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Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: What Yegor Chinakhov wants is in Columbus
Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: What Yegor Chinakhov wants is in Columbus

New York Times

time20-07-2025

  • Sport
  • New York Times

Blue Jackets Sunday Gathering: What Yegor Chinakhov wants is in Columbus

COLUMBUS, Ohio — A collection of notes, insights, ruminations and did-you-knows gathered throughout the week that was for the Columbus Blue Jackets: For a couple of years now, maybe longer, there have been percolating signs of discontent between the Columbus Blue Jackets and winger Yegor Chinakhov. Advertisement Early in the 2023-24 season, when Chinakhov was working his way back into the lineup on the fourth line under coach Pascal Vincent, Chinakhov's agent, Shumi Babaev, told The Columbus Dispatch that Chinakhov 'doesn't feel the (Blue Jackets) trust him, and he wants to leave.' Last season, while Chinakhov was out of the lineup with a back injury, he told a group of reporters in the Blue Jackets dressing room that he and the club disagreed on the best approach to healing his back pain, which had lingered for more than a year. This week, Chinakhov and Babaev threw it all out in public. On Thursday, Chinakhov told the Russian outlet Sport-Express that he would welcome a trade, again mentioning that he felt a lack of trust from the coaching staff, now led by Dean Evason. A day later, Babaev went a step further in an interview with The Athletic, saying: 'I don't think there's any way he can stay in Columbus,' and later adding, 'It's all about the coach.' When this spat first surfaced, many assumed that it was related to Chinakhov's back issue. And while that behind-the-scenes drama existed, it appears to have been resolved. During the 4 Nations Faceoff in February, Chinakhov traveled to Moscow to have a procedure that he said wasn't an approved treatment in North America. 'In one hour, the doctors (in Moscow) fixed everything,' Babaev said. 'It's not a problem. It wasn't surgery. It was like a shot, like you'd get at the dentist. It took 40 minutes. He visited a lot of doctors in the U.S., and they didn't know how to fix it. 'Now he's 100 percent healthy. I explained it to (Blue Jackets general manager) Don (Waddell) and he understands me.' Babaev said Chinakhov is skating hard and pain-free this summer, training with several NHL players in Moscow, including his Blue Jackets teammate Kirill Marchenko. Advertisement If it's true that Chinakhov's back pain and any lingering resentment over his treatment are in the past, as Chinakhov and Babaev have indicated, then that leaves Chinakhov's playing time, his spot in the lineup and his relationship with Evason in question. Evason, understandably, didn't want to get into a back and forth with Chinakhov in the media, so he offered a comment through a club spokesman — 'The lines of communication are open, and they will continue to be open' — but he otherwise let Chinakhov and Babaev talk. Waddell is not averse to trading Chinakhov, he said, but he's not simply going to accept the offer of the highest bidder. This is not the Patrik Laine situation from last summer, when the Blue Jackets were eager to unload Laine and his $8.7 million salary. The Blue Jackets have said that, barring a trade, they expect Chinakhov to show up for training camp healthy and ready to work. Chinakhov, through Babaev, has said that he plans to honor his contract, which pays him $2.1 million this season and expires next summer, with Chinakhov a restricted free agent. Here's what makes this situation so maddening, so silly. Chinakhov has said he wants to be a top-six winger in the NHL. When you consider the situation in Columbus with Evason's high-paced, offensively-friendly system, the Blue Jackets' impressive young forward talent, and the lineup spot in the top six that's sitting there to be grabbed, there may be no better spot for Chinakhov than right where he is. Last season, Evason started the season with Chinakhov on the No. 1 line with center Sean Monahan and right winger Dmitri Voronkov. (That doesn't sound like a lack of trust, eh?) That line was impressive for the first six weeks of the season, and Chinakhov was the Jackets' top forward. He did not look the same, understandably so, when he returned after missing 40 games with the back injury, and he was in and out of the lineup with reduced ice time as a result. He played nine games after his return and totaled 0-1-1 with a minus-8 rating. Advertisement That's not an argument for more playing time, and with the Blue Jackets desperate to get into the postseason, the coaching staff had to make short-term, day-to-day decisions. When fully healthy, there's no reason Chinakhov couldn't supplant Voronkov for a spot on the top line. There's no reason he couldn't play on the right side of a second line, with center Adam Fantilli and playmaking left winger Kent Johnson. The two players he'd likely have to beat out for that final top-six spot — captain Boone Jenner and Cole Sillinger — do not have the raw skill package of Chinakhov. If he could only stay healthy for more than a couple of months at a time, one gets the sense that Chinakhov's career could launch like the rest of the young players in the Blue Jackets' lineup. Waddell was looking for a top-six winger this summer, either by free agency or trade. Chinakhov is looking for a top-six opportunity to launch his career. Maybe the answer is right there in front of them. -A- The Donskov family has been training young hockey players in central Ohio across two generations and four decades at the Donskov Hockey Development training center in suburban Columbus. So the leap made last week by brothers Anthony and Matthew Donskov was a huge step forward and a natural fit. The Blue Jackets announced that they hired the Donskov brothers as development coaches, joining a network of coaches who help guide the organization's young talents on their way (hopefully) to the NHL. It's now a three-man staff with the Donskovs and Tommy Cross. 