After sending forwards Carson Meyer and Kirill Marchenko as well as defenseman Jake Christiansen to Cleveland, while releasing veteran forward Victor Rask from his professional tryout offer, Larsen admitted Wednesday he's reached the point where players who very well might deserve to be on the Blue Jackets have to go.
"My whole message to (the players) was, 'Make my decision hard,'" Larsen said. "Some of them were easier. But those two guys (Meyer and Marchenko), I'd definitely put them in the category of much harder."
Meyer was one of the most noticeable players in camp, arriving in excellent shape after making his NHL debut a season ago with 13 games at the end of the season. The scoring touch he showed in his formative years in Powell, Ohio, and with Ohio State was evident, and he impressed Larsen and the staff with the relentless way he attacked training camp.
"I told him two years ago, 'I really didn't know who you were,'" Larsen said. "That's just honest. And this guy has done nothing but exactly what you want a pro to do. He's worked. He flipped an AHL contract into an NHL contract. He came here.
"The difference I see from him last year to this year is last year, I don't know if he believed in himself. I think he was working hard and he's in the NHL, but this year, I think he's starting to understand, 'I belong here.' It's a tough business. He's teetering. He's right on the cusp, but you can't take a breath now."
Marchenko, meanwhile, showcased his scoring ability both at the annual Traverse City prospects tournament (three goals in three games) as well as in the preseason, but the 22-year-old Russian winger admittedly was still adjusting to the pace of the NHL game in his first camp in North America.
"I think he has to figure out the smaller ice game a little bit, and he knows it," Larsen said. "He has to get up to pace a little bit quicker, faster, because he has the body to protect pucks. He has the shot, he has the release, all that. He just has to figure out, 'I gotta get up to speed first, then I can slow it down.' "
An original training camp roster of 68 players has been pared to 29, meaning Columbus must make moves with six more players to get down to the Monday max of 23. The Blue Jackets have four goalies in camp and will likely only have two on the opening roster, which leaves four roster moves to make among the skaters.
To this point, we'll consider 16 skaters as locks for the opening night roster -- forwards Johnny Gaudreau, Patrik Laine, Boone Jenner, Gustav Nyquist, Jack Roslovic, Jakub Voracek, Cole Sillinger, Justin Danforth, Sean Kuraly and Eric Robinson as well as defensemen Zach Werenski, Adam Boqvist, Vladislav Gavrikov, Andrew Peeke, Erik Gudbranson and Jake Bean.
That leaves nine skaters on the bubble, with only five (barring injuries) able to make the roster -- forwards Emil Bemstrom, Yegor Chinakhov, Mathieu Olivier, Kent Johnson, Liam Foudy and Joona Luoto as well as blueliners Nick Blankenburg, David Jiricek and Ben Harpur.
The situation in goal seems relatively simple. Elvis Merzlikins will be the starter, and Joonas Korpisalo will be the backup if he's ready after offseason hip surgery. If not, Daniil Tarasov seems ready to fill that role barring any further setbacks from his own hip repair.
With that in mind, here's how it looks for those skaters who are set to make their final push starting tonight against St. Louis, with Chinakhov, Olivier, Johnson and Foudy in the lineup for the game at Nationwide Arena.
