- Blue Jackets star defenseman Zach Werenski will join the United States national team after the end of the regular season in preparation for the 2024 World Championship in Czechia, he told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. In doing so, the 26-year-old is strengthening his candidacy for the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics, as Team USA GM Bill Guerin has made it clear national team hopefuls for those big-ticket tournaments should attend this year’s World Championship if possible. Today, Werenski was named the Blue Jackets’ nominee for the 2024 Masterton Trophy, churning out All-Star-caliber minutes this year after missing most of 2022-23 due to shoulder surgery.
Blue Jackets Rumors
Blue Jackets Issue Multiple Injury Updates
Blue Jackets defenseman Jake Bean has an upper-body injury that will keep him out for their six remaining games this season, head coach Pascal Vincent said Friday (via Jeff Svoboda of the team’s official site). The 25-year-old exited last night’s 4-2 loss to the Islanders after taking a shot to the hand late in the game, which the team later confirmed resulted in a break. It’s unclear if he’ll require surgery to repair the break or if rehabilitation over the offseason is sufficient to address it.
Bean’s third season in Columbus was much better than his second, when a November 2022 shoulder injury resulted in surgery that ended his season. He’s been a fixture in the Blue Jackets lineup for the most part, only being scratched on a handful of occasions. The 2016 first-round pick wasn’t able to rise above a third-pairing role, however, recording four goals and 13 points in 72 contests while averaging 16:20 per game. His pairing with Erik Gudbranson was Vincent’s most used, logging nearly 600 minutes together across 62 games. They were also the worst of Columbus’ six most-iced pairings at maintaining possession quality, controlling 45.1% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck. Bean’s individual possession numbers weren’t any better away from Gudbranson at 5-on-5, posting an on-ice xG% of 44.9.
Bean was the WHL’s leading goal-scorer among defensemen in 2016 and won Best Defenseman honors in the AHL in 2020, but his NHL ceiling is crashing down as he passes through his mid-20s. While his junior and minor league production still suggests there’s significant upside in his game, it won’t come buried on the depth chart on one of the worst defensive teams in the league.
He’ll be an RFA this summer upon completion of his three-year, $7MM contract, the last time he’ll be eligible for restricted free agency. With younger, high-ceiling defenders like David Jiricek vying for bigger roles in Columbus and multiple exemplary young defense prospects on the way, Bean could find himself on the open market this summer if Columbus opts not to issue him a qualifying offer and risk being taken to arbitration.
Extra blue-liner Adam Boqvist is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury and won’t be cleared to play before tomorrow’s contest against the Flyers, so the Blue Jackets will need to recall a defenseman from AHL Cleveland. That will likely be Jake Christiansen, who’s got two assists in 12 NHL games this season and was returned to the minors Tuesday after a weeks-long stint in Columbus.
On a shorter-term horizon, Vincent also said neither center Sean Kuraly nor goaltender Elvis Merzļikins will be available against Philadelphia. Both are out with lower-body injuries. Kuraly has returned to practice and is nearing a return after a three-week absence, while Merzļikins hasn’t played since getting banged up in a win over the Penguins on March 30. Backup Daniil Tarasov also sustained an upper-body injury in last night’s loss to the Islanders, so they’ll need to bring fourth-string netminder Malcolm Subban up from Cleveland if he’s unable to dress tomorrow. 23-year-old Jet Greaves will likely get the start in any event, posting an exemplary .917 SV% in limited NHL action this year. Subban hasn’t played a major league game in over two years, last appearing with the Sabres in January 2022.
A rare bit of good news for Columbus is that top winger Johnny Gaudreau will return against Philly after sitting out last night’s loss with an illness, Vincent told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. It’s been a disappointing season for the $9.75MM man, only potting 11 goals, but he still leads the club in scoring with 56 points in 75 games.
