Finally! It’s back! It’s here! Hockey is here!
The Columbus Blue Jackets preseason begins tonight and it starts on the road in the Steel City against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins had a calmer summer than other teams as they are running the course in development of their younger players, and are letting their stars heal to start the season as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are both recovering from offseason surgeries.
As they look to fill the holes and replace the depth, the Penguins have added middle six and bottom six depth to push for the postseason.
Here’s the full list of their additions and subtractions via CBS Sports:
Subtractions
- RD Zach Trotman (retired) - C Jared McCann (Seattle) - LW Brandon Tanev (Seattle) - RD Yannick Weber (retired) - RD Cody Ceci (Edmonton) - RW Pontus Aberg (Ottawa) - C Frederick Gaudreau (Minnesota) - RW Colton Sceviour (Edmonton PTO) - C Mark Jankowski (New Jersey PTO)
Additions
- C Fillip Hollander - C Domink Simon - C Danton Heinen - C Michael Chaput - RD Taylor Fedun - LW Brock McGinn - G Louis Domingue
Tryouts
- C Brian Boyle - LD Matt Bartkowski - LD Chris Bigras - RD Morgan Reekie
Pittsburgh is looking at getting younger and to compete with this roster. Columbus has the kids to match and play with in the preseason with the competition to get into the roster.
Here are the rosters for tonight’s game:
Pittsburgh Penguins via DK Sports Pittsburgh
Forwards:
Evan Rodrigues Brian Boyle Sam Lafferty Sam Poulin Nathan Legare Kasperi Kapanen Danton Heinen Jonathan Gruden Dominik Simon Felix Robert Justin Almeida Jordy Bellerive Jan Drozg
Defensemen:
Chad Ruhwedel John Marino Cam Lee Will Reilly Juuso Riikola Mark Friedman P.O Joseph
Goaltenders:
Filip Lindberg Tristan Jarry
Columbus Blue Jackets (via Jeff Svoboda of NHL.com)
Forwards 11 Kevin Stenlund 15 Gregory Hofmann 17 Justin Danforth 19 Liam Foudy 21 Josh Dunne 23 Brendan Gaunce 34 Cole Sillinger 37 Adam Helewka 42 Alexandre Texier 52 Emil Bemstrom 59 Yegor Chinakhov 85 Navrin Mutter
Defensemen 2 Andrew Peeke 4 Scott Harrington 27 Adam Boqvist 43 Mikko Lehtonen 81 Stanislav Svozil 94 Ole Julian Bjorgvik-Holm
Goaltenders 30 Jean-Francois Berube 60 Jet Greaves
Who to Watch
Pittsburgh — POJ — Pierre-Oliver Joseph was the piece of the Phil Kessel trade that can make it big for a Pittsburgh team that needs to be stronger on the defensive side of the puck, and now could be his time and chance to make the roster full time.
Columbus — Chinakov — after a dominating tournament in Traverse City with six goals in three games played, Yegor Chinakov is getting the attention and spotlight on him after a strong weekend. Talk is he could make the team out of camp after being a draft steal in the first round, and burning a year of his ELC. His time is now.
Keys to Win
1. The Kids. Cole Sillinger; Chinakov; and the kids from traverse city are warmed up and ready to play. Feeding off their energy will help them in tonight’s game.
2. Discipline. The road game in the rival city won’t help the CBJ on the road in game one. It’s early. It doesn’t matter. But the development and consistency does. It will measure what else needs worked on in practice.
3. The depth. The one year guys that are looking to make this team are hungry and looking for a chance to make the team. Hoffman and Gaunce just got back from Europe; Lethonen and Harrington are on their final years of their contracts; and Berube is looking to get another pro contract.
Thoughts on the game tonight?
Breaking: Penguins forward ZacH Aston-Reese Tests Positive for COVID-19.
CBJ Top Ten Prospects — #6
We’re just about halfway through this series as we approach preseason action beginning tomorrow night for Columbus.
LD Stanislav Svozil (Czech Republic)
Svozil was drafted in the third round from this past draft, and is showing strong potential being a mid-round steal. The 18 year old has seasons of professional experience in his native country playing against the experienced veterans at home.
The Czech native is already under contract with the Blue Jackets, signing his entry-level contract earlier this summer; he also signed a Western Hockey League contract with the Regina Pats as well. Whether he stays in North American ice or plays at home, there is competition for him in either place. In the Dub, he would join a team with Conor Bedard, the projected number one selection in 2023. In his Czech league, he just won rookie of the year, and native David Krejci just returned home to join former line mate Jaromir Jagr.
Svozil could be a top 4 or a solid number three at his best.
Fans!
I’m looking for your help as we gear up toward the 2021-2022 NHL regular season! I’m looking to deliver more all around content all the time. Twitter? Twitch? Gaming updates?
Let me know...
Also! Hockey buzz Fantasy Pool is live for the 2021-22 season! If you haven’t already, make your team and join the best online fantasy league!
Also, check out the Hockeybuzz cast on YouTube! Maybe, you’ll find me in the comments...
More to come....
More to come...