Prospect Report: Keeping tabs on the Blue Jackets overseas

Normally, the NHL season would have begun in early October, and in a typical year, we'd be talking about the Blue Jackets' early-season progress as the leaves change.
Of course, this isn't a normal year, with the NHL currently in its offseason after the 2019-20 campaign did not end until Sept. 28 because of the four-month coronavirus pause and ensuing two months of bubble hockey.
But while the NHL and AHL are still evaluating how to move forward, with a current targeted NHL start date of Jan. 1, leagues overseas that shut down along with the rest of the world in March have begun their 2020-21 campaigns after eschewing a return to the ice to crown playoff champions a season ago.

That means that while there's no pro hockey happening at the moment in North America, there is overseas, and the Blue Jackets have players on the ice as a result. Prospects and even some players with NHL experience have headed to Russia, Finland and other countries to continue gaining experience and in some cases simply to stay sharp.
While we here at BlueJackets.com did a weekly Prospect Report a season ago to allow fans to keep tabs on future Blue Jackets, we probably won't be checking in weekly this year until things heat back up in all corners of the globe.
But with a number of CBJ draft picks performing well overseas, this seemed like a good time to do a first Prospect Report of the season. So, without further ado...
Marchenko shines: It's hard to get much hotter than a goal per game, but that's where 2018 second-round pick Kirill Marchenko is right now in the Russian-based KHL.
The 20-year-old Russian winger has been red-hot, scoring a goal in his last four KHL games. Three of those have come since a return from a nearly month-long layoff, as Marchenko scored for his SKA St. Petersburg team last Wednesday in a victory against Sochi, tallied Friday vs. rival CSKA in the Army Derby, then scored again yesterday in a victory against Vityaz. In those three games, he's averaged more than 15 minutes of ice time for the Bobrov Division-leading SKA squad.
The key to his scoring prowess has been a lethal shot, as you can see by yesterday's goal in the early going against Vityaz.

On the year, Marchenko has played in 11 games with the SKA big club, putting together a 4-2-6 line. A year ago at age 19, a season in which he also played for Russia's squad in the World Juniors, Marchenko had seven goals and 16 points in 31 regular-season games, then three goals in four playoff contests.
Marchenko has two years remaining on his deal with SKA, meaning 2022-23 is the earliest he might join the Blue Jackets.
A player Marchenko has seemingly been grouped with over the past few years is Dmitri Voronkov, Columbus' fourth-round pick in the 2019 draft who, like Marchenko, played at the KHL level a year ago at age 19 and skated on that same silver medal-winning World Juniors squad.
While the two aren't the same style of player -- Marchenko appears to be a sniper from the wing, while Voronkov can play center and is a massive body and net-front presence -- they each are showing some offensive ability at a young age in their native Russia.
Voronkov is off to a solid start as well this season with Kharlamov Divisoin-leading Ak Bars Kazan, posting three goals and five points in his first 13 games. Voronkov had a 5-7-12 line in 34 KHL games a year ago with Ak Bars and is signed with the Kazan-based team through the next three seasons.
Chinakhov fills up the score sheet: When general manager Jarmo Kekalainen announced that the Blue Jackets had chosen Russian forward Yegor Chinakhov with the No. 21 overall pick of the NHL draft earlier this month, the response from many around the league was quick.
Who?
Rarely does a first-round pick surprise NHL draft experts, but the choice of Chinakhov did. The 19-year-old didn't get picked in his initial draft year a summer ago, putting him off the radar of many analysts even though he had an excellent season at the junior level in the Avangard Omsk system a year ago.
This year, his graduation to the KHL has been impressive, though, one reason the Blue Jackets made the move to take him in the first round. Chinakhov was on a run of five goals in five games with Avangard when the Blue Jackets made him their choice, and he followed that up last Monday with another goal in a win over Sochi.

What stands out about Chinakhov? Much like Marchenko, the answer his obvious -- a blistering shot that seems to leave goaltenders looking around wondering what the heck just happened after the puck flies by them.
So far on the year, Chinakhov has been one of Avangard's top players, putting up six goals and three assists for nine points in 16 games for a Chernyshev Division-leading squad. Four of those goals have come on the power play, where that shot has its best chance to show itself off -- and that has to be an intriguing thought for CBJ fans down the road.
Tarasov's shutout: Staying in the KHL, Monday was a pretty good day for CBJ 2017 third-round draft pick Daniil Tarasov.
The Russian goalie posted his first career KHL shutout, pushing his hometown Salavat Yuleav Ufa team to a 2-0 victory over Sochi (which has had a tough go of things in this Prospect Report). Tarasov made 28 saves, then received Ufa's version of the "Kepi" in the postgame locker room (it's quite stylish, we must say).

Tarasov was expected to spend the 2020-21 season in Cleveland learning the North American game but has been loaned to Salavat Yulaev because of the pandemic. So far, he's played in two games at the KHL level, winning both starts and allowing just two goals on 45 shots (.956 save percentage). Tarasov, who spent last year as the starter with Ässät of the Finnish Liiga in order to earn consistent playing time at the pro level, also has appeared in one game at the junior level.
Time will tell how much time is available with Salavet Yulaev, which is battling Avangard for first place in the Chernyshev Division, but Tarasov boasts excellent size and is thought to be a big-time netminding prospect for the Jackets down the road.
Looking at the draft:Chinakhov was just one of five players Columbus took in the draft earlier this month, with each of the rest of the four prospects currently plying their trade in Europe. Here's a quick look at how each is doing thus far.
Bemstrom leads cavalry overseas: A handful of CBJ-affiliated players have headed overseas to start the season to get more experience thanks to loan agreements, including Emil Bemstrom and Alexandre Texier.
Bemstrom, a CBJ rookie last year who had a 10-10-20 line in 56 games with the Blue Jackets, has been red-hot to start the season with Finland's HIFK, with five goals and nine points in eight games. Bemstrom places tied for second in the Liiga in goals and points and recently scored game-winning overtime tallies in back-to-back games.

He's joined in Finland by Veini Vehvilainen, the 2018 sixth-round pick who spent most of last year in net with the Cleveland Monsters. Vehvilainen has returned to JYP in his hometown of Jyvaskala, Finland, and is 2-1-2 with a 2.57 GAA and .907 save percentage. Twice previously, Vehvilainen won goalie of the year honors while playing in Finland with Kärpät.
Texier was supposed to begin the season on loan with KalPa of the Liiga, whom he led in scoring in 2018-19, but a family emergency prompted him to return home to France, where he is skating with his hometown team in Grenoble. Thus far, Texier is yet to play with Grenoble in Ligue Magnus because of what is described as a "small leg injury" by local news reports.
In addition, two players with CBJ ties have begun the year in their native Switzerland. Forward Calvin Thurkauf, who spent most of last year with Cleveland but skated in three games with Columbus, has a goal and an assist in five games with his hometown EV Zug squad. Meanwhile, defenseman Tim Berni, who was expected to make his North American debut with Cleveland this season, has no points in seven games in his loan return with ZSC Lions.