Johnny Gaudreau Out Tonight With An Illness
The Washington Capitals have recalled goaltender Hunter Shepard from their AHL affiliate the Hershey Bears. The 28-year-old Shepard has seen action with the Capitals already this season and made his NHL debut back in October when he led Washington to a victory over the New Jersey Devils. Shepard has a 2-1-1 record at the NHL level with a .894 save percentage and a 3.19 goals-against average.
Shepard’s recall is for cautionary purposes as the Capitals still have concerns about the status of Darcy Kuemper after he left yesterday’s practice in pain. Kuemper practiced today with the team and looked okay, but with Washington having a back-to-back against Pittsburgh and Carolina, the extra netminder was deemed a necessity.
In other Metropolitan Division notes:
- The Columbus Blue Jackets are without the services of Johnny Gaudreau this evening as he is dealing with an illness and was unable to dress for the game against the New York Islanders. Gaudreau had dressed in all 75 of the Blue Jackets games this season and has 11 goals and 45 assists in what has been another disappointing campaign for the 30-year-old since coming over as a free agent from Calgary in the summer of 2022.
- Carolina Hurricanes reporter Walt Ruff tweeted that Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast re-joined the team this evening for their game against the Boston Bruins. Fast has been dealing with an upper-body injury that caused him to miss the last six games and will now take the place of Jesperi Kotkaniemi who was a healthy scratch. The light-scoring Fast has just six goals and 12 assists in 66 games this season and has seen a drop in his average ice time by almost two minutes per game from his career average. Despite the reduction in ice-time, Fast has maintained strong underlying numbers, particularly at even strength.
Blue Jackets Recall Trey Fix-Wolansky On Emergency Loan
The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled forward Trey Fix-Wolansky on an emergency loan (Twitter link). Head coach Pascal Vincent shared on Wednesday that the team would recall Fix-Wolansky if Justin Danforth was still feeling under the weather. Danforth missed the team’s Wednesday practice, but skated at an optional skate on Thursday, leaving him as a game-time decision per the Columbus Dispatch’s Brian Hedger (Twitter link).
Fix-Wolansky has been a force with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, with a team-leading 24 goals and 58 points in 54 games. He has an 18-point lead on the scoring title in Cleveland and is chasing the league title, now tied for sixth in points across the AHL. It’s been a continuation of his fantastic performance from last season, when he managed 29 goals and 71 points in 61 games. In fact, Fix-Wolansky has proven effective at nearly every level – putting up 197 points across 220 career AHL games after scoring 245 points in 206 games across three years in the WHL. But he is still searching for that scoring groove at the top level, with just four points in 24 career NHL games.
Fix-Wolansky will be playing in a career-high 10th game on Thursday, rejoining the Columbus roster after a March 23rd assignment. The Blue Jackets struggled last time Fix-Wolansky was in the lineup, posting a measly 1-5-2 record and getting outscored 14-to-30. He’ll now have to compete with rookies James Malatesta and Mikael Pyyhtia for a lineup spot. Both rookies are still looking for their first NHL point, through four and 10 games respectively.
Jiricek Likely To Stay With Blue Jackets For Rest Of Regular Season
- The Blue Jackets intend to keep defenseman David Jiricek up for the remainder of the regular season, relays team reporter Jeff Svoboda (Twitter link). Columbus recalled the 20-year-old yesterday, the latest of a busy series of transactions as it’s his fifth recall of the season. Jiricek has played in 36 games with the Jackets this season, notching a goal and eight assists while averaging a little under 15 minutes a night. He has been more productive in the minors, however, collecting seven goals and ten helpers with the Monsters. Notably, he’s four NHL appearances away from accruing a season toward UFA eligibility. Accordingly, while Columbus might keep him up for the last couple of weeks, it wouldn’t be surprising to see his game action limited as a result.
