The Columbus Blue Jackets get their road opener tonight against the Minnesota Wild at 8pm. This game is on Bally Sports Ohio.
Minnesota comes into this season as a young, feisty, cap strapped team looking to get through some bold moves by general manager Bill Guerin.
This and next season are hit with $14M in dead money due to the buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter. The Wild have gone with a focus of adding cheap depth and rookies to the roster.
In
Winger Patrick Maroon was acquired via trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Winger Jujhar Kharia signed as a free agent.
Out
Gustav Nyquist joined Nashville.
Ryan Reaves and John Klingberg move to Toronto.
Sam Steel joined Dallas.
Matt Dumba signed late with Arizona.
Oskar Sundqvist signed with St. Louis.
Minnesota placed Alex Gologski on IR late in the week; Columbus activated Zach Werenski off the injured reserve, and returned against Calgary.
Columbus also assigned Jordan Dumais to Halifax and placed forward Liam Foudy on waivers for assignment to the AHL. Patrik Laine is a game time decision.
Projected Lineups
Minnesota Wild
Kirill Kaprizov—Ryan Hartman—Mats Zuccarello Marcus Johansson—Joel Eriksson Ek—Sammy Walker Marcus Foligno—Marco Rossi—Frederik Gaudreau Patrick Maroon—Connor Dewar—Brendan Duhame
Jonas Brodin—Callen Addison Jacob Middleton—Brock Faber Dakota Mermis—Jon Merrill
Filip Gustavsson Marc-Andre Fleury
Injured — Mason Shaw, Jared Spurgeon, Matt Bolody, Alex Gologski
Columbus Blue Jackets
Johnny Gaudreau—Boone Jenner—Kirill Marchenko Adam Fantilli—Patrik Laine—Alexandre Texier Kent Johnson—Cole Sillinger—Emil Bemstrom Jack Roslovic—Sean Kuraly—Justin Danforth
Zach Werenski—Andrew Peeke Ivan Provorov—Damon Severson Jake Bean—Erik Gudbranson
Spencer Martin Elvis Merzlikins
Scratched - Adam Boqvist Injured - Yegor Chinakov, Mathieu Oliver, Cameron Butler
Players to Watch
Minnesota - Patrick Maroon — the big rig is on his first new team since winning his three cups.
Columbus - Zach Werenski — Z is back and looking to rebound from two tough injuries that have kept him out for most of the past two seasons to date.
Predicted Final Score
MIN - 5
CBJ - 2