Blue Jackets bet on Chinakhov with first-round selection

If we're being honest, it was a bit of a surprise to many.
When the Blue Jackets
selected Russian forward Yegor Chinakhov
with the No. 21 overall pick in the NHL draft on Tuesday night, a lot of NHL analysts were left fairly stumped.

"I'm sweating," SportsNet analyst Sam Cosentino said live on the Rogers broadcast of the draft. "That's completely off the board for me."
"I think he's a Russian winger," fellow Rogers panelist Brian Burke added for the totality of his commentary.
"I do not know who Yegor Chinakhov is," The Hockey News'

.

But Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and his scouting staff were well aware of the 19-year-old sniper, having him listed in the top 10 on their draft board. So even though many analysts had the KHL winger as a mid- to late-round pick -- and the NHL's Central Scouting Bureau had him the No. 30-ranked international skater -- Kekalainen was more than comfortable making Chinakhov the team's latest first-round pick.

"With all due respect, we have our scouts for a reason and that's who we believe in, and their list is the most important thing, their reports," Kekalainen said. "We have been watching this guy, following this guy all year and into this year, and he was very high on our list and we are excited to have him."
Upon closer inspection, Chinakhov perhaps shouldn't have been such a surprise. The KHL's rookie of the month for September, the 6-0, 178-pound winger is off to an impressive start in the Russian-based league, posting five goals -- all scored in the last five games -- and two assists in 12 games for Eastern Conference-leading Avangard Omsk, where he plays under former NHL coach Bob Hartley.
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The 19-year-old is in his second year of being draft eligible, but perhaps he should have been taken last summer, proving it with an excellent season in Russia's junior ranks a year ago. Chinakhov was a top-line player for Omsk's junior squad, Omskie Yastreby, finishing the campaign with 27 goals and 69 points in 56 games.
Offense certainly appears to be his strong point, in particular a bullet of a shot that he gets off quickly with pinpoint accuracy, one reason why the CBJ general manager says Chinakhov projects as a top-six forward in the NHL.
"I think he has a very high skill level, great on-ice awareness, he can see the ice, make plays, he has good one-on-one skills and a tremendous shot," Kekalainen said. "He has a lot of different qualities that we think are going to translate to the North American game and the NHL game, and that's why we drafted him where we did and that's why we had him so high on our list."
In a bit of foreshadowing, Kekalainen and CBJ director of amateur scouting Ville Siren both mentioned late last week in a teleconference that the delayed draft -- which moved from June to October because of the coronavirus pandemic -- gave the Jackets and their scouting staff an extra chance to see European- and Russian-based players this season.
While the Blue Jackets had Chinakhov on their list for his play in 2019-20, it does appear this year's added viewings helped the team feel comfortable making the Omsk native a first-round selection.

"When you draft 18-year-olds, a lot of the time the offseason makes a big difference from June to training camp time," Kekalainen said. "It gave us some extra time. We were very high on him already based on last year, but (this season) we kept getting better and better viewings on him to be able to get more and more convinced about his ability and projection.
"We had him very high on our list. We had some chances to move back and take a chance to maybe get him later, but if there's one thing I've learned over the 25 years I've been involved in NHL teams is that if you have one guy available so high on your list, you don't move back. You take him.
"We had Yegor in our top 10 and weren't going to move back and take a chance that somebody would take him in between. We're extremely happy to have him."
Kekalainen said Chinakhov has one year remaining on his KHL contract.
Rounds two through seven of the NHL draft will take place Wednesday starting at 11:30 a.m. Columbus has single picks in rounds three through seven.