The Blue Jackets announced they’d recalled forward Joseph LaBate from AHL Cleveland. Considering they have no forwards at the 4 Nations Face-Off, his recall will likely last through their return to action against the Blackhawks on Saturday as compared to bringing him up for practice purposes.
LaBate, 31, inked a two-way deal with Columbus in late November after starting the campaign on a minor-league deal with Cleveland. He subsequently cleared waivers and returned to the AHL, where the hard-nosed center/left-winger has 6-7–13 with 49 PIMs and a minus-two rating through 33 games.
Standing at 6’5″ and 209 lbs, LaBate has 13 games of NHL experience to his name. Those all came in the 2016-17 campaign with the Canucks, who selected him in the fourth round of the 2011 draft. He didn’t record a point in that trial and has bounced around leagues since, suiting up for AHL clubs in Belleville, Milwaukee, and Chicago before landing in Kazakhstan with Barys Astana of the Kontinental Hockey League last season. It was his first and, for now, only campaign spent overseas, and his 8-10–18 scoring line with 53 PIMs in 49 games is close to his average per-season performance in the minors over his 11-year professional career.
It’s notable that the veteran LaBate gets the call over prospects like Luca Del Bel Belluz and Mikael Pyyhtia, both of whom were playing regular minutes for the CBJ leading into the 4 Nations break but were sent down to Cleveland when their scheduled pause to continue receiving playing time. Their playing time was going to be diminished amid looming returns to the lineup for captain Boone Jenner and emerging star winger Kirill Marchenko, though, so they’ll opt to keep them stashed in the AHL for now while presumably giving LaBate a shot in a fourth-line role if one of Jenner and Marchenko can’t go against Chicago.