Blue Jackets News & Rumors: Sillinger, Christiansen, New Signings & More

We’ll start to get some clues about Friday’s lineup Thursday at practice. Suddenly, the Blue Jackets have to make some hard decisions. There are more bodies available to them than playing spots on the game roster.

Evason admitted this will be a challenge to figure out. But it is something they’ve already started to talk about.

“We actually went through it a couple of hours ago,” Evason said. “It’s great, but it is challenging to try to figure out the balance of who plays well together, but there’s also an element of the room, the chemistry, all that kind of stuff. But I’ll tell you this, it’s nice for us that we feel comfortable that whatever decisions we make, the team’s just going to go play.”

“We haven’t had a group here that’s been disruptive when they’ve sat out or not played. I think it’s a credit to our leadership group that they are the ones driving into our team and leading in that department. Our communication with individuals in the team is open first and foremost.”

It was Yegor Chinakhov who didn’t play on Monday night against the New York Islanders. With Sillinger and Christiansen each ready, it will be curious to see who the Blue Jackets decide to sit.

There’s another element in play when it comes to roster decisions now too.

New Signings

The Blue Jackets have been busy with a flurry of signings. In all, three players signed on the dotted line this week. One is a Blue Jackets’ draftee. The other two are from the NCAA.

The draftee signed was 2024 second-round pick Charlie Elick. He signed a 3-year entry-level contract. Elick and Tri City will start play in the WHL Playoffs.

Meanwhile, Luca Pinelli’s season with OHL Ottawa ended without them making the playoffs. He was assigned to the Cleveland Monsters this week. He signed his ELC in April.

The Blue Jackets went into the college free agent pool for their other two signees. They signed both Northeastern captain Jack Williams and North Dakota defenseman Caleb MacDonald to two-year ELC’s.

Evason confirmed that Williams will practice with the Blue Jackets once he gets to Columbus. From there, it will be just like any player. Entering the lineup will be based on merit.

“He’ll practice,” Evason said. “We’ll see through practice if he plays or doesn’t play. Nothing has been dictated to us that he has to or doesn’t have to but he’ll be part of our team here practicing and then we’ll go from there.

For Elick, he did enough to earn their ELC’s with the Blue Jackets. Elick was traded midseason from Brandon to Tri City. Although his numbers have dipped this season, he’s a big, mobile defenseman known more as a shutdown defender.

As for Pinelli, he was by far Ottawa’s best player with 37 goals. He could see some playing time for the Monsters down the stretch.

The big takeaway from the Williams and MacDonald signings is that the Blue Jackets are being chosen as a destination. Evason admitted in the case of Williams, that Rick Nash was influential in closing the deal on the signing.

We are starting to see more evidence that players are seeing Columbus in a positive light and are willing to choose them when they have the right to choose where they want to go. That points to an improving culture around the team. It also points to the approach the Blue Jackets are using. Having Nash and other front office members involved is paying dividends.

On MacDonald, the Blue Jackets valued his size and sturdy defensive play. He’s 6-foot-3 and 224 pounds. This only adds to the trend of the team adding young size on the back end.

Landing two quality NCAA players is good on its own. But winning the right to sign them with half the league or more involved? That’s a huge step for the Blue Jackets.

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