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CBJ G33 — @ Chicago Blackhawks |
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The Columbus Blue Jackets arrive into the United Center to battle the Chicago Blackhawks in what is the battle of worst v worst.
The worst team in the league and Western Conference has made minimalistic improvements while giving up major core pieces of the roster.
Alex DeBricant was moved to Ottawa for the 7th overall pick and other future draft picks. Kirby Dach was moved for the 13th overall pick and other draft picks. Dylan Strome and Dominik Kubalik were unqualified RFAs. Henrik Borgstrom and Brett Connolly were bought out.
Petr Mrazek was acquired with a first for a second. Chicago added veterans Max Domi, Andreas Athansiou, Jack Johnson, Brett Seney, Dylan Sikura, Buddy Robinson, Alex Stalock, and Colin Blackwell to their roster.
The Blackhawks are in full tank mode, and it’s the right time for that to happen given the allegations and age of the roster. Nothing has happened to them since their final cup run in 2015.
Their rentals include Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Domi, Athansiou, and Jujhar Kharia on offense; Jack Johnson and Jared Tinordi on defense; and Alex Stalock in the net.
In terms of the injuries, Jared Tinordi is the only injury and for the Hawks.
For Columbus, Adam Boqvist and Joonas Korpisalo are now healthy, while Cole Sillinger and Yegor Chinakov have gone on the IR. Jet Greaves was sent to the Monsters while David Jiricek was loaned to WJC for Czechia alongside Martin Rysavy and Stanislav Svozil.
Projected Lineups
Chicago Blackhawks
Tyler Johnson—Max Domi—Patrick Kane
Phillip Kurashev—Jonathan Toews—Taylor Raddysh
Andreas Athansiou—Jason Dickinson—Sam Laffrety
Boris Katichuk—Reese Johnson—MacKenzie Entwistle
Jake McCabe—Seth Jones
Isak Phillips—Connor Murphy
Jack Johson—Ian Mitchell
Petr Mrazek
Alex Stalock
Scratched — Colin Blackwell, Jujhar Kharia, Caleb Jones
Injured — Jared Tinordi
Columbus Blue Jackets
Johnny Gaudreau—Kent Johnson—Patrik Laine
Gustav Nyquist—Jack Roslovic—Kirill Marchenko
Eric Robinson—Sean Kuraly—Mathieu Olivier
Liam Foudy—Josh Dunne—Carson Meyer
Vladislav Gavrikov—Marcus Bjork
Tim Breni—Erik Gubdranson
Adam Boqvist—Andrew Peeke
Daniil Tarasov
Joonas Korpisalo
Scratched — Gavin Bayreuther, Jake Christiansen
Injured — Boone Jenner, Cole Sillinger, Yegor Chinakov, Zach Werenski, Nick Blankenburg, Jake Bean, Justin Danforth, Jake Bean, Elvis Merzlikins
Players to Watch
Chicago — Max Domi — the team leading goal scorer is the king of quotes, maybe it’s family related.
Yesterday, during an interview session with Mark Lazarus, he mentioned his Christmas and holiday plans.
Is it a jab at Columbus? Maybe? Was he here during a global pandemic and nobody could make it to Columbus? Was there a team policy missed out with COVID during Christmas while he was here?
Columbus — Adam Boqvist
Late yesterday, I posted my blog about his activation.
If you didn’t read it, Adam Boqvist is making his return to the Columbus lineup against the team that drafted and traded the former first round draft pick.
This season, Boqvist is pointless in 4 appearances this season. It is a breath of fresh air to have a healthy defenseman back on the roster.
Predicted Final Score
CBJ - 2
CHI - 1
Thoughts?
More to come…
Columbus Blue Jackets Blogger • 
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