Merzlikins starts, Chinakhov to make season debut for Columbus Blue Jackets

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Merzlikins starts, Chinakhov to make season debut for Columbus Blue Jackets

Brian Hedger, Columbus Dispatch · The Columbus Dispatch

Thu, Oct 16, 2025 ·

3 min read

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Elvis Merzlikins will make his second start in net, and Yegor Chinakhov will make his season debut for the Blue Jackets on Oct. 16 at Nationwide Arena.

Merzlikins (1-0-0) made 48 saves on 52 shots in a 7-4 victory for the Blue Jackets on Oct. 11 at the Minnesota Wild to split their first two games on the road. He'll now face the Colorado Avalanche , who are 3-0-1. Chinakhov watched the Jackets' first three games as a healthy scratch but draws into the lineup as a replacement for Miles Wood (upper body), who might be facing a long-term issue.

More: Columbus Blue Jackets shake things up for undefeated Colorado Avalanche

Wood is out for at least a week and possibly longer after sustaining a facial injury near or involving his left eye, which was struck by a stick blade Oct. 13 against the New Jersey Devils .

Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins stops the shot of Sabres right wing Justin Danforth on Sept. 22.

Prior to the game against the Avalanche, star forward Cam Atkinson will be honored with a ceremony after signing a one-day contract to officially retire with the Blue Jackets, who selected him in the sixth round (157thoverall) in the 2008 NHL Draft.

Atkinson will pull on his No. 13 jersey and skate one final lap in front of Blue Jackets fans, who watched him grow into a franchise pillar during a decade he spent playing in Columbus.

"This is home for us, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else," Atkinson said, including his wife, Natalie, and three children all born at Riverside Hospital. "I'll keep harping on it. The best fans, 'The 5th Line,' are some of the most loyal fans in the league. I've been part of some other organizations, and I can tell you they're a special group. They're there through the ups and downs, and I'm just happy to be able to call this place home."

Blue Jackets forward Cam Atkinson jumps into the arms of teammate Nick Foligno to celebrate a goal against the Panthers.

The Blue Jackets are off to a 1-2-0 start, and now have a daunting challenge facing Nathan MacKinnon , Gabriel Landeskog , Cale Makar and the Avalanche (3-0-1), who are paying their lone visit of the season to Nationwide Arena.

Miles Wood and Erik Gudbranson are injured and won't play for the Blue Jackets. Wood has a facial laceration near his left eye and Gudbranson is dealing with a suspected concussion.

It will be the first time Blue Jackets center Charlie Coyle and Avalanche rookie forward Gavin Brindley face the teams that included them in a pre-draft trade this past summer that sent Coyle and Wood to Columbus for Brindley and two draft picks.

Here's a look at each team's projected lineup: