Although it was a miserable 2023-24 campaign for the Columbus Blue Jackets, the same can't be said for former first-round pick Yegor Chinakhov. The young Russian broke out to the tune of 16 goals and 29 points in just 53 games, carving out a spot on the top powerplay unit and looking at times like one of the team's best players.
And the 23-year-old earned himself a nice payday after the standout campaign. The Blue Jackets signed the right winger to a two-year, $4.2 million contract extension ($2.1 million AAV), general manager and president of hockey operations Don Waddell announced on Friday.
“Yegor is an outstanding young player who has shown steady improvement over his first three seasons with the organization,” Waddell said in the official release. “We believe he has a chance to be a very good player for us and are excited about his continued growth as a Blue Jacket.”
Chinakhov made his NHL debut in 2021-22 for the Blue Jackets after being selected No. 21 by the franchise in the 2020 NHL Draft. Over 145 career games, the former Cleveland Monster has amassed 27 goals and 56 points along with 252 shots on goal while averaging 13:38 of time on ice, per the release.
Hailing from Omsk, Russia, Chinakhov won the Kontinental Hockey League's Rookie of the Year award in 2020-21, and helped Avangard Omsk win the Gagarin Cup the same year.
He made the journey to North America prior to 2021-22, and chipped in 14 points in 62 games in his rookie season. Two campaigns later was the coming out party, with Chinakhov's responsibilities, ice time and production all increasing.
Now, he'll spend at least the next two years in Ohio as the club looks to make a return to the postseason for the first time since 2019-20.
Blue Jackets looking for new leadership after brutal season
Although there was some hope that the 2023-24 Blue Jackets could take the next step in the rebuild, the squad instead struggled from start to finish, ending up 27-43-12 and dead last in the Metropolitan Division.
That cost Pascal Vincent his job; the franchise's 10th head coach lasted just one season, being let go by Waddell earlier this week. And the search has already begun for a new bench boss.
“I wanted to make sure I did my due diligence as the general manager to make sure I made the right decision about moving forward,” Waddell said on Thursday, per NHL.com's Jeff Svoboda. “I took a couple of weeks, obviously. I met with him multiple times. The other day, it was my decision that I thought that we needed to go a different direction.”
The GM added when asked about what he's looking for in a new coach: “Talking with everybody here and getting my finger on the pulse the last three weeks, we need somebody that has been in this chair before that has coached in the NHL. We’ll have some good choices there.”
That decision figures to be made sometime in the upcoming weeks, as Waddell — after spending a decade with the Carolina Hurricanes — looks to build this Blue Jackets roster into one that can compete for a playoff spot.
And with Chinakhov locked up for the next two years, the work continues to build a contender in Ohio.
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