on any given night.
Both coaches Tortorella and Maurice have said he is a power forward, but his size isn’t used in front of net, making him the opposite of that. He can get the pack up the ice when received by his linemates as his back checking is relatively lackluster in his young career.
No Cuts Yet
Three days into training camp, and there have yet to be any cuts from the full Columbus roster under new head coach Brad Larsen. Right now, it is full practice and drills before preseason games commence on Monday.
However, training camp invitees Zach Jordan and Jake Slaker to AHL contracts for the 2021-2022 season with the Cleveland Monsters. Jordan spent time last season with the Texas Stars, Dallas’ farm team; Slaker is coming from the NCAA as an undrafted free agent.
It’s also the first look Columbus has to see their new faces in Adam Boqvist, Jake Bean, Brendan Gaunce, Sean Kuraly, and Jakub Voracek.
In one last topic, former CBJ winger Cliff Pu has signed in the KHL in hopes to join the Chinese Olympic team this upcoming February. Best of luck Cliff! Also, former CBJ goaltender Curtis McElhinney announced his retirement after winning two camps with Tampa Bay! Congrats Curtis!
Thoughts on the camps going on?
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