Decisions, Decisions: Jackets 'bubble' guys get another chance to impress

When a team plays eight preseasons games, that allows for plenty of opportunities to take an extra look at certain players.
That's especially true for the eighth game, which the Blue Jackets will use as another measuring stick against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday at United Center (8 p.m., Fox Sports Go, 1460 ESPN Radio).
Chicago will have captain Jonathan Toews, star right wing Patrick Kane and former Blue Jackets forward Brandon Saad in a lineup featuring mostly NHL players. Columbus will bring mostly players recalled Friday from the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League, along with a handful of NHL players that includes center Alex Wennberg, forwards Lukas Sedlak and Markus Hannikainen and goalie Joonas Korpisalo.
"We can still give some Cleveland guys that have not played a game an NHL exhibition game, still look at some of the guys that we did send down, but also give them another game to look at 'em and see where they still fit," said Blue Jackets coach John Tortorella, who used a full lineup of NHL players Friday in a 7-6 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins. "We're going to have to make a decision here shortly, just because we've got a lot of people. We still have too many people, but the guys that are [still] here have played well."

Specifically, Tortorella said rookie forwards Jonathan Davidsson and Kevin Stenlund have impressed him during training camp, along with Hannikainen and - more recently - Sedlak.
All four will play against Chicago, hoping to finish their preseason runs strong. Tortorella isn't sure whether the Blue Jackets will keep 13 or 14 forwards to start the season but said the final spots up front are still undecided, either way.
That makes this a pretty big game for guys still on the bubble.
"We're still not certain on what our lineup is, when I put 20 [players] out there, as far as where they all sit," Tortorella said. "We're not sure with the depth that we're going to keep here. It's still up in the air."
NEWS AND NOTES
There was no medical update given about defensemanScott Harrington, who was hit hard on his first shift of the game Friday against the Penguins and left the game with an upper-body injury. Injured defenseman Ryan Murray(groin) skated for the second straight day, working with the playing group that will play in Chicago during a morning skate.
General manager Jarmo Kekalainen, contacted Saturday morning, did not rule out Murray being healthy enough to play against the Detroit Red Wings in the Blue Jackets' season-opener Thursday at Little Caesar's Arena.
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Sergei Bobrovsky has allowed 13 goals on 72 shots this preseason, for a 5.15 goals-against average and .819 save percentage.
"I can't remember that I had, like, that many goals scored [in a preseason] but it is what it is," said Bobrovsky, who got the win against Pittsburgh despite six goals allowed. "Every new season brings its own challenges, so you never know what's going to happen."
Bobrovsky is in the final year of his contract with the Blue Jackets and could become an unrestricted free agent July 1, 2019. He was asked how easy it is to keep thoughts about that separate from his goaltending.
"Yeah, well, we'll see.," he said. "I'm a human too. I've developed some skills, some mental skills, some technical skills, so I'm a human. I'm looking forward for the season, I prepare myself, I work hard. I'm going to get there, I'm going to get on a roll, so actually I feel good. Physically good. It's just one of those things where you don't have much control and it is what it is."
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One veteran who knows he'll start out with Cleveland is center Mark Letestu, who will also play against the Blackhawks. Letestu, 33, signed a one-year, two-way contract to rejoin the organization Thursday, after being released from a professional tryout offer with the Florida Panthers.
He's intent helping the Monsters win games, and eventually working his way back to the NHL in Columbus - where he and his family now live.
"I wish things would've worked out [in Florida], but they didn't," said Letestu, who played from 2011 to 2015 with the Blue Jackets, was re-acquired a day before the NHL Trade Deadline last season and wasn't re-signed. "I've moved on and kind of landed in a familiar spot. Coming back to an organization where management and coaches are familiar with me and I'm familiar with them. I think that's going to help get me back to where I want to be."
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The goalies going to Chicago are Jean-Francois Berubeand Joonas Korpisalo.
Berube, who played with the Blackhawks last season, has a new Blue Jackets mask - replacing the Blackhawks mask he wore Sept. 18 during a preseason win for Columbus against his former team.