Blue Jackets Activate Zach Werenski, Place Brendan Smith On IR
Saturday: Werenski’s activation is now official, per a team announcement. The team also revealed that they’ve converted Dysin Mayo‘s emergency recall to a regular one.
Friday: Blue Jackets star Zach Werenski will return to the lineup Saturday against the Sabres, he told reporters today (including Aaron Portzline of The Athletic). The team also announced they’ve placed defenseman Brendan Smith on injured reserve, opening the roster spot for Werenski’s pending IR activation.
Werenski, a reigning Norris Trophy finalist, hasn’t played since Dec. 20 against the Ducks. He took a hard shot to the ankle late in the third period after racking up two points in the loss, leaving him unable to get to the room without assistance.
Four games later, he’ll be back in the lineup. With Columbus also down Smith, Sean Monahan, Miles Wood, Isac Lundeström, and Erik Gudbranson, their top player missing any more time would be even more problematic than usual.
The languishing Jackets did well not only to tread water without Werenski but even gained ground in the Eastern Conference wild card race. They’ve gone 3-1-0 in their last four to get themselves back over .500, although they’re still second-last in the conference ahead of the Rangers by points percentage (.513).
While he won’t get much consideration if Columbus doesn’t sniff the playoffs, Werenski has built a solid MVP case yet again after getting votes for the first time last season. He’s the Jackets’ leading scorer, tracking for his second season over a point per game with a 14-26–40 scoring line in 35 games. Only Cale Makar has been more productive this season among defensemen, and he’s done so while posting a team-high +6 rating.
Smith’s IR placement is both expected and solely procedural. He’s already been listed as week-to-week with a lower-leg injury and will miss more than the seven-day IR minimum.
Blue Jackets Recall Danton Heinen
When the Blue Jackets placed winger Miles Wood on injured reserve earlier today, they opened up a roster spot. They didn’t waste much time filling it as the team announced that they’ve recalled winger Danton Heinen from AHL Cleveland. They still have one open slot on their 23-player roster.
The 30-year-old hasn’t been in the organization for very long as he was only acquired by Columbus back on Monday as part of the Yegor Chinakhov deal. However, his inclusion was more for salary-matching purposes rather than being a specific target as Heinen has gone through waivers unclaimed twice already this season.
Heinen has split this season between the NHL and AHL, playing in 13 games at each level, including one with Cleveland following the trade. In the minors, he has been dominant, notching six goals and 12 assists in his first taste of minor league action since 2017-18. Meanwhile, in the NHL with Pittsburgh, he has a goal and an assist while averaging 11:40 per night of ice time.
When Heinen sees any game action with Columbus, it stands to reason that his playing time will be similarly limited. But he does have a strong track record of being productive in a bottom-six role as evidenced by his career numbers of 243 points in 579 games despite an ATOI below the 14-minute mark. Given their growing list of injuries, he should get a chance to add to those numbers before long.
Blue Jackets Place Miles Wood On Injured Reserve
The Blue Jackets placed winger Miles Wood on injured reserve Thursday, according to Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers. He’s listed as week-to-week with the apparent left knee injury he sustained last night against the Devils, general manager Don Waddell said.
Wood fell awkwardly on his leg after attempting a check on New Jersey winger Ondřej Palát, struggling to put weight on it as he left the ice. Head coach Dean Evason wasn’t particularly optimistic about Wood’s status during his postgame media availability, but Waddell said Wood’s early evaluation today indicated the “absolute worst was avoided.”
Wood has been found money for the Blue Jackets this season. Included as a salary dump by the Avalanche in the deal that brought them Charlie Coyle last offseason, the 30-year-old has contributed eight goals and 12 points in 32 games for Columbus. At 0.38 points per game, he’s tracking for the third-most efficient offensive season of his 11-year career.
No one will expect the bang-and-crash winger to keep up his career-best 15.7% shooting rate when he returns, but he’d nonetheless been a valuable tertiary scoring piece for a Blue Jackets offense that ranks in the bottom half of the league at 2.92 goals per game. His speed also makes him an effective penalty killer, averaging more than a minute per game shorthanded, but his two-way play at even strength has left something to be desired at a -6 rating and 46.6 CF%.
With Wood out for the foreseeable future, Isac Lundeström on IR, and Sean Monahan dealing with an undisclosed injury, Columbus is without a quarter of its regular forward lineup. With no healthy extras available, they’ll be recalling a player under emergency conditions for Saturday’s game against the Sabres if Monahan can’t go.
Blue Jackets’ Brendan Smith Out Indefinitely With Lower Leg Injury
Blue Jackets defenseman Brendan Smith is going to be out “a while” due to the lower right leg injury he sustained Monday against the Senators, head coach Dean Evason told reporters (including Aaron Portzline of The Athletic).
Smith fell awkwardly in the late stages of the win, appearing to strain or twist something near his right knee when attempting to stand up. He wasn’t putting any weight on the leg as he was helped to the locker room and did not return to the game.
The 36-year-old spent training camp on a professional tryout with Columbus before being released. He caught on with their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, and showed out well enough there through the first several weeks of the season to earn a two-way deal from the Jackets in late November.
He’s been rostered as a depth option ever since and has seen plenty of playing time with Erik Gudbranson and Zach Werenski on injured reserve. Smith, now in his 15th NHL season, had appeared in 15 straight games since signing his contract and recorded two assists with a -1 rating while averaging 11:05 of ice time per game.
With Gudbranson and Werenski still unavailable, Dysin Mayo will step into the lineup on the third pairing with Jake Christiansen for Wednesday’s game against the Devils. Mayo, a righty, will be making his second appearance of the season after being recalled from Cleveland on an emergency basis on Tuesday. His Columbus debut came back on Nov. 5 in a 5-1 loss to the Flames, posting a -1 rating and five shot attempts in 7:33 of ice time.
Blue Jackets Place Isac Lundestrom On IR, Recall Dysin Mayo
The Columbus Blue Jackets have made a minor roster adjustment ahead of tomorrow’s game against the New Jersey Devils. The Blue Jackets announced that they’ve placed forward Isac Lundeström on the injured reserve, and recalled defenseman Dysin Mayo on an emergency basis in a corresponding roster move.
In the announcement, the team added that Lundeström sustained his injury during a team practice and is expected to miss the next few weeks, which was already reported yesterday. The 26-year-old center is in his first year with the Blue Jackets and has missed the team’s last two games due to the lower-body injury.
Even with relatively low expectations coming into the year, Lundeström has had mixed results with his new club. He has scored one goal and five points in 35 games, pacing for four fewer points than he had last year with the Anaheim Ducks.
Still, outside of his tepid offensive production, Lundeström is one of the best faceoff takers on the team with a 53.7% success rate, and is maintaining a respectable 90.5% on-ice save percentage at even strength, offering solid defensive value.
Even with Lundeström on IR, and the status of Sean Monahan up in the air after being a late scratch yesterday, the Blue Jackets have 12 healthy forwards on the active roster, which wouldn’t have triggered the necessity of an emergency recall.
However, the team only has six defensemen on the roster, with Zach Werenski and Erik Gudbranson on the IR, meaning Mayo’s recall is related to a defenseman being unable to go tomorrow. That blue liner is likely veteran Brendan Smith, who sustained an injury toward the end of Columbus’s game yesterday.
It’s not the first time Mayo has been recalled this year, though it is the first time on an emergency basis. Throughout his two previous recalls, Mayo appeared in one game for Columbus, skating in 7:33 of action and earning a -1 rating. He’s had a respectable year with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, scoring two goals and seven points in 19 games with a -2 rating.
Lundestrom To Miss A Week Or Two
- Blue Jackets center Isac Lundestrom is expected to miss a week or two with a lower-body injury sustained in practice over the weekend, reports Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 26-year-old is in his first season with Columbus and has been rather quiet offensively, scoring just once while adding four assists in 35 games although he does take a regular turn on the penalty kill.
Penguins Acquire Yegor Chinakhov From Blue Jackets
Forward Yegor Chinakhov will finally have his trade request honored. According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, the Columbus Blue Jackets are trading Chinakhov for draft capital. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman later shared that Chinakhov is headed to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In exchange, Pittsburgh is sending Columbus winger Danton Heinen, the St. Louis Blues’ 2026 second-round pick, and the Washington Capitals’ 2027 third-round pick. The Blue Jackets confirmed the deal.
Chinakhov’s story in Columbus is well known up to this point. The 21st overall pick of the 2020 NHL Draft has been with the Blue Jackets for much of the last five years, though the relationship began souring last season after Columbus hired Dean Evason as the team’s head coach.
Before Evason’s hire, during the 2023-24 season, Chinakhov had the strongest campaign of his career. The young Russian finished ninth on the team in scoring with 16 goals and 29 points in 53 games, averaging 15:10 of ice time per game. Had he played the whole season at the same pace, Chinakhov would have finished with around 25 goals and 45 points.
Still, despite the strong offensive performance, there were legitimate concerns with other areas of Chinakhov’s game, particularly on defense. He finished that season with an 89.4% on-ice save percentage at even strength despite starting a majority of his shifts in the offensive zone. Unfortunately, nothing has improved since.
Since Evason took over behind the bench, Chinakhov’s ice time has been limited. He has yet to replicate his output from the 2023-24 campaign, scoring 10 goals and 21 points in 59 games since, averaging 13:03 of ice time. His possession metrics have improved mildly, though his metrics on the defensive side of the puck have continued to fall.
Chinakhov became so disheartened with his role with the organization that he eventually requested a trade from Columbus last summer. There were reportedly teams interested in his services, though General Manager Don Waddell was only willing to include him in a player-for-player swap, thus limiting his market. By the time that preseason action had begun, there were some indications that Evason and Chinakhov had improved their relationship.
