Contract season is nearly upon us.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have a few restricted free agents to negotiate with or figure out if they have a spot on the team next season. Ed Francis tackled the players who may or may not be back in 2025-26, including RFAs Jordan Harris and Daniil Tarasov.
Among the pending RFAs for the Blue Jackets is a player who definitely occupies a spot in next season's lineup. This player has proven to be a very important piece of the Blue Jackets' core, a valuable net-front presence, and isn't shy to use his 6-foot-5, 227 lb frame.
Dmitri Voronkov's next contact will be an interesting storyline this summer.
Voronkov, 24 years old, just completed his second NHL season and scored career highs in points (47), goals (23), and assists (24). In two seasons, he has 81 points (41 goals, 40 assists) in 148 career games. Voronkov had a 3.01 xGF/60 and 3.71 GF/60 per Natural Stat Trick last season. So, he's been largely available and productive for the Jackets.
He did miss the first month of the season recovering from an upper-body injury in preseason but played in 73 games. Voronkov made $925,000 per year in each of his first two seasons and scored in the NHL Stadium Series at Ohio Stadium in the Blue Jackets' 5-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Mar. 1.
As president and general manager Don Waddell gets set for his first full offseason as the man in charge of the Blue Jackets, we can look back to some of the signings with RFAs he made with the core last season. They also have the cap room to get a lot done with as much as $40.41 million in cap space per PuckPedia.
Yegor Chinkahov
Chinkahov was the first of the Blue Jackets regulars to sign new deals when he signed a two-year deal for $2.1 million per year through 2025-26 in June. Up to the point he signed, Chinakhov had 56 points (27 goals, 29 assists) in 145 career games. His initial entry-level contract expired after the 2022-23 season and he was signed to a one-year deal in 2023 for $800k. Chinakhov got off to a hot start last season with seven points (three goals, four assists) in his first four games before missing extended time with an injury and playing in only 30 games, as injuries have been an unfortunate trend for the four-year pro. He finished the season with 15 points (seven goals, eight assists). Chinakhov has not played more than 62 games in a season, which he did in his rookie season in 2021-22.
Kent Johnson
Johnson received a three-year deal last July, netting $1.8 million per year through 2026-27. Johnson made his debut late in the 2021-22 season and scored 40 points (16 goals, 24 assists) in his first full season in 2022-23. Johnson's second full season did not go as planned. From being healthy scratched on opening night to being demoted to AHL Cleveland that November, Johnson scored 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in an injury-shortened season as he tore his labrum in the waning seconds of a loss at Madison Square Garden in February of that year, limiting his season to 42 games. Last season was his best to date as he set career highs in points (57), goals (24), and assists (33).
Kirill Marchenko
Marchenko signed a three-year deal in July at $3.85 million per year through 2026-27. At the time he signed on the dotted line, Marchenko was just the second Blue Jacket to score 20 goals in back-to-back seasons to start an NHL career and his most recent season is his best one to date as he scored 74 points (31 goals, 43 assists) in 79 games, even suffering a broken jaw in the mix. In three NHL seasons, Marchenko has 141 points (75 goals, 66 assists) in 216 games.
Cole Sillinger
Last August, Sillinger signed for two seasons, getting $2.25 million per year through 2025-26 so he'll be up for a new deal next summer. Sillinger had three seasons under his belt, with a nice rookie season in which he registered 31 points (16 goals, 15 assists) in 79 games. He went through an injury-plagued sophomore season with just 11 points (three goals, eight assists) in 64 games. Last season, we saw more of the same from his first year with 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists).
Columbus has a lot to figure out this offseason concerning its RFA, unrestricted free agents, and the possibility of trades.
