Player Discussion: Yegor Chinakhov

[CBJx614]

Lindstrom??

I joke...

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Hopefully the increased practice time means he’s back after the break. Getting him and Jenner back would be a big boost

 

[Doggy]

Hopefully the increased practice time means he’s back after the break. Getting him and Jenner back would be a big boost

Fingers crossed he finishes a practice.

 

[Doggy]

This Union & Blue article does a nice job of summarizing Chinny's on-again off-again attempts (timeline) to get back to playing hockey this season. I have to believe he is the most frustrated person in this injury saga and feel for our injured players seeing their teammates battling for the playoffs (something the team has not done in years) and not be able to help on the ice.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Looks like he’s completely healthy now

 

[Monk]

Looks like he’s completely healthy now

Good - this feels like a critical season for him. Will he turn the page on injuries or succumb yet again?

 

[Jovavic]

We've had a few high picks in our history that started off being injury prone (Klesla, Leclaire, Brule, Murray) and they never really solved it and it limited their NHL ceiling, I hope Chinakov is able to but history doesn't look great.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

Looks like he’s completely healthy now

he's put on a ton of muscle over the last couple offseasons and still missed a ton of games.

good to see him moving around but i don't think this stuff really reliably maps to durability over the course of an NHL season.

also… the skeptic in me is tempted to draw a line between this video being posted now (2.5 weeks before the draft) after the curious report about his injury not being structural right before the TDL.

 

[majormajor]

also… the skeptic in me is tempted to draw a line between this video being posted now (2.5 weeks before the draft) after the curious report about his injury not being structural right before the TDL.

I'm confused about what you're saying.

I also don't know what the fuss is about regarding his non structural injury (a thing that actually happens to people) and whatever that has to do with the TDL (sounds like nothing?).

 

[cbjthrowaway]

I'm confused about what you're saying.

I also don't know what the fuss is about regarding his non structural injury (a thing that actually happens to people) and whatever that has to do with the TDL (sounds like nothing?).

the facts:

• the org has been pathologically tight-lipped around injury transparency
• the team then reportedly got frustrated with his efforts to return
• then, right before the deadline, reporters started saying the injury was "nothing structural"
• also reports that the FO wasn't happy with him, then repeated healthy scratches after he came back

the speculation: a FO that refuses to share injury details leaking that his injury wasn't serious right before the deadline sure could indicate that he's being shopped around in trade talks.

going deeper: waddell initially said he wanted a top six F with term leading up to the deadline, then set his sights lower citing costs, but said that he laid the groundwork for summer moves. that could've been a team saying they wanted to see how chinakhov looked before circling back after the season.

crazy message board level: wondering if chinakhov's agent posting that video right after the draft combine (hotbed for trade talks) is part of a mutual interest to facilitate a trade. the team reportedly wasn't happy with him this year, and he reportedly wasn't happy with the team a couple years ago.

it could be nothing, but when the report came out he'd already had a few setbacks – his initial injury was listed as day-to-day in november (!!) – so either the team was trying to pressure him to play through it (in which case, why scratch him so much?) or they were trying to signal to the league that he was available.

 

[alphafox]

I think regardless of the situation at this point Chinakov is the odd man out. Brindley has to get a shot next year and LDBB is going to be staying up as far as we can see. Throw in an upgrade from free agency or trade and there just isn't much of an argument to keep Chinakov when he can be packaged in trade to a team. I would imagine that alot of teams would be happy to take a gamble on Chinakov just for the speed. If you throw him into a mega package for someone like Robertson of Peterka its the start of a really strong package.

 

[stevo61]

I think regardless of the situation at this point Chinakov is the odd man out. Brindley has to get a shot next year and LDBB is going to be staying up as far as we can see. Throw in an upgrade from free agency or trade and there just isn't much of an argument to keep Chinakov when he can be packaged in trade to a team. I would imagine that alot of teams would be happy to take a gamble on Chinakov just for the speed. If you throw him into a mega package for someone like Robertson of Peterka its the start of a really strong package.

Brindley has to show a lot more in the AHL before needing a shot at the next level

 

[majormajor]

I think regardless of the situation at this point Chinakov is the odd man out. Brindley has to get a shot next year and LDBB is going to be staying up as far as we can see. Throw in an upgrade from free agency or trade and there just isn't much of an argument to keep Chinakov when he can be packaged in trade to a team. I would imagine that alot of teams would be happy to take a gamble on Chinakov just for the speed. If you throw him into a mega package for someone like Robertson of Peterka its the start of a really strong package.

I don't get it at all.

You seem to be saying there's no reason to keep him since he can be used as a trade chip - but not only is he not a good trade chip because of the injury, but there are many great reasons to keep him. He has high upside. If he's healthy he's a player we can absolutely use - he was at times our best forward last Fall. If he's not healthy, then no one else can use him either.