'Coaching is just a passion point for our family,' Anthony Donskov said. 'It started with our father (Paul), of course. To be a small part of the big journey, to see the development of individuals over time and to help them get to where they want to be … that's what wakes you up in the morning. That's what we're passionate about.' DHD staff— Anthony @AnthonyDonskov & Matt Donskov wrapped up a great week of hockey with the @BlueJacketsNHL at their 2025 Development Camp. One Day Better. — Donskov Hockey Development (@DonskovHD) July 6, 2025 Blue Jackets franchise legend Rick Nash, who oversees the development staff in his role of director of hockey operations, first brought the Donskovs to development camp last summer to be involved in the on-ice coaching. Little did they know it was a tryout. Last December, Nash put the brothers to work on a 'special project' and was impressed with their work, which led to another invitation to work at this year's development camp, which led to an offer for full-time work in the NHL. Advertisement How much time they'll be able to commit to the family gym — at least during the season — is still to be determined. 'This was something we couldn't pass up,' Matthew Donskov said. 'We've absolutely loved doing what we've been doing (at the family training center), but this is such a unique opportunity. It wasn't tough in any way to make this decision. It's the NHL, right? It's an opportunity to work with Rick and others in the organization. We're beyond excited.' The Donskovs will travel quite a bit in this new role, but they'll also do a lot of scouting work and have conversations with prospects via phone and video conferencing. Modern technology is a big help when prospects are scattered across the hockey-playing world. The Donskovs started to develop relationships with several of the prospects over the last two development camps, but that will move forward quickly when training camp starts. This marks three Donskovs who have worked in the NHL. Misha Donskov worked for the Atlanta Thrashers, Vegas Golden Knights and Dallas Stars. His first NHL job, ironically enough, was under Waddell with the Thrashers. He left the Stars this summer to accept a top job with Team Canada, but will likely make his way back to the league soon enough. Could there be three Donskovs in the NHL at some point? 'I haven't given that a lot of thought, to be honest,' Matthew said. 'But all three together in the NHL … well, that would certainly be a dream.' -A- Paul DeFazio, the Blue Jackets' new equipment manager, said it was a random conversation with Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby last month that prompted Crosby to make a phone call on DeFazio's behalf. 'We were just chatting, and I told him what was going on, and he said he knew Rick Nash really well and he'd reach out to him,' said DeFazio, who left the Penguins after nearly 30 years to join the Jackets. 'Sid kept his word. And I'm so, so appreciative.' Advertisement DeFazio, a Pittsburgh native, said he's been looking to 'move on' from the Penguins for a while, and he wanted to run his own room after serving as the assistant with the Penguins for over two decades. 'That's one of the things that's most hard is the relationships I've had there, with the other equipment guys, with the players, ' DeFazio said. 'And Sid is a part of that, obviously. I've helped him out a lot, but he's helped me out a ton.' How Sidney Crosby helped the Blue Jackets land their new head equipment manager — The Athletic NHL (@TheAthleticNHL) July 16, 2025 DeFazio became Crosby's 'skate guy' over the last few years, a job that comes with immense responsibility and precision. Crosby, like all the greats, treats his gear like an extension of his body. If something's off, he's not pleased. 'It's a pretty big job,' DeFazio said with a chuckle. 'He trusted me and he was happy with my work … I mean, not always. We had our differences. We had times where, you know, something's not right and he'd tell me. But we'd fix it. It was a great relationship, really.' Before he was 'allowed' to leave Pittsburgh, DeFazio said, he showed another member of the Penguins' training staff how Crosby likes his skates to be sharpened. DeFazio is moving on to a new organization and a new group of players, although he's worked previously with Blue Jackets forward Zach Aston-Reese and defenseman Erik Gudbranson. DeFazio said he's already talked to every Blue Jackets player on a one-way contract to ensure their gear has been ordered in time for training camp's start in mid-September, and he's working through the list of players on two-way contracts. The goal is simple, DeFazio said: 'I want the room to be organized. I like detail. I like being on top of things. I don't want to give the players any excuses. I want the players to be well taken care of, whether they're first-line guys or a guy in prospect camp. I think it's important to treat every one of them the same.' Advertisement -A- Runnin' it back in Buffalo! Our schedule is set for this year's Prospects Challenge at the Lecom Harborcenter. Stay tuned for our roster and more info: — Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) July 14, 2025 (Photo of Yegor Chinakhov: David Kirouac / Imagn Images)

How Pascal Vincent is helping the Canadiens' team-building process from below in Laval
How Pascal Vincent is helping the Canadiens' team-building process from below in Laval

New York Times

time08-06-2025

  • Sport
  • New York Times

How Pascal Vincent is helping the Canadiens' team-building process from below in Laval

LAVAL, Que. — A few minutes after Pascal Vincent left his final press conference of an extraordinary first season behind the Laval Rocket bench early Thursday morning, the Boston Bruins announced the hiring of Marco Sturm as their new head coach. For a brief time, it marked the closing of the NHL head coaching carousel, and with it, appeared to ensure Vincent would be back in his native Laval next season, helping to support the ongoing team-building exercise of the Montreal Canadiens. Vincent led the young Rocket on an AHL playoff run that was so long, it left him out of contention for what had once been eight openings at the NHL level. The Dallas Stars opened another one Friday when they fired Pete DeBoer, but it would appear Vincent, the AHL coach of the year, will be sticking around because he didn't sound all that enthused by the possibility of being an assistant coach in the NHL. So, barring the Stars hiring him, there isn't a chair for Vincent in the NHL right now. Advertisement When pointing out the various things Vincent likes about his current job, he noted the ability to go out for breakfast with his parents on the weekends and how you can't necessarily put a price on that. 'For me to be part of the Laval Rocket, it's more than NHL or AHL. This is home,' he said. 'Right now, I'm a Rocket, and I'm preparing to be back next season.' That is excellent news for the Canadiens, because this season, for perhaps the first time, we saw a real synergy between what is happening in Montreal and Laval and how the two are intricately linked. They were two of the younger teams in their respective leagues; they each made the playoffs, and the young players learned invaluable lessons about the different nature of playoff hockey and what it takes to win when the game becomes more physical and more difficult. 'I believe we drafted well over the years. You see it, young team here, young team in Montreal — it's hard to make the playoffs, in our league and in the NHL. It's so hard,' Vincent said. 'And both teams made it.' But there is a real question the Canadiens organization needs to ask itself right now, and that is how you take a young team in the AHL and properly use it to feed a young team in the NHL that doesn't want to be too young while also giving those young players in the AHL the sense that there is a clear path to the NHL open for them? The years of the Detroit Red Wings allowing prospects to overcook in the AHL are in the past. Young players today need to see that NHL path, and that is something Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes is cognizant of, saying at his end of season news conference, 'If we go sign a bunch of guys to four-year deals, there's a bunch of guys in Laval saying, 'What the hell just happened? My spot's gone.' And then it becomes much harder to show up at the rink the next day or the next season in Laval. These are things we need to be mindful of in how we do things.' Advertisement Vincent is a big part of that process running smoothly, of making sure that belief is still there for his young players, that the path remains clear and realistic, that it's not hard to show up at the rink in Laval. But Vincent also understands how difficult that can be. He worked for a long time in the Winnipeg Jets organization as an NHL assistant and the head coach of the Moose, and Vincent helped several members of the current Jets core during his time in the AHL. They had a draft-and-develop philosophy in Winnipeg, and it took several years to come to fruition. Vincent also mentioned the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had a young core in the AHL that won a championship at that level and moved up to the NHL together to complement the young core already in place, a model that is probably most similar to what the Canadiens are trying to do in Laval, but a model that is also a bit of an outlier because it is exceedingly rare to see a team as young as the 2012 Norfolk Admirals or the 2025 Laval Rocket win a Calder Cup. 