The Columbus Blue Jackets are concluding their season series matchup with the San Jose Sharks in their second and final meeting of the year. Columbus dropped the first game during the California trip in November.
Since the teams met at the beginning of November, San Jose shook up their goaltending tandem for the future with a blockbuster trade with the Colorado Avalanche. Nikolai Kovalenko; Alexander Georgiev; and 2026 2nd and 5th round picks were dealt with 14% retention were moved out of Denver; Mackenzie Blackwood; Givani Smith; and a 2027 5th round pick were shipped to Denver.
San Jose remains at the bottom of the Pacific in the division standings, and is looking to sell at deadline. Granlund will likely get a first rounder; Kunin and Sturm are also up. Ceci and Rutta are pending. Both Georgiev and Vanecek are due.
The big buzz in San Jose is Macklin Celeberini, the 2024 1st overall draft pick who is looking to steal the Calder Trophy for league’s best rookie.
Columbus is also riding high as the awesome new Stadium Series sweaters were unveiled in the navy blue and white cannon. The prank video for the former Wolverines was also hilarious. Kirill Marchenko also spoke about building chemistry with Adam Fantilli saying he has to earn it to become Andrei Fantillov; and he is currently Adam Fantillov.
San Jose is expected to start Yaroslav Askarov against Daniil Tarasov.
Projected Lineups
San Jose Sharks
Collin Graf -- Mikael Granlund -- Fabian Zetterlund William Eklund -- Macklin Celebrini -- Tyler Toffoli Luke Kunin -- Alexander Wennberg -- Will Smith Barclay Goodrow -- Nico Sturm -- Ty Dellandrea
Jake Walman -- Cody Ceci Mario Ferraro -- Timothy Liljegren Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Jan Rutta
Alexandar Georgiev Yaroslav Askarov
Scratched: Carl Grundstrom, Henry Thrun Injured: Nikolai Kovalenko (upper body), Logan Couture (lower body), Vitek Vanacek (upper body), Klim Kostin (lower body)
Columbus Blue Jackets
Dmitri Voronkov -- Adam Fantilli -- Kirill Marchenko James van Riemsdyk -- Cole Sillinger -- Kent Johnson Zach Aston-Reese -- Luca Del Bel Belluz -- Mathieu Olivier Mikael Pyyhtia -- Sean Kuraly -- Kevin Labanc
Zach Werenski -- Dante Fabbro Denton Mateychuk -- Ivan Provorov Jake Christiansen -- Damon Severson
Daniil Tarasov Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched: Jordan Harris, Jack Johnson
Injured: Yegor Chinakhov (upper body), Justin Danforth (lower body), Sean Monahan (wrist)
Players to Watch
San Jose — Jake Walman — on my fantasy; having career year with 26 points in 33 games after being shipped out of Detroit for future considerations
Columbus — Zach Werenski — seeking 18th straight home game point scoring streak.
Predicted Final Score
SJS — 2
CBJ — 3
Gambling Corner
Columbus is a -175 favorite per NHL Draft Kings over the +145 for the Sharks.