Blue Jackets News & Rumors: Evason, Werenski & More – The Hockey Writers Columbus Blue Jackets Latest News, Analysis & More

Welcome to the first Blue Jackets’ News & Rumors of 2025. The team hopes to start the new year off right as they host the Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues over the next couple of days.

The Blue Jackets are coming off an impressive 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. The shootout win was their second of the season against the Hurricanes. It also put their home record to 12-4-3 on the season with the next two within the friendly confines of Nationwide Arena.

Today, we hear from Dean Evason on his philosophy playing 11-7 as well as thoughts on his lines right now. Then Zach Werenski reacts to his franchise-record 11 shots on goal from Tuesday night.

Coach Speak

The Blue Jackets are likely staying with an 11-7 lineup for Thursday’s game against the Red Wings although Coach Evason would only go as far as saying “maybe” when pressed. He did say that Kevin Labanc being out was not performance related but a “numbers game.”

With both Labanc and Jordan Harris skating late, that implies the Blue Jackets are using the same lineup as Tuesday. Elvis Merzlikins was in the home net and is projected to start.

Going 11-7 has its advantages and disadvantages. On one hand, if a defenseman gets injured, there are six others still available to play. It also allows another forward the chance to double shift with the “fourth line.” On the other hand, going 11-7 can create situations where the lines and pairs are constantly mixed making it hard to find chemistry at times. It also limits the ice time of certain players while increasing the ice time of others.

We asked Evason what goes into deciding who plays the extra forward spot. We also asked him how that affects the two forwards on that bottom line when linemates are constantly changing. He had an interesting answer.

“We go into the game with a plan,” Evason said. “There’s a thought process of who and when and situational (who) we put into that spot. But then it varies with penalties or matchups. If we short shift the line or what have you to match up, then it flips off of the line that we were going to double up. So there’s a lot of factors that go into it. Feel is certainly one of them.”

“But those two guys in particular, Kurls (Sean Kuraly) and Tuna (Mikael Pyyhtia) have done a great job. The other night we put (Monahan) there a couple of times. Kurls played left. Tuna played right. Our guys have done a really good job of staying focused, communicating on the bench because it can easily get confusing if (Kirill Marchenko) plays right wing with one line and plays left wing with the other. Our guys have been real good at communicating and making sure that our changes are properly executed after we’ve made that call.”

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As for the lines, although not everyone is making an impact on the scoresheet, Evason has liked what he’s seen from them as a whole. The trio of Werenski, Marchenko and Dmitri Voronkov combined for 20 of the 28 shots on goal Tuesday night. While that’s the skill of the top players doing their thing, Evason made it a point to say everyone has contributed in other ways.

“Would we like consistency? Would we like every line to be producing, every player, every defenseman? Absolutely,” Evason said. “Some will produce more than others just because of skill set. Ice time, special teams, that type of stuff all play into it. So would we like having depth in the scoring? Yeah, of course. Sure those guys have scored, probably majority (of the points.) But other lines are generating. Even if lines aren’t scoring or a D-pair is not scoring, it’s creating momentum. We’re keeping the puck out of our net as well. But every shift, you want to create momentum and keep that going on our side. And I think all four lines have done that on a regular basis.”

As long as they are winning and seeing results, expect the Blue Jackets to keep the same alignment. Here’s how they looked at the morning skate.

• Voronkov-Monahan-Marchenko
• K.Johnson-Sillinger-Olivier
• van Riemsdyk-Fantilli-Aston Reese
• Pyyhtia-Kuraly
• Werenski-Fabbro
• Mateychuk-Provorov
• Christiansen-Severson
• J.Johnson
• Merzlikins (likely starter)
• Tarasov

Werenski Taking What’s Available

No Blue Jacket in team history has unleashed 11 or more shots on goal in a single game. That was until Tuesday when Werenski did it. He didn’t even know until it was brought up to him on Thursday morning.

His great start to the season is well documented. He’s among the NHL leaders in defensemen scoring while leading the league in average time on ice.

Is Werenski looking to shoot that much? He explained Thursday morning what he sees and how he views trying to generate shots on goal.

“I feel like for me, it depends on the game,” Werenski said. “I’m not going to just force shots but I feel like if it’s a team like Carolina, that’s all they do is throw pucks at the net. They’re good defensively as well. They don’t really give you much. So I feel like for me, every time I had a chance to put a puck on the net, that was my thought process. A lot of faceoff wins to me in the offensive zone that had me going down the wall and guys going to the net. Trying to throw pucks there, create traffic and create chaos. (Kent Johnson) finds me in the slot on one for a great chance.”

“I wasn’t really trying to force it. It’s just how the game flowed. It just worked that way. I think whenever you can get pucks on net especially with guys going there, it’s always a good play in the NHL. So definitely more of an emphasis on it for me this year.”

The 11 SOG by Zach Werenski is a #CBJ franchise record for shots in a game. 10 is the previous record done multiple times, last done by Adam Fantilli last November. https://t.co/Ftwmoc5phO

— Mark Scheig (@mark_scheig) January 1, 2025

The Blue Jackets are 1-10-2 when Werenski is held off the scoresheet which means they are 15-6-4 when he records at least one point. His production has been an integral part of everything the Blue Jackets have done to be in the playoff race.

Side Dishes

• Red Wings coach Todd McLellan admitted he was in the conversation to be the next Blue Jackets’ coach. Although it didn’t work, he was very complementary of the Blue Jackets: “I think Dean (Evason) has his fingerprints all over this team. Any time a coach comes in and he can flip the identity and get the team or get the players believing into what he’s selling, it becomes contagious.” Then he added: “Dean was the right guy for this job at this time and they made a tremendous decision in that.”
• The Red Wings will start Cam Talbot in net Thursday against the Blue Jackets.
• Werenski won some lunches thanks to the World Juniors. Both Kent Johnson and Cole Sillinger owe him a lunch. Sillinger also owes Werenski a lunch for fantasy football. Ouch.
• Merzlikins is 3-0-0 against the Red Wings all time at Nationwide Arena with two shutouts. He’s won his last four starts against the Red Wings overall.