The Blue Jackets will have some help in the lineup tonight against Nashville as the team announced that winger Patrik Laine and defenseman Adam Boqvist have both been activated off injured reserve.
Laine has been out of the lineup for nearly two months with an oblique strain. Prior to the injury, he was off to a nice start to his season with ten points in nine games. With Laine being eligible for one more trip through salary arbitration in July, a big year would go a long way towards giving him a raise and potentially a long-term contract but missing 19 games won’t help his chances of that.
Meanwhile, Boqvist returns after missing three games due to an upper-body injury. It has been an interesting first year for him in Columbus; after being one of the centerpieces of the Seth Jones trade, the 21-year-old has been held out of the lineup at times and is logging just 15:59 per game. Despite that, he has done relatively well offensively, notching nine points in 18 contests.
Columbus had one roster spot available before these activations while defenseman Gavin Bayreuther was officially designated as non-roster due to his recent placement in COVID protocol to free up the other.