I get so confused about what we're trying to do by on the one hand trying to make moves to fill a top 9 vacancy and at the same having to move Chinakhov in order to make that vacancy. How about we just keep our high upside young player and see what happens. Since we don't have a pressing shortage of scoring wingers we have time to see how Chinakhov's situation unfolds and we can address the situation later if he can't play.

To be clear - if we're trading him for Robertson or Peterka, then that would be amazing. But his trade value is through the toilet right now, it's not realistic that we're going to get value here.

 

[CBJx614]

I don't get it at all.

You seem to be saying there's no reason to keep him since he can be used as a trade chip - but not only is he not a good trade chip because of the injury, but there are many great reasons to keep him. He has high upside. If he's healthy he's a player we can absolutely use - he was at times our best forward last Fall. If he's not healthy, then no one else can use him either.

I get so confused about what we're trying to do by on the one hand trying to make moves to fill a top 9 vacancy and at the same having to move Chinakhov in order to make that vacancy. How about we just keep our high upside young player and see what happens. Since we don't have a pressing shortage of scoring wingers we have time to see how Chinakhov's situation unfolds and we can address the situation later if he can't play.

To be clear - if we're trading him for Robertson or Peterka, then that would be amazing. But his trade value is through the toilet right now, it's not realistic that we're going to get value here.

Chinakov staying healthy and having a good year would solve a depth scoring problem that jackets could use some help with and he desperately needs a relatively healthy season with some decent numbers. We've all seen the flashes but he just hasn't been able to stay healthy and put it all together.

 

[thebus88]

Should be looked at as equal to Marchenko.

I wouldn’t look to move ANY of the Russians, KJ, or Fantilli.

 

[alphafox]

I don't get it at all.

You seem to be saying there's no reason to keep him since he can be used as a trade chip - but not only is he not a good trade chip because of the injury, but there are many great reasons to keep him. He has high upside. If he's healthy he's a player we can absolutely use - he was at times our best forward last Fall. If he's not healthy, then no one else can use him either.

I get so confused about what we're trying to do by on the one hand trying to make moves to fill a top 9 vacancy and at the same having to move Chinakhov in order to make that vacancy. How about we just keep our high upside young player and see what happens. Since we don't have a pressing shortage of scoring wingers we have time to see how Chinakhov's situation unfolds and we can address the situation later if he can't play.

To be clear - if we're trading him for Robertson or Peterka, then that would be amazing. But his trade value is through the toilet right now, it's not realistic that we're going to get value here.

To be fair, Chinakov in a trade for Robertson or Peterka would be the roster player to balance out the hole. The value would be in the 2 1sts we would be sending and the cap relief (at least in Robertson's case) they would be getting. Chinakov is like a raffle ticket, you get a solid player if he is healthy but you have a chance at a huge prize for a small price if he stays healthy and puts it all together.

Ultimately, I think you see Chinakov's name in trade talks because 1. we won't make the move to trade Jenner 2. He showed that he isn't necessary for this team to be competitive and 3.alternative is to trade Cole Sillinger who combined with 2 first round picks feels like an overpayment for most of the guys rumored to be available.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

Should be looked at as equal to Marchenko.

he’s missed 152 games over four years!

you’re in another thread talking about werenski carrying fabbro — chinakhov’s best stretch this year came with marchenko and monahan (one of the best duos in the league) and he was awful away from them to the point where he was basically unplayable for the last dozen games of the season.

i like the player’s toolkit and think he’s exciting when healthy but saying he’s equal to a guy who just put up a 30+ goal, 70+ point year is some world class hyperbole.

 

[ViD]

To be fair, Chinakov in a trade for Robertson or Peterka would be the roster player to balance out the hole. The value would be in the 2 1sts we would be sending and the cap relief (at least in Robertson's case) they would be getting. Chinakov is like a raffle ticket, you get a solid player if he is healthy but you have a chance at a huge prize for a small price if he stays healthy and puts it all together.

Ultimately, I think you see Chinakov's name in trade talks because 1. we won't make the move to trade Jenner 2. He showed that he isn't necessary for this team to be competitive and 3.alternative is to trade Cole Sillinger who combined with 2 first round picks feels like an overpayment for most of the guys rumored to be available.

Chinakhov’s trade value is currently extremely low because of his injuries. We should not be trading him unless they want to get rid of him regardless of the value we get back. It does seem Evason might not be a fan of his, similar to Severson.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Chinakhov’s trade value is currently extremely low because of his injuries. We should not be trading him unless they want to get rid of him regardless of the value we get back. It does seem Evason might not be a fan of his, similar to Severson.

