The Columbus Blue Jackets return to home ice for their only game of the week until the weekend. Columbus joins the other 31 clubs in participating in this ESPN kickoff of Frozen Frenzy as the host the last back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions, the dethroned Cats of Sunrise, the Florida Panthers in their first meeting of three and first of two on home ice.
Florida brings a heavily turned over roster with less Columbus in their lineup and more Tkachuk instead.
Mackie Samoskevich was dealt to the Seattle Kraken for a first and second round pick.
Garnet Hathaway was obtained from Philadelphia via trade at half salary retained.
AJ Greer was dealt to the Anaheim Ducks for the returning Radko Gudas to round out the bottom pairing and add more to the grit and aggression Florida has built.
The first round pick from Seattle was used with Florida’s own first and a 2029 first round pick for former Ottawa captain and gold medalist Brady Tkachuk, joining his brother Matthew Tkachuk and bringing their Wingmen podcast together in Sunrise.
Evan Rodrigues, Ben Steeves, ans Jesper Boqvist were dealt to New Jersey for Jacob Markstrom and Angus Crookshank in his return to Florida.
Akira Schmid was acquired from Vegas to unite Schmid with Markstrom as the former New Jersey Devils tandem that they were a few seasons ago.
The Panthers have turned their coats by walking away from both goaltenders, Sergei Bobrovsky and Daniil Tarasov, through free agency and signing with Toronto and Detroit. Noah Gregor, Vinnie Hinostroza, Jack Studnicka, Mike Benning, Louis Domingue, Tomas Nosek, and Nolan Foote all signed as depth free agents with other teams in the NHL, AHL, or Europe.
Nathan Bastian, John Beecher, Boko Imama, Lars Eller, Sam Lafferty, and Alex Petrovic joined Florida through free agency.
Captain Alex Barkov suffered got injured in San Jose and Brad Marchand got hurt in Los Angeles as this grueling road trip. Jonah Gadjovich has yet to play this season from injury. Jacob Markstrom is currently day to day after leaving the first period with injury against Buffalo.
The hate line stays together in Florida headlined by the Tkachuk brothers who are centered by Sam Bennett. Akira Schmid is starting due to Markstrom’s performance and potential injury.
Emil Andrae is sent to the press box for his second straight evening. Luca Del Bel Belluz is in for Connor Garland due to illness. Cam Talbot gets his second start of his Columbus career.
Projected Lineups
Brady Tkachuk -- Sam Bennett -- Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen -- Anton Lundell -- Sandis Vilmanis
Carter Verhaeghe -- Sam Reinhart -- Sam Lafferty
Bokondji Imama -- Lars Eller -- Garnet Hathaway
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola -- Seth Jones
Dmitry Kulikov -- Radko Gudas
Akira Schmid
Jacob Markstrom
Scratched: Uvis Balinskis
Injured: Aleksander Barkov (knee), Brad Marchand (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (neck)
Columbus Blue Jackets
Matthew Knies -- Adam Fantilli -- Kent Johnson
Valeri Nichushkin -- Sean Monahan -- Luca Del Bel Belluz
Cole Sillinger -- Charlie Coyle -- Mathieu Olivier
Dmitri Voronkov -- Danton Heinen -- Ryan Lomberg
Zach Werenski -- Damon Severson
Carson Soucy -- Denton Mateychuk
Jake Christiansen -- Erik Gudbranson
Cam Talbot
Jet Greaves
Scratched: Emil Andrae
Injured: Dante Fabbro (broken hand), Ivan Provorov (lower body), Isac Lundestrom (lower body), Conor Garland (illness)
Players to Watch
Florida — Brady Tkachuk — as a fantasy holder, I need him to get his first goal in his Florida career.
Columbus — LDBB — season debut
Predicted Final Score
FLA — 2
CBJ — 3