Regardless of the perceived improvements to their relationship, that hasn’t turned into more ice time for Chinakhov. In fact, he’s averaged the lowest ATOI of his young career this season. Now, instead of being isolated to a fourth-line role with the Blue Jackets, he has the opportunity to crack a middle-six role with a different Metropolitan Division team.
Given their recent play, it’s highly unlikely that the Penguins are going to break up either of their top two lines. However, Chinakhov would be an immediate improvement on Ville Koivunen, who has scored one goal and four points in 25 games on the team’s third line. Additionally, Chinakhov could find his way onto Pittsburgh’s second power-play unit.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Blue Jackets To Activate Mathieu Olivier
As he signaled would be the case yesterday, Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason told reporters that winger Mathieu Olivier will come off injured reserve and be available for tonight’s tilt against the Islanders (via Jeff Svoboda of NHL.com).
Evason also confirmed star defenseman Zach Werenski will miss a second straight game with the right foot/ankle injury he sustained on Dec. 20 against the Ducks, but reaffirmed he isn’t expected to miss significant time and is still listed as day-to-day. Since he’s already missed more than a week, he can go on injured reserve retroactively to create the roster spot for Olivier’s activation.
Also unavailable tonight for the Jackets is center Isac Lundeström, Evason said. Lundeström sustained a lower-body injury in Columbus’ first post-holiday practice session Saturday and has not yet finished being evaluated.
The 6’2″, 210-lb Olivier returns after missing more than a month with an upper-body injury. The 28-year-old grinder forced his way into the Jackets’ top nine last year with a career-high 18 goals, 32 points, and 306 hits, earning himself a six-year, $18MM extension in the process.
So far, the Mississippi native has at least kept up the pace from last season’s emergence. His goal-scoring is down, but his total production – a 3-6–9 scoring line in 23 games – mirrors his 0.39 points per game output from 2024-25. He’s doing that while averaging 14 minutes per game, averaging over three hits a night for the third straight year, and seeing some occasional shorthanded deployment.
Per yesterday’s practice, Olivier is ticketed to return as the Jackets’ third-line right wing alongside Boone Jenner and Charlie Coyle, a spot on the depth chart he’s held all season long.
Lundeström’s performance in Columbus since signing a two-year, $2.6MM deal in free agency has been par for the course. A first-round pick by the Ducks in 2018, he profiled as a high-end, bottom-six two-way center but never found his stride offensively. That’s continued in 2025-26, with the Swede posting only one goal and five points through 35 appearances.
He’s been fine in a shutdown role, posting a -5 rating and 43.3% shot attempt share while starting 32.8% of his even-strength shifts in the offensive zone. Either Zach Aston-Reese or Brendan Gaunce will relieve him as Columbus’ fourth-line center in the interim.
Werenski Doubtful For Sunday, Olivier Could Return, Lundestrom Injured At Practice
Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski is listed as doubtful for tomorrow’s game against the Islanders due to a lower-body injury, per team reporter Jeff Svoboda (Twitter link). The veteran missed the final game before the break due to the injury as well. Werenski has been nothing short of dominant for Columbus this season, leading the team in scoring with 14 goals and 26 assists in 35 games while his ATOI of 26:48 is the second-highest in the NHL.
Meanwhile, it appears that the Blue Jackets could get Mathieu Olivier back on Sunday. Svoboda mentions (Twitter link) that the winger feels ready to return and is merely waiting to get clearance from team doctors. He has missed the last month due to an upper-body injury. However, the news up front isn’t all good as Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that center Isac Lundestrom suffered what appeared to be a left leg injury during practice today. He left and did not return; no update was available after practice.
Latest On Yegor Chinakhov
While the NHL has already seen some significant trades in 2025-26, including one involving the Columbus Blue Jackets, 2020 first-round pick Yegor Chinakhov has yet to change teams. The 24-year-old requested a trade before this season and has not retracted his request, but no move has materialized to this point.
The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun addressed Chinakhov’s situation in an article earlier today, speculating that the San Jose Sharks could be a solid fit to acquire the young winger. Within the piece, LeBrun also noted how the Blue Jackets’ recent acquisition of Mason Marchment may impact Columbus’ approach to trading Chinakhov.
LeBrun wrote that “when teams called” on Chinakhov earlier this year, he does not believe “Columbus wanted just a draft pick” in exchange for the player. LeBrun added that since the Blue Jackets dealt second and fourth-round picks to the Seattle Kraken to acquire Marchment, “they might be OK recouping a second-round pick” for Chinakhov.
Whether a team would be willing to spend a second-round pick to acquire Chinakhov, though, is the key question. Two seasons ago, Chinakhov appeared to be on the verge of an NHL breakout, scoring 16 goals and 29 points in just 53 games. Injuries limited Chinakhov to just 30 games last season and through 29 games this season, Chinakhov has just six points.
A skilled offensive player, Chinakhov has been unable to earn the trust of head coach Dean Evason, who has at times made him a healthy scratch. The Blue Jackets have yet to fulfill Chinakhov’s trade request, but it appears their recent acquisition of Marchment could be the force that paves the way for the player to get his long-requested change of scenery.