He was playing top line and top PP unit when the season started. When he came back from his injuries we were in desperation mode and there wasn’t time for him to work out his issues.

 

[ViD]

He was playing top line and top PP unit when the season started. When he came back from his injuries we were in desperation mode and there wasn’t time for him to work out his issues.

Yes, it was extremely bad timing, we hit a stretch of lost games and he was moved to the bottom 6 and then to the press box

 

[cbjthrowaway]

Chinakhov’s trade value is currently extremely low because of his injuries.

as is his value to the blue jackets.

his best stretch came playing alongside our two best forwards, who thrived with anyone. aside from that, he hasn’t been all that impactful, even if the tools are exciting.

the org has a long track record of giving up on similar players: still young with exciting tools, but lots of missed dev time and a lack of actual game impact.

a lot of the things we’re saying about him now are the same things we said about ryan murray, sonny milano, adam boqvist, jake bean and alex texier (or laine as an extreme example)

all of those guys but texier have higher draft pedigree than chinakhov. none ended up giving the jackets a reason to regret cutting them loose.

maybe he breaks that mold, but i can’t imagine the FO feels comfortable projecting him as a reliable contributor on a playoff team. the “don’t trade him because his value is low” is sensible in theory but misses that part.

 

[thebus88]

he’s missed 152 games over four years!

And what does this have to do with how good of a player he is?? The faulty memories and the “what have you done for me lately” mentality is hard to deal with around here.

Sure, the missing time and the lack of information, or how he was back and forth, as returning or not, IS CONCERNING.

you’re in another thread talking about werenski carrying fabbro — chinakhov’s best stretch this year came with marchenko and monahan (one of the best duos in the league) and he was awful away from them to the point where he was basically unplayable for the last dozen games of the season.

He was returning from injury and clearly wasn’t 100% (or who knows what %) for who knows how long last year. At the beginning of the year, he was BETTER than Marchenko. And if there wasn’t concern for him to be re-injured at the end of the year, which we DON’T know, he SHOULD have been playing. “Awful”….”Unplayable”….

These posts are awful and borderline unPOSTABLE. IMO of course.

i like the player’s toolkit and think he’s exciting when healthy but saying he’s equal to a guy who just put up a 30+ goal, 70+ point year is some world class hyperbole.

He was hurt, and/or at the same time playing through something beforehand. If he played the entire year, he would have easily matched Marchenko’s numbers. And he very well could moving forward. He looked BETTER than Marchenko at the start of the year. No “hyperbole”.

To be fair,… Chinakov is like a raffle ticket, you get a solid player if he is healthy but you have a chance at a huge prize for a small price if he stays healthy and puts it all together.

Ultimately, I think you see Chinakov's name in trade talks because 1. we won't make the move to trade Jenner 2. He showed that he isn't necessary for this team to be competitive and 3.alternative is to trade Cole Sillinger who combined with 2 first round picks feels like an overpayment for most of the guys rumored to be available.

It would be hard to find 2 different forwards that were more UNRELATED to each other, when it comes to contracts, lineup spots, or their future with the team, more so than Chinakhov and Jenner. That said, I would love to see them on a line together next year.

There isn’t a single player on the roster, other than Werenski, who are “necessary for the team to be competitive”. You could say that for Chinakhov, Gaudreau, or even Marchenko if he would have been hurt this past year. There’s more than a couple people who are treating Chinakhov as an afterthought, and it’s INSANE.

Chinakhov > > Sillinger…. for the 100th time. Unbelievable that people could feel Sillinger is a better player or has more trade value, injuries or not.

 

[ClevelandJacketFan]

13 points in 21 games to start the year. Krill had 20 in the same span.

The hyperbole is outrageous. Its almost as bad as comparing him to Sillinger, who plays a totally different position and is asked to do totally different things.

 

[spintheblackcircle]

Should be looked at as equal to Marchenko.

That's just wrong.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

And what does this have to do with how good of a player he is?? The faulty memories and the “what have you done for me lately” mentality is hard to deal with around here.

he's missed half of the team's games and turns 25 next season. that's a massive amount of missed development time during a crucial period. guys don't miss that much time and turn into stars.

If he played the entire year, he would have easily matched Marchenko’s numbers. And he very well could moving forward. He looked BETTER than Marchenko at the start of the year. No “hyperbole”.

let's make a bet, then.

if chinakhov comes close (let's say within 0.15 p/gp, minimum of 50 games played) to marchenko's production this upcoming season – or exceeds it – you can choose a pic of chinkahov and i'll use it as my profile pic for a year.

if he doesn't, or misses 30+ games, you have to change your profile pic to patrik laine's last CBJ headshot for six months.