Yegor Chinakhov has speed, he has size and he has a harder wrist shot than just about any person on the planet.
What can’t he do?
He can even speak English.
The Russian forward knew very little of the language when he came to the Blue Jackets in the fall of 2021, but two years later, he’s come a long way. In fact, he’s now comfortable to the extent that he gave his first full interview in English to Blue Jackets media after his season debut Saturday night in the Blue Jackets’ 2-1 loss at Washington.
While Chinakhov didn’t get on the scoresheet, it wasn’t for a lack of trying. The 22-year-old Russian nearly scored on his first shift of the game when he sped by a defenseman on the right wing, cut to the net and tried to tuck the puck around Charlie Lindgren only to see the Washington goalie make an excellent toe save.
Chinakhov also used his vision to set up Cole Sillinger in the third period with a sweet pass, but the Blue Jackets center was robbed by a highlight-reel glove save from Lindgren with the Blue Jackets pushing to tie the game.
In all, in 18:14 of action, Chinakhov had five shots on goal, and he earned enough trust right off the bat from head coach Pascal Vincent that he was on the ice late in the game as the Blue Jackets pulled the goalie and pushed to tie the score.
“I coach a hockey team, right?” Vincent said postgame. “And we evaluate the players and who's going, and Chinny was going, I thought, from the first shift, beating that defenseman one-on-one, attacking the net. He had some good chances. He was skating, he was winning battles, so he deserved to be there.”
For his part, Chinakhov was pretty happy to see the trust from the coaching staff while playing his first NHL game since Dec. 19 of last year.
“I didn't expect that they were going to have that much trust in me in the first game back,” Chinakhov said with a little help from interpreter Ivan Provorov, who helped Chinakhov out during the interview if he ran into any roadblocks with the language. “I feel pretty good, played a lot of ice time and yeah, it felt pretty good.”
If Chinakhov can keep that type of game going, he could be a huge piece of the puzzle for the Blue Jackets, and it feels like the 2020 first-round draft pick has only scratched the surface. He posted a 7-7-14 line in 62 games as a rookie in 2021-22 and was off to a strong start last year with 13 points in 30 games before a Dallas player fell on his leg last December, giving Chinakhov a high ankle sprain.
He was close to returning to the lineup when a setback with AHL Cleveland ended his season, so Chinakhov’s No. 59 jersey had gone a long time without being in the lineup before Saturday night. But after three goals in three games with the Monsters this season after recovering from a back injury in training camp, the Blue Jackets saw enough out of the wing to recall him from Cleveland and put him into the lineup against the Capitals.
With the Blue Jackets trying to play an up-tempo style predicated on speed and skating, Chinakhov seemingly would fit right in with what Vincent wants.
“All of his attributes are fitting what we’re trying to do here – playing heavy games, playing with speed, playing with pace, creating offense,” Vincent said. “I have an offensive mind myself, and everything we do is, how are we creating, generating more offense? And that's also true when we don't have the puck, and Chinny is a smart player.
“He can skate, he’s a big body. So now it's up to him to showcase himself. We don't know exactly (what he can be), but I think he’s gonna be good. How good he’s gonna be, I don’t know, but the ceiling is pretty high.”
And then there’s the shot, which frankly is a marvel. In a league where most players’ wrist shots check in in the high 70s or low 80s in terms of miles per hour, Chinakhov can top 85 mph and even get into the 90s with his hard, accurate shot. For a goal scorer like friend Kirill Marchenko, Chinakhov’s ability to shoot the puck commands respect.
“He’s ready for playing in the NHL,” Marchenko said Saturday morning. “He’s a really strong guy. He has a great shot – 90 miles per hour? Wow. I only have 80, 82. That’s the best result for me. No, he’s really ready.”
When all was said and done Saturday, Chinakhov showed he can be someone who can help the Blue Jackets this year with his speed and his creativity. He certainly had his skating legs in his opening game, though his newfound command of English led to a joke during his postgame media availability.
“Yeah, I had my legs, but (now) they’re kind of tired,” he said with a smile. “For sure I think I can play better, but it is what it is.”
