Voronkov was taken 114th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft.
If anyone happens to see Dmitri Voronkov, please tell him the Columbus Blue Jackets need him. He's 6-feet-5 and 234 lbs., so he's not hard to miss.
Dmitri Voronkov has been a ghost lately for the Blue Jackets, and they need him.
The numbers for Voronkov since Rick Bowness took over as head coach are downright non-existent.
In 16 games since Bowness became coach, Voronkov has scored 1 goal, 3 points, and is a plus-1. He also has just 1 power play point and has 20 total shots. That's not good.
His fans will point out that since Bowness was hired, his ice time has dropped, which is true, but he seemed to have earned the demotion with his lack of production. It's also been pointed out that he can't seem to play with the pace that Bowness likes, and that's not a recipe for success for the young, hulking Russian.
In his last 10 games, he's played 12-plus minutes just once and played less than 9 minutes 5 times. When everyone came back healthy in the team's last game this past Saturday, Voronkov was finally a healthy scratch.
For today's game against Los Angeles, he is expected to be a healthy scratch again.
Despite his extreme lack of production, Voronkov is somehow leading the team with 7 power play goals and is 5th in points with 32. He's also 4th on the team with 17 goals.
Voronkov led the Jackets with 8 power play goals last season and was second to Kirill Marchenko with 6 PPG in 23-24. No, he isn't getting as much power play time, averaging around two minutes per game, but he is getting chances.
The Blue Jackets, I'm sure are hoping that these healthy scratches light a fire under Voronkov as it did for Kent Johnson. Kent Johnson has played three games since his two-game stint in the press box, and although he only has one point, he's been very noticeable and has played 15 or more minutes in two out of three games. Johnson hadn't played more than 15 minutes since Bowness's 4th game as CBJ coach.
The Blue Jackets are in an extremely tight playoff race and need Dmitri Voronkov's big body to stand in front of the opposing goalie to score a few power play goals.
When you see fans telling the Blue Jackets to "Free Voronkov," tell them he needs to post bail in order to be freed. As Bowness said, based on the rigorous March schedule, he'll be back soon enough, but he had better start producing, or he may find himself watching the games more than not.
Next Up For Columbus: The Blue Jackets are back at home on Monday to play the LA Kings.
Stay updated with the most interesting Blue Jackets stories, analysis, breaking news, and more!
Tap the star to add us to your favorites on Google News and never miss a story.
Let us know what you think below.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.