Blue Jackets sign former first-round winger to two-year extension
Columbus Blue Jackets winger Yegor Chinakhov
The Blue Jackets have signed winger Yegor Chinakhov to a two-year, $4.2M extension, per a team announcement. The deal carries a $2.1M cap hit through the 2025-26 season.
Chinakhov, 23, was a pending restricted free agent. The Russian winger was not eligible for salary arbitration and wouldn’t have been until the summer of 2025. Notably, this is Don Waddell’s first signing since taking over as general manager of the Blue Jackets late last month.
A completely off-the-board first-round pick in 2020, Chinakhov solidified himself as a solid depth scoring option this past season with 16 goals and 29 points in 53 games. His shooting percentage was a tad steep at 14.5%, and he may be a regression candidate next year, but he didn’t look out of place as his minutes ramped up. He averaged 15:10 per game, seventh among Blue Jackets forwards who finished the season on the roster. Chinakhov also had some of the best possession metrics of any Columbus player, finishing fifth on the team with a 49.4 CF% at even strength.
There’s been a lot to like around Chinakhov’s all-around offensive game. In hindsight, his 69 points in 56 Russian junior league games during his draft year should have earned him a tad more consideration from the public scouting world at the time. He had solid results in his lone professional season in Russia, posting 10 goals and 17 points in 32 games for Avangard Omsk in 2020-21 before arriving in Columbus the following year. A dual-threat passer and shooter with a good set of wheels, he averaged 2.1 shots on goal per game this season.
His production provided some great financial value for Columbus this year, spending the campaign on a one-year, $800K extension he inked in April 2023 with his entry-level contract set to expire. It’s a considerable but deserved raise for the Omsk native, who will continue to push for consistent top-six minutes next season under a new head coach. The Blue Jackets still have $21.675M in projected cap space for 2024-25 with a roster size of 16.
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