'I don't know if there's a magic formula,' Vincent concluded. Maybe not, but the Canadiens need to find a formula, magic or not, that translates the young talent in Laval to talent in Montreal, whether that's through players graduating to the NHL or simply gaining enough value to make them valuable trade commodities. Despite being swept in the playoffs, the Laval Rocket season was an unmitigated success because the Canadiens see players they can realistically incorporate on the NHL roster soon, and because they have other players who could entice other teams. And Vincent was central to that success. When the Rocket season began, Vincent wasn't sure they would be keeping Florian Xhekaj. He was eligible to play an overage season in junior, they could have sent him to the ECHL, there were options. But Xhekaj stayed in Laval and wound up scoring 24 goals as a rookie, two behind the team lead and tied with Jared Davidson for the seventh-most in franchise history. Advertisement At the beginning of the season, just after Luke Tuch had his first career fight, Vincent talked about him as a player who could translate that rare blend of skill and toughness into an NHL role one day. 'That's the type of player you like to have in the playoffs, and I think he's a player we can develop,' Vincent said on Oct. 16. 'I think he really has a chance to have an impact with the organization, both here and maybe eventually with the Canadiens. When you talk about having a unique chair and a role that's different from the others, I think he's establishing himself very quickly as a unique player. 'He brings something not a lot of players bring.' When told he has two such players on his team, Vincent asked if we were referring to Xhekaj. 'Xhekaj is a little bit younger, though, so we still have to develop him in that regard,' Vincent said then. 'But yes, we should have two of them.' Fast forward to Thursday, and Vincent saw Xhekaj in a different light. In a nutshell, this difference is what Laval is all about, and what Vincent's job is all about. 'He scored a lot of goals, his shot is amazing, he's got a quick release, accurate too,' Vincent said Thursday. 'But I didn't know about his brain, and to me, that's the thing that intrigues me the most. How they manage expectations, how can they apply info that we give them and then do it right away on the ice, or how long does it take for you to gather the info and execute on the ice at a very high speed. 'For me, to see Flo gathering that information and teachings, and then do it on the ice and execute at the speed he did in his first year, with his last name — because the other team on the other side, they know — this kid has this confidence. He's walking the line. He's not cocky, but he's confident that he can be the man, and he's still physically not there yet. So, I was quite impressed with him.' Advertisement Xhekaj, in the span of seven or eight months, has gone from a player the Canadiens hoped would be a part of their NHL future to one they expect to be a part of their NHL future. There may be no magic formula, but this comes pretty close. On another part of the spectrum is Owen Beck, whom the Canadiens have always seen as a part of their future success. He was drafted as a two-way centre, the type of player a team wins with, cerebral, competitive, responsible. With Laurent Dauphin filling the role of top-line centre, with the emergence of Xhekaj in the middle, and with the last arrivals of Brandon Gignac from injury and Oliver Kapanen from the NHL, Beck finished the season as a winger. This could be seen as a step back, but only if you don't have the perspective of Vincent on the path to the NHL that these young players need to see. Vincent said Beck moving to the wing was circumstantial, but there was more to it than that. 'For Owen, we know he can play centre, but we're going to continue giving him minutes and reps on the wing,' Vincent said. 'Because it's also about knowing who's your competition to make the Montreal Canadiens? So he can compete not only against the centres, but also the wingers. 'I was impressed with him as a winger.' Understanding what his players need to graduate to the next level is definitely part of the formula. Another part of the formula, magic or not, is preparing and nurturing a player such as David Reinbacher, a no-doubt NHL player. Reinbacher's season was nearly ruined by a serious knee injury in training camp, but he made the most of what looked to be a lost season. While he recovered from his injury, he spent a lot of time in meetings with the Canadiens coaching staff, observing what they look for on video, learning about the tiny margins that exist in the NHL, how every little action can be consequential. One thing Reinbacher says he learned was about stick positioning, and even hands positioning, making sure you're cutting off the right passing lanes and understanding the spatial aspects of defending. Advertisement 'Just getting into how detailed this league really is,' he said. Once he arrived with the Rocket, still recovering from his injury and dealing with periodic swelling in his knee, Vincent witnessed firsthand why he was a No. 5 overall draft pick. 