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The Blue Jackets open up their season in just over a week, and they still have plenty of decisions to make as to who will be on their opening night roster.

With the injuries to Nathan Horton and Boone Jenner, as well as the contract dispute with Ryan Johansen, they're certainly missing a lot of scoring punch and high-end talent up front.

That said, one thing the Blue Jackets do have going for them is depth, which should help them overcome some of these setbacks; at least for a little bit.

Up front, they're obviously battered with injuries, and Johansen's absence makes things significantly worse. With Horton and Jenner out, Johansen's agent Kurt Overhardt likely sees this as a way to gain leverage in negotiations, but I really don't think Jarmo Kekalainen and co. will panic and all of the sudden give in. I still think a deal gets done relatively soon, but there's a ways to go yet.

Thanks to these injuries up front, there are more roster spots available. The good news for Columbus is they look to have plenty of capable bodies to fill in any vacancies.

Kerby Rychel entered camp as a long shot, but with a few good showings he's put himself in the conversation for a roster spot; especially because the team could use his scoring prowess.

Michael Chaput has been effective at both ends of the rink and made a good case for himself. Jerry D'Amigo and Brian Gibbons have shown off their speed and ability to give something extra in the bottom-6. Under-the-radar summer acquisition Simon Hjalmarsson has played well, too, while prospects Marko Dano and Alex Wennberg both have shown they could handle NHL minutes.

Not all of these guys can make the team, obviously, but the team should be confident in their abilities to step in and fill any holes while they wait for guys to heal or, in Johansen's case, sign a contract.

Todd Richards and the rest of the front office have decisions to make on defense, too. With the way the forwards have been going down with injuries, it might make sense to keep 14 forwards, but they have 8 NHL defensemen.

Jack Johnson, James Wisniewski, Fedor Tyutin, Ryan Murray, and David Savard are all absolute locks on the backend. Both Dalton Prout and Tim Erixon have NHL experience as well as one-way deals, so they're not going anywhere; at least not for nothing.

Cody Goloubef has legitimately earned a roster spot with his play throughout the preseason, which is a bit of a problem for Columbus because a) they don't really have room for him and; b) he'd require waivers to be sent down and likely wouldn't clear.

Columbus has a few options here 1) waive Goloubef and risk losing him; 2) trade him or; 3) trade someone else to make room for him.

It'll be interesting to see what the Blue Jackets elect to do in the next week because they have plenty of decisions to make both up front and on defense.

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