By J. Justin Boggs, Columbus Wired

Filatov surges in preseason

Columbus Blue Jackets rookie forward Nikita Filatov ended an impressive training camp on Sunday with a goal and overall a well rounded performance in Columbus’ 4-2 loss to the Nashville Predators. Filatov added in with four hits in a solid 17 minutes of ice time.

“Up until yesterday, I would have said he was going to be a player on the learning curve,” Blue Jackets head coach Ken Hitchcock said. “He’s got a lot to learn and he was going to be in and out while learns this stuff. He’s got top end skill and we’re going to need it. In the last two games, he’s gotten up to speed. He’s a dangerous player and he’s competing at a much higher level now. He’s pushing for work on a full time basis now.”

Sunday, Filatov played with veteran center Antoine Vermette and young winger Jakub Voracek.  Voracek said that he and Filatov play well together and he would like the opportunity to play with Filatov in the regular season.

“He is a great player,” Voracek said about Filatov. “He scores almost every game. We are skating well, we are passing well. We got a lot of shots on net with a lot of scoring chances, and if he brings it in the regular season, we can be successful.”

Filatov is coming off a 2008-09 campaign spent mostly in Syracuse, though he did see action in eight NHL games. He scored four goals, three of which in a performance against Minnesota. In the 2009 preseason, Filatov has participated in six games with two goals and three assists.

“I like to play with Voracek and Vermette,” Filatov said. “We have played some games together and for most of the game today, we were very good.”

Filatov would appear to be a lock on grabbing a spot on this year’s squad. It seems a matter of which line combination he will be on. With the top line combo likely going to Kristian Huselius, Rick Nash, and Derick Brassard, Filatov’s best chance is to play on the second line with Vermette and Voracek. However, forward R.J. Umberger has the potential to play on the second line. Hitchcock would not tip his hand on where Filatov would land, however he also liked the chemistry Filatov had with Voracek.

“It has potential,” Hitchcock said of a possible Voracek-Filatov pairing. “Nik is like any other young player that has to start down the line and work your way up. He is willing to do that. I think at the start, younger players are worried about who they’re playing with. He just stopped worrying about it and started to play. Once he started to play and compete, he became very effective.”

Skoula tryout still ongoing

Veteran defenseman Martin Skoula signed a tryout contract with the Blue Jackets this week and competed in both the Boston Bruins victory on Saturday as well as Sunday’s game. Despite the preseason coming to a close, Skoula’s tryout continues.

Thus far, the nine-year NHL veteran has not done enough to impress Hitchcock enough to gain a spot as one of the last defensemen on the squad.

“I think that is still a work in progress,” Hitchcock said about Skoula playing his way on this year’s squad. “I know that the coaching staff was happy with (his performance) today though.”

Skoula averaged over 20 minutes of ice time in his two games with no assists and a minus-1.

“I can obviously help this team,” Skoula said. “You can see there is a pretty good bunch of guys and chemistry in the locker room. It would be a lot of fun to be here.”