The Blue Jackets opening night roster is finalized.
👀👀 #CBJ roster to open the season
— ColumbusBlueJackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 3, 2017
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The Jackets had it relatively simple on Tuesday. With Josh Anderson back in the fold the Jackets had one extra player, so they sent Tyler Motte down to Cleveland. Boone Jenner and Jordan Schroeder were placed on the injured reserve. The Jackets have plenty of cap space so they didn’t need to do any roster finagling that they did last season, where they sent Alexander Wennberg down to Cleveland.
The Jackets are going to be carrying 13 forwards and eight defencemen to start the year. The only real surprise to make the roster was Zac Dalpe. Dalpe had a strong pre-season and earned a spot. He should start the year on the fourth line and when everyone is healthy he likely ends up as the 13th forward or back in Cleveland.
The theme of this roster once again has to be the youth. Four rookies made the roster in Pierre-Luc Dubois, Sonny Milano, Markus Hannikainen and Gabriel Carlsson. They also have four players entering their second full season in Lukas Sedlak, Josh Anderson, Zach Werenski and Markus Nutivaara. This is a youthful roster but it’s a very talented group. Dubois, Milano and Artemi Panarin add a new element of speed. The Jackets wanted to get faster this off-season and they did just that.
On defence the Jackets are going with the same group that they had at the end of last season. Jones-Werenski will once again be the top and will look to elevate into one of the best pairs in the league. Johnson-Savard will look to repeat their strong seasons on the second pair, and the third pair will have Ryan Murray and Gabriel Carlsson. Markus Nutivaara and Scott Harrington will be the two extras. With the health of Murray always a question the Jackets need have defensive depth. Nutivaara got better as the season went along and looked really good down the stretch. He will get a chance to play if Murray goes down or if Carlsson isn’t quite ready for a full time spot. The organization is really high on Carlsson but he’s only played seven NHL games, he very well may need some time in the AHL.
The Blue Jackets season gets underway Friday when the New York Islanders come to town.
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