Happy Home Opener, Fifth Line! The Columbus Blue Jackets begin the 2026-2027 NHL regular season with a home kickoff against the Buffalo Bills.
The team we saw this preseason will not be the same roster we see on opening night due to the recent blockbuster centering around Kirill Marchenko for Matthew Knies. Marchenko, Miles Wood, and Elvis Merzlikins with some salary retained are gone. Marchenko spent his ELC and this contract until Monday with the team that drafted him. Wood spent one injured season with the Jackets after coming to Columbus with Charlie Coyle. Merzlikins was the Bobrovsky replacement until injuries and tragedy eroded his secure crease.
Knies, 23, and Andrae, 24, debut tonight alongside Soucy, Nichuskin, and Talbot. Provorov, Severson, and Fabbro are all out injured on the defense and Issac Lundestrom is out month to month on offense.
After just seeing Buffalo Saturday in a losing and deflated preseason finale to Pittsburgh, there are more question marks I have for tonight than I thought. The Sabres came out flat, UPL got hurt, and only a powerplay goal against a building Penguins after their second round appearance last year did not feel great in the building seeing everyone leave with 5 minutes left.
The Tuch trade and Byram trade cost the Sabres experience, but the extensions and add of Crevier, Zellweger, and Rudolph will improve the Sabres’ backend for years. The young new deals for Benson and Ostlund are great.
Catch the games on Sportsnet+ in Canada; MSG-Buffalo, ESPN+, CBJNHL, and CBJHN in the USA or NHL Center Ice in both countries.
Projected Lineups
Buffalo Sabres
Josh Norris -- Tage Thompson -- Josh Doan
Zach Benson -- Noah Ostlund -- Jack Quinn
Peyton Krebs -- Ryan McLeod -- Konsta Helenius
Jiri Kulich -- Sam Carrick -- Beck Malenstyn
Mattias Samuelsson -- Rasmus Dahlin
Owen Power -- Louis Crevier
Matt Grzelcyk -- Zach Metsa
Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen
Colton Ellis
Scratched: Tyson Kozak, Justin Danforth, Dennis Gilbert
Injured: Olen Zellweger (concussion), Conor Timmins (lower body), Alex Lyon (upper body), Jason Zucker (sports hernia)
Columbus Blue Jackets
Matthew Knies -- Adam Fantilli -- Kent Johnson
Valeri Nichushkin -- Sean Monahan -- Conor Garland
Cole Sillinger -- Charlie Coyle -- Mathieu Olivier
Ryan Lomberg -- Danton Heinen -- Dmitri Voronkov
Zach Werenski -- Denton Mateychuk
Carson Soucy -- Emil Andrae
Jake Christianen -- Erik Gudbranson
Scratched: Luca Del Bel Belluz
Injured: Dante Fabbro (broken hand), Ivan Provorov (lower body), Damon Severson (shoulder), Isac Lundestrom (lower body)
Players to Watch
Buffalo — Tage Thompson — the American gold medalist needs to get the team that Kekalainen manages back to the postseason. What better game to score plenty of goals than the first game of the season of 84?
Columbus — Matthew Knies — the Arizona native gets his debut tonight after sometime in his hometown before the trade. Great way to reset for the new year with a new team. Let’s see if he lives to the grit and potential Toronto gave up on to get Marchenko.
Predicting the Final Score
BUF - 3
CBJ - 2
OT/SO