Summer Spotlight: Chinakhov could be ready for big things

In the leadup to training camp in September, BlueJackets.com is featuring CBJ players each weekday this summer.

How he got here: Who’s Yegor Chinakhov? That was the question many around the league asked when the Blue Jackets selected him with the 21st overall pick in the 2020 draft, but it’s fair to say most are getting to know the Russian sniper now. The KHL’s top rookie with 15 goals in 53 regular season/playoff games in 2020-21 when he helped Avangard Omsk to the league’s Gagarin Cup title, Chinakhov then came over to the Blue Jackets and has worn the Union Blue in 145 games over the last three seasons.

The 2023-24 season: It would be a slight stretch to call it a breakout campaign for Chinakhov, but he started to consistently show the immense potential he possesses a season ago while posting a career high in goals. One of the fastest players in the league, he also owns one of the hardest shots, with a wrister that constantly comes off his stick at over 90 miles per hour. Chinakhov was on a 25-goal pace last season had he not missed nearly 30 games because of injury, and he started to show a deepened understand of what it takes to excel at the North American game. He remains a key part of the CBJ future.

Top moment: Chinakhov’s first career three-point game he helped the Blue Jackets to a 5-2 win over St. Louis at Nationwide Arena on Dec. 8. Columbus led 2-1 going to the third period before a pair of Chinakhov goals extended the lead to three, including a power-play tally with 7:39 to go that was one of the top CBJ goals of the season. Off a turnover by countryman Pavel Buchnevich, Chinakhov stepped up and ripped a 94.5 mph slap shot clean past Blues goalie Joel Hofer to pad the Jackets’ lead.

Fun fact: Chinakhov’s hometown of Omsk in Russia has a population of more than 1.1 million people, making it the third most populated city in Siberia. Located near the Russian border with Kazakhstan and a 35-hour drive from Moscow, Omsk is the largest city in the Omsk Oblast and is also the hometown of former CBJ defenseman Nikita Nikitin.

Stat to Know: Chinakhov had 29 shots of at least 90 miles per hour a season ago, which placed sixth among NHL forwards per NHL Edge statistics despite the fact he missed a large chunk of the campaign. According to the NHL Edge numbers, Chinakhov placed in the 90th percentile or above last season among NHL forwards in top skating speed, speed bursts over 20 mph and top shot speed.

Expectations for 2024-25: Could this be the year Chinakhov takes the NHL by storm? There are very few players in the league who can match his sheer skill, whether it’s his speed or his missile of a shot, and he could be ready for a big jump forward in production. He’ll have to stay healthy – Chinakhov has missed chunks of each of the last two seasons because of injury – but if he does, he has enough experience now that he can be an impact player on a nightly basis. At the very least, he should be a consistent top-six producer on the wing for the Blue Jackets.