Justin Danforth Questionable Thursday With Illness, Sean Kuraly Ruled Out
- Blue Jackets forward Justin Danforth is dealing with an illness and is questionable for tomorrow’s clash against the Islanders, head coach Pascal Vincent told Jeff Svoboda of the team’s official site. If he’s ruled out, they’ll need to make an emergency recall from AHL Cleveland, as they aren’t carrying any healthy extras on the roster. Saddled with short-term injuries, Columbus has cycled through a multitude of youngsters as of late that they’d certainly rather have playing important developmental minutes in the minors down the stretch. One player nearing a return is Sean Kuraly, who Vincent said practiced today and is close to returning but won’t be ready tomorrow. He carried a week-to-week designation after sustaining a lower-body injury against the Canadiens on March 12. Danforth has played only once since returning from a concussion that sidelined him for nearly a month, posting zeros across the board in 9:31 of ice time in a 4-1 win over the Avalanche on Monday.
Blue Jackets Recall David Jiricek, Send Down Jake Christiansen
For the fifth time this season, the Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled top prospect David Jiricek; this time by way of an emergency loan. In a corresponding roster move earlier in the day, the team has loaned defenseman Jake Christiansen to their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters.
It will be the second time in the last few weeks that Columbus has recalled Jiricek on an emergency loan, with the last coming on March 22nd. Infamously, Jiricek was called up too late for the Blue Jackets away game against the Colorado Avalanche on the 22nd, causing him to miss that game. The next day, Columbus returned Jiricek too late to the Monsters, causing him to miss an entire weekend’s worth of games for no apparent reason.
Nevertheless, Jiricek was still able to suit up in 36 games for the Blue Jackets earlier in the year, scoring one goal and nine points overall. At the AHL level, Jiricek has registered 27 games for Cleveland, scoring seven goals and 17 points.
In his lengthy stretch in Columbus this year, the team used him mostly as a bottom-pairing option, as he averaged under 15 minutes of ice time per night. Even though his production in the NHL has not been up to par compared to his AHL production, there is still every reason to believe that Jiricek has the makings of a legit top-pairing defenseman with enough opportunity.
Christiansen, on the other hand, has been far more productive for the Monsters this season in an established role. In 54 games, Christiansen has scored a solid 13 goals from the blue while also tallying 27 assists, as well.
Blue Jackets Notes: Jenner, Merzlikins, Danforth
Blue Jackets captain Boone Jenner will remain out of the lineup tonight against the Avalanche, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports. He was unavailable for Saturday’s shootout win over the Penguins as well due to illness. That necessitated the emergency recall of 21-year-old forward Cameron Butler from AHL Cleveland, who made his NHL debut but was stapled to the bench for most of it, taking a lone 54-second shift. Butler was returned to Cleveland yesterday. Jenner has eclipsed the 20-goal mark for the third straight season, sitting third on Columbus in scoring with 22 goals and 35 points in 58 games, trailing only Johnny Gaudreau and Zach Werenski. Now in his 11th season in Columbus, the 30-year-old has two seasons remaining on his contract at a bargain-bin $3.75MM cap hit.
Other notes ahead of Monday’s matchup against Colorado:
- Netminder Elvis Merzļikins has officially been ruled out of tonight’s contest with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day, per Dave Maetzold of Bally Sports Ohio. Columbus recalled prospect Jet Greaves under emergency conditions yesterday after Merzļikins missed practice with what head coach Pascal Vincent termed as a maintenance day. Greaves will back up while Daniil Tarasov makes his 22nd start of the season, a career-high. For Merzļikins, it’s another small blip in what’s otherwise been an improved but still underwhelming campaign. His .897 SV% and 3.45 GAA are vast improvements on last year’s totals (.876 SV%, 4.23 GAA) when he was one of the worst netminders in the league, but he’s still conceded more goals than expected – 6.4 to be exact, per MoneyPuck – for the second straight year. He’s largely managed to stay healthy, though, a major issue for him last season. He’s crossed 40 starts this season for only the second time since coming to North America in 2019.
- Forward Justin Danforth returns to the lineup tonight after missing 11 games with a concussion, per the team. The 31-year-old had played in all 63 Blue Jackets games before exiting the lineup on March 9, scoring 10 goals and 11 assists for 23 points. He’s averaged 14:16 per game, a career-high. An undrafted free agent signing out of the KHL in 2021, the Ontario-born forward has cycled between center and wing for Columbus and lands on the former tonight, holding down a line between AHL call-ups James Malatesta and Carson Meyer.
