Updated at 9:03 AM: Columbus Blue Jackets forward Yegor Chinakhov wants out of Ohio’s capital city due to a self and agent-described dispute with Blue Jackets coach Dean Evason over playing time.
The 24-year-old forward with a $2.1 million cap hit has some scoring potential, so MLive’s Ansar Khan offers reasons why the Red Wings might want to pursue the promising young forward…
–They need a forward with top-six abilities, a void they couldn’t fill through free agency.
–Chinakhov has a lot of untapped potential.
–He’s young, with one year left on his contract ($2.1 million) and as a restricted free agent in 2026 will remain under club control.
–He’s unproven, and by requesting a move, his trade value might be diminished.
And Khan’s biggest reason to not go after the 6’1,” 205-pound Chinakhov is a simple one: cost.
The Blue Jackets lost James van Riemsdyk (to the Red Wings), Sean Kuraly (Bruins) and Justin Danforth (Sabres) in free agency and want a roster player in return, not a prospect or draft pick.
Jonatan Berggren would be a good comparable.
Berggren, 25, signed a one-year, $1.825 million extension earlier this month and will also be a restricted free agent next summer.
Like Chinakhov, Berggren has been a healthy scratch multiple times (by both Derek Lalonde and Todd McLellan) and has unrealized offensive potential (29 goals, 29 assists in 159 games over three seasons).
Despite Chinakhov’s middling AHL and NHL numbers, as Khan suggests, the lack of scoring forwards on the market mean that it’d take more than Berggren alone to acquire Chinakhov, and that’s a big “no-no” for me.
In all honesty, at this point, I might be more interested in another one of agent Shumi Babaev’s clients, 33-year-old Evgeny Kuznetsov, who’s looking to make an NHL comeback after a nearly point-per-game season with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL.
Kuznetsov comes with some baggage (he’s spent some time in the NHLPA’s Player Assistance Program, and he didn’t work out with the Carolina Hurricanes), but if we’re going to talk in my hated hypotheticals, the 6’1,” 216-pound Kuznetsov might still be a 50-point producer. The Red Wings could use that more than they could use another older project prospect right now.
Hell, if we’re going to ride the hypothetical train, I’d also be interested in 28-year-old Jack Roslovic, who remains on the market despite posting 22 goals and 39 points last season.
The 6’1,” 194-pound center would command a $3.5 million-ish salary, and he’s not also a good option, though the Wings might have to wait until closer to training camp to convince someone like Roslovic, who is the class of the remaining free agency class, to join a rebuilding team. Roslovic’s going to have his pick of the litter, and as such, Detroit might not be in his plans.
So there are three more “hypothetical” names for you for the Wings to pursue on the trade and/or unrestricted free agent marketplace, in addition to yesterday’s conversation about the Wings potentially trading for Bryan Rust and/or Rickard Rakell. They’re all far more realistic options than Dallas Stars star Jason Robertson.
Update: ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski has posted a primer on the best of the remaining free agent forwards:
Jack Roslovic, C
Age: 28 | 2024-25 cap hit: $2.8 millionEasily the most tantalizing player left in free agency. Roslovic played 81 games for the Carolina Hurricanes last season, generating 22 goals and 17 assists in 13:49 of average ice time. His goal total matched his career high he set with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2020-21.
He’s an instant-offense player. His defense is another story: According to Evolving Hockey, he was the second-worst forward on the Hurricanes in even-strength goals allowed above average, behind Andrei Svechnikov. And Roslovic doesn’t score like Svechnikov.
But no one available in the UFA market scored more goals than Roslovic last season. He has been linked to the Maple Leafs in part because he was a U.S. National Development Team teammate with Auston Matthews; the Washington Capitals, who seek to bolster their forward group; and the Vancouver Canucks, who have had discussions with his camp.
