It didn’t take Dean Evason long to take a liking to Dmitri Voronkov.
The Blue Jackets head coach purposefully came into his first season not wanting to know specifics about the players he was inheriting. He wanted a clean slate in order to make his own first impressions of his new charges.
As you might imagine, a 6-foot-5, 227-pound menace of a forward didn’t take long to catch Evason’s eye.
“I didn’t realize how freakin’ big he is,” Evason said with wonder. “He’s massive. I’m very excited.”
But what Evason couldn’t have known – or any of us, really – was just how good Voronkov would be at filling up the stat sheet in his second NHL season.
Voronkov has multiple points in five of the last seven games, including two goals in three of those contests. With seven goals and 11 points in the last seven games, the massive Russian wing is tied for the league lead in goals and fourth in points since Dec. 23.
In all, he’s posted 15 goals and 26 points this year in 31 games, producing at a near 40-goal pace for an 82-game season. Among NHL players 6-5 or taller, he’s one of just three with at least 15 goals, joining Buffalo’s Tage Thompson and Washington’s Aliaksei Protas.
Simply put, for a man his size, there aren’t many comparable players in the league, and teammates often just smile and laugh when asked about what Voronkov brings to the table.
“You guys see him,” Adam Fantilli said. “He’s extremely skilled for a guy his size. He plays that netfront position perfectly, and he’s complimenting that first line really, really well. We just want him to keep doing what he’s doing. It’s great.”
“It’s been awesome,” Zach Werenski added. “He’s so big, and he makes so many smart plays out there. He’s not the fastest guy, but just the way his brain works, making plays, it allows him to have a lot of success.”
That success has made him a find, as the Blue Jackets went to the 2019 draft with just three picks but struck gold with the 114th overall pick in the fourth round. Voronkov just passed the 100-game mark in the NHL but has scored 33 goals among his 60 points, marks that are 15th and 21st among his draft class, respectively. He’s the leader in both categories among those chosen 100th or later in that draft, and it’s all the more impressive considering he’s only in the midst of his second season in the NHL.
And as the goals and points pile up, Voronkov said he’s not shocked to find himself in this spot.
“It’s not surprising,” he said through interpreter Ivan Provorov after his latest two-goal performance Saturday vs St. Louis. “I work hard and play hard, and I’m going to continue to do the same thing. Everything is good with me all the time. I’m always confident.”
Why wouldn’t he be? So far, the biggest challenges he’s had to face are adjusting to life in America – his home city of Angarsk, Russia, is located just north of Mongolia, half a world away from Columbus – and the English language. His personality is often evident through his smiles, practical jokes and occasional banter in the locker room – he understands more English than he speaks – and he’s found a perfect running mate in Kirill Marchenko.
The two have been nothing short of a dominant duo whether it’s at 5-on-5 with linemate Sean Monahan – the three have outscored the opposition 22-4 this year – or on the power play, where Voronkov leads the CBJ with six tallies and is fourth in the NHL with 4.50 goals per 60 minutes.
Marchenko jokes their secret is the ability to speak to one in another in Russian on the ice without opponents being able to understand what they’re saying, but it’s clear there’s chemistry between the two and Monahan. All bring something different to the table, and for Voronkov, it’s sneaky skill inside a frame that allows him to protect the puck and also score in a variety of ways.
Sure, there have been some tips and putback goals from the front of the net, where his size allows him to fend off opponents in a way others simply can’t, but he’s tallied in a variety of ways. There have been two breakaway goals this season, and his biggest show of skill might have come Dec. 27 vs. Boston when he took a pass right in front of the crease on the power play and put a backhand into the roof of the net from in tight.
