The Columbus Blue Jackets are getting back to full health, as according to Brian Hedger of the team site, they’ve activated both Boone Jenner and Sam Vigneault from injured reserve. To make room, the team has assigned Vigneault and Markus Hannikainen back to the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL.
Jenner hadn’t played in a game yet this season after suffering an upper-body injury in training camp. The 24-year old had been missed, as he provides some of the strongest all-around play on the team when healthy. After scoring a career-high 30 goals in 2015-16, Jenner took a slight step backwards last season but still registered 18 goals and 34 points. That drop in goals can be easily prescribed to a fluctuating shooting percentage, as Jenner still generated over 200 shots on the year. He also was a big part of the physicality the Blue Jackets’ forward group brought, logging 200+ hits for the third time in his career.
One of the hardest parts about playing the Blue Jackets is how much size they bring up front. While the swap of Brandon Saad for Artemi Panarin reduced that a bit, bringing Jenner back into the fold should provide them with a bit more jump. His addition to the top-9 should lengthen their lineup even further, and allow them to build on their 5-2 start.