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The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed Oleg Yevenko to a one-year, two-way contract.
#CBJ have signed defenseman Oleg Yevenko (@OlegYevenko) to a one-year contract. DETAILS –> http://t.co/Nsklu3kdm1
— NHL Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 1, 2015
Yevenko impressed Blue Jackets’ brass with his play during the prospects tournament in Traverse City and has continued his strong play into training camp.
The 6-foot-7 defenseman caught the eye of Columbus with his play this past summer while playing in the World Championships for his native Belarus. GM Jarmo Kekäläinen talked about how hard he’s worked and how the team is eager to see him continuing to develop.
Former Blue Jacket and current development coach Chris Clark also referred to his potential being sky-high. Unlike most big-NHLers, who aren’t the best skaters, Oleg has proven to be a big-guy who can skate well, as Clark has attested to.
Perhaps the most notable assertion came from head coach Todd Richards who was impressed with how Oleg played against NHL players, obviously much bigger, faster and stronger.
Unsurprisingly, Yevenko has made a name for himself based off his height and huge 230-pound frame. While a player for Massachusetts-Amherst he racked up 211 penalty minutes, and had more blocked shots than games played during his 4-year college career — 182 in 132 games.
Yevenko was the last player without an NHL contract cut from Blue Jackets camp and was reassigned to the AHL Lake Erie Monsters last week.
Yevenko isn’t just a beast of a player on the ice. He left Amherst with a 3.77 GPA having earned Distinguished Scholar honors. This intelligence in the classroom is also demonstrated on the ice. Not necessarily considered to be a fight-first mentality, Yevenko certainly doesn’t mind dropping the gloves. He knows it comes with the territory of a player with his size, and looks to fight for the benefit of the team.
He’s also a great communicator with a good grasp on the English language and while paired with fellow defenseman Dalton Prout, was able to communicate easily.
In two of the Jackets’ preseason games, Yevenko was a plus-2 with seven penalty minutes. Due to the nature of Yevenko’s 2-way contract, and with the presence of his booming physicality, it’s just a matter of time before we see the imposing defenseman skating in Nationwide Arena for Columbus.
William Chase is a New York Yankees and Columbus Blue Jackets writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @William_Chase88 “Like” him on Facebook and add him to your network on LinkedIn and Google.
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