Blue Jackets Recall Jet Greaves On Emergency Loan
The Blue Jackets added goalie prospect Jet Greaves from AHL Cleveland on an emergency recall Sunday, per a team release. He could back up Daniil Tarasov in tomorrow’s contest against the Avalanche if starter Elvis Merzļikins, who head coach Pascal Vincent said missed practice today for maintenance purposes, cannot dress.
This is the fourth recall of the season for the 23-year-old Greaves. All four have come under emergency conditions and lasted only a few days, filling in whenever Merzļikins or Tarasov were unavailable. Over his three NHL showings this year, all starts, he has a 1-2-0 record with a decent .907 SV% and 3.38 GAA. Behind the Blue Jackets’ porous defense, that’s been good enough for a remarkable 5.0 goals saved above expected in his short stint, per MoneyPuck. He’s performed similarly well in the minors, recording a .907 SV% and 27-12-4 record with one shutout in 43 appearances for Cleveland.
Greaves, undrafted, landed his first NHL deal with the Blue Jackets in February 2022 after beginning the year on a minor-league pact with Cleveland. He’s now in the final season of that entry-level contract, which carries a cap hit of $758K. The Cambridge, Ontario native will remain waiver-exempt through 2025-26 and is slated for restricted free agency this summer.
Snapshots: Tanev, Bunting, Butler, Aston-Reese
The Dallas Stars could be without their newest defenseman for an extended time, with Trade Deadline acquisition Chris Tanev leaving the team’s Saturday night game early after taking an elbow to the head from Seattle Kraken Adam Larsson. Larsson received a five-minute major and game misconduct for the hit, while Tanev exited after 17 minutes of ice time. Tanev will be re-evaluated on Sunday, with the Stars hoping for an update early this week, per Lia Assimakopoulos of the Dallas Morning Star (Web link).
Tanev is 12 games into his time with the Stars, recording one goal, two points, and 10 penalty minutes. The Stars sent away prospect Artem Grushnikov, a conditional second-round pick, and a fourth-round pick to land Tanev – and they’re getting their money’s worth, with Tanev stepping into an immediate impact role and averaging over 18 minutes of ice time each game. He’s served as much-needed depth behind star Miro Heiskanen, elevating the impact of depth defenseman Esa Lindell. Dallas would normally turn towards Jani Hakanpaa in the event of Tanev’s absence, though he’s also bearing through a day-to-day injury. The Stars aren’t carrying any other defenders, meaning they’ll need to make a call-up if neither Tanev nor Hakanpaa can go.
Other notes from around the league:
- Michael Bunting left the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Saturday night game due to illness, head coach Mike Sullivan confirmed after the game (Twitter link). Bunting played in nearly 10 minutes of ice time before exiting, with a -1 representing his only stat change. He’s found a strong scoring groove through his first 12 games in Pittsburgh, with three goals and seven points – though he’s still finding where he fits best in the lineup. There’s been no update on Bunting’s availability moving forward, though healthy scratch Emil Bemstrom is available to slot in if needed.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have sent right-winger Cameron Butler back to the minor leagues, after awarding him with his NHL debut on Saturday (Twitter link). He played in just one shift – staying on the ice for 54 seconds – during the eventual shootout-win. Butler, who is in his first year of pro hockey, will now return to the AHL, where he’s already managed two goals, eight points, and 63 penalty minutes in 46 games. He signed with the Blue Jackets as an undrafted free-agent in March of 2023.
- Zach Aston-Reese has been sent back to the minor leagues by the Detroit Red Wings after being recalled on Friday (Twitter link). Aston-Reese didn’t appear in any NHL action during the call-up, making his sole game in December his only NHL game of the season. He’s managed 13 goals, 28 points, and 47 penalty minutes in 56 AHL games this season – his first year in the league since 2018-19.