'I don't know how to answer that question,' Vincent said when asked how close Reinbacher is to making the jump to the NHL. 'What I know is he's a young man with a great mindset and a great computer that reads the game really well. His hockey sense is really good. His feet, the mechanics of his feet, the way he skates, is really good. Agility for a big guy like him still getting used to his body, really good. Coachable, great teammate. A little bit more grit than I expected on the ice facing a team that forechecks hard. I didn't see him refuse hits to make plays, that's a big indicator for me, for defencemen anyway. So, a lot of good things. 'Now, for him, physically, he's still a very young man. He needs to grow into a bigger person and a stronger, faster body so we can see how good his brain is once he's strong physically.' There's the brain again. It is something the Canadiens value in players, and having a coach in the AHL who values it as much as Vincent does creates continuity within the organization. The other side of this coin is building value in players who may not have a future in Montreal but could still contribute to the team-building process. It is a fluid list, but the reality is there are a limited number of spots in Montreal, and the players that graduate to fill those spots need to fit the specific role that's available. The Rocket has far more players with NHL potential than the Canadiens have spots on the NHL roster. William Trudeau, for instance, is 22 and has made great strides in Laval, but it's hard to see how he could carve out space among the crowded group of young defencemen the Canadiens are cultivating both in Montreal and Laval. Advertisement 'I think there's a chair for William Trudeau,' Vincent said. Surely there is, somewhere. There is a long list of players like Trudeau, who could have an NHL chair but not necessarily in Montreal. Vincent's competitive environment in Laval helps build value for those players. Someone like Sean Farrell, for instance, who played on his top line and had the production to justify it over the second half of the season, but is an undersized forward trying to crack a top-six in Montreal that has already filled its quota of undersized forwards. Or someone like Adam Engström, who looked tremendous over the second half and in the playoffs but, as a left-shot defenceman, has major roadblocks in Montreal in the form of Kaiden Guhle and Lane Hutson, through no fault of his own. Logan Mailloux faces a similar logjam in front of him on the right side of the defence with Reinbacher seemingly ahead of him and a reluctance to overload the blue line with youth in Montreal. Then there's someone such as Joshua Roy. He is 21 and scored 20 goals in 47 regular-season games in Laval, an appealing profile for any team looking for offence. But he entered training camp with a real chance to stick with the Canadiens and didn't seize the opportunity, and a late-season call-up to Montreal wasn't any more convincing. When Vincent was asked a very open-ended question about who improved the most in getting them closer to Montreal, he listed nine players, even mentioning Filip Mešár, who only played the final playoff game and was a healthy scratch for the rest of them. When he was done, Vincent noted he might have forgotten some players. He did. He forgot Roy. 'We talk about pace with Josh,' Vincent said later when asked about Roy. 'It's known.' Players like this are almost as important to the Canadiens' build as the players who have futures in Montreal, because it's difficult to fill every hole in a future lineup simply through the draft, where you are looking for talent above and beyond anything else. Either that talent benefits you directly, or it benefits you indirectly in the form of trades that help fill holes that arise during the process. And the Canadiens are at that point in their process. When Hughes arrived as general manager of the Canadiens, he spoke of wanting to integrate multiple aspects of the organization and eliminate the silos that might isolate them. The coaching staff should be able to work with management, the development staff, the analytics group and, ultimately, the AHL coaching staff so there is a cohesive vision of what the organization wants to become and everyone is working on the same page to achieve that. Advertisement After one year of Vincent in Laval, it seems clear he is holding up his end of the bargain. And the fact that he appears to be sticking around, and is happy to do so, is a good way for the Canadiens to start what looks to be a pivotal offseason.

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