Metro Notes: Chinakhov, Capitals, Brunicke, Kindel

Yegor Chinakhov was vocal in his disapproval of head coach Dean Evason’s deployment of him earlier this preseason, and now it appears Chinakhov’s disapproval has extended to the player’s off-ice situation. According to The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline, Chinakhov has fired his longtime agent, Shumi Babaev and hired Rick Komarow of Maverick Sports Management. Portzline noted that Komarow is the agent of Chinakhov’s teammate and fellow Russian Dmitry Voronkov, and also represents four other Russians on NHL contracts: Pavel Dorofeyev, Danila Yurov, Sergei Murashov, and Nikita Novikov.

Whether this change in representation will include a retraction of Chinakhov’s offseason trade request is unclear, though the core reasoning behind the trade request (Chinakhov’s lack of ice time under coach Evason) has not changed. Per Portzline, Chinakhov spent most of the last week of practice “skating as the extra forward” and therefore appears to be unlikely to have a lineup spot for the team’s season-opening game against the Nashville Predators. The 2020 first-round pick scored a career-high 16 goals and 29 points in 53 games under former coach Pascal Vincent in 2023-24, but saw his ice time decline under Evason. It’s worth noting that the Blue Jackets’ fortunes as a team have improved markedly since Evason’s hire, meaning there is unlikely to be much organizational pressure for Evason’s apparent stance on the player to change, making an eventual trade appear to be, at this point, potentially the most suitable outcome for all parties involved. It remains to be seen whether Chinakhov’s swap in representation changes things.

More notes from the Metropolitan Division:

• The Washington Capitals defensemen Matt Roy and Dylan McIlrath suffered injuries, head coach Spencer Carbery said yesterday. (via NHL.com’s Tom Gulitti) According to Carbery, the pair of blueliners is not believed to have suffered “super significant” or long-term injuries, though their ailments (upper-body for Roy, lower-body for McIlrath) could keep them out for a week or two. The two players are still being evaluated, but should they end up missing a week or two of the season, Washington would need to find a player to fill Roy’s second-pairing slot in the meantime – 25-year-old Declan Chisholm, who has some experience playing the right side, appears the likeliest candidate.
• The Athletic’s Josh Yohe wrote yesterday that the Pittsburgh Penguins’ bevy of roster moves indicates that teenagers Benjamin Kindel and Harrison Brunicke are set to make the team’s season-opening NHL roster. While a potential waiver claim could change things, it does appear as things stand that the pair of top Penguins prospects will make their NHL debuts on Tuesday night in Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers. As Brunicke’s brilliance this preseason has been covered extensively, the bigger surprise is Kindel, the team’s top pick from the 2025 draft. It now appears as though the Penguins will get the chance to see how Kindel’s game holds up against the physicality of NHL regular-season competition, though it remains unlikely he’ll remain on the team’s roster for the full season. A handful of games before being reassigned to the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen remains the likeliest outcome here, which would still, of course, be a valuable and positive step in Kindel’s development.