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.
Blue Jackets Return Luca Del Bel Belluz From Emergency Loan
Dec. 23rd: The Blue Jackets announced that they’ve returned Del Bel Belluz from his emergency recall. He went scoreless in two games with a -2 rating, averaging 7:09 of ice time per game.
Dec. 19th: According to a team announcement, the Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled forward Luca Del Bel Belluz on an emergency basis. It’s the third time Del Bel Belluz has been recalled, and his second on an emergency basis.
Fortunately, Del Bel Belluz’s recall isn’t for any injury concerns. Reports indicate that depth forward Brendan Gaunce and his wife are expecting a child relatively soon. The Blue Jackets will use Del Bel Belluz as an extra forward for their upcoming two-game road trip.
Although he has yet to break out in any meaningful way at the NHL level, Del Bel Belluz’s play with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters has made him the next man up for the Blue Jackets. The 44th overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft has spent the last three years primarily playing for Cleveland, scoring 41 goals and 97 points in 133 games.
The 22-year-old debuted during the 2023-24 season, but had his longest look in the NHL last year. He performed relatively well in limited action, scoring two goals and eight points in 15 games, averaging 13:45 of ice time. There was certainly room to grow on the defensive side of the puck, though that’s to be expected of a younger forward.
Still, he hasn’t resumed that production this season. Nearly reaching last year’s games played totals, Luca Del Belluz has tallied only one assist in 11 games for the Blue Jackets this season. He’s averaged far less ice time (9:04) and has largely been relegated to a fourth-line role.
Latest On Mason Marchment Extension Talks
The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired veteran winger Mason Marchment from the Seattle Kraken on Friday of last week, and he made an instant impact for the club, scoring a goal in his first game after the trade.
Given the fact that the 30-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent, as well as the fact that Columbus surrendered a second-round pick in order to acquire him, many have wondered whether the Blue Jackets will try to sign Marchment to a contract extension before the end of the season.
The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline directly addressed the topic today, including in a recent piece comments from both the player and Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell. Regarding the possibility of signing Marchment to an extension, Waddell told Portzline that he talked to Marchment’s agent, Paul Capizzano of Quartexx, right after the trade was completed, and the two parties agreed to table extension talks until they got to see whether Marchment is a good fit in Columbus and likes playing there.
Marchment himself appeared to agree with that approach, telling Portzline “I’m just kind of going day-by-day right now” and “I really don’t have a plan or anything like that,” while adding that his most pressing priority has been thinking about and taking care of his newborn child. It’s understandable, given those circumstances, that Marchment may not want to rush into signing a new contract.
At 30 years old, it’s likely that Marchment’s upcoming free agency is one of the most important of his career. It’s far easier for a non-star-level player who is still in his early thirties to get a big contract in free agency than it is for someone in his mid to late thirties, so Marchment has a chance this upcoming summer to make the kind of money he likely won’t be able to make the next time he’s a free agent.
Therefore, if this upcoming summer is the one where Marchment is likely to target a large contract that could take him until the twilight years of his NHL career, it makes sense that he wouldn’t want to sign that kind of contract in Columbus before knowing whether he’s a great fit with that organization. It’s also an understandable approach for the Blue Jackets to take.
Although they might prefer to have traded a second-round pick for a player under contract beyond this season, the fact of the matter is retaining Marchment will likely take a solid amount of investment. It would mean committing a sum of at least $4MM AAV (he’s unlikely to accept a significant pay cut after back-to-back seasons scoring around 20 goals and 50 points in 2023-24 and 2024-25) for a player in his thirties, with some term likely attached to the deal.
Columbus could very well be interested in retaining Marchment, but it simply wouldn’t be a prudent decision to extend him so quickly after acquiring him. While the Blue Jackets likely thought through these considerations before trading for him, they don’t know for sure whether he’ll be a fit in head coach Dean Evason’s plans, nor do they know if he’ll be a fit in their overall roster-building calculus.
Keeping their options open moving forward, while trying their best to effectively integrate Marchment into their team, is the most sustainable path forward and allows both sides to gain as much useful information as possible before making a significant commitment to each other.
It’s likely to be a busy summer in Columbus, as Marchment isn’t the only significant pending free agent. Captain Boone Jenner and veteran pivot Charlie Coyle are also set to be unrestricted free agents, while starting netminder Jet Greaves is a pending restricted free agent with arbitration rights.
Could Sabres Add Additional Staff From Columbus?
- New Buffalo Sabres GM Jarmo Kekäläinen brought one of his former longtime lieutenants, Columbus Blue Jackets assistant GM Josh Flynn, to Buffalo this week in order to fill the same role but for the Sabres. In the aftermath of that move, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline wrote today regarding which other Blue Jackets hockey operations staff might join Flynn in heading to Buffalo. Portzline specifically cited Blue Jackets director of pro scouting Basil McRae, who was formerly an assistant GM before shifting titles after the arrival of current Columbus GM Don Waddell, as a possibility. He also named director of amateur scouting Ville Sirén and goaltending coach Nicklas Backstrom as two other names who Kekäläinen might look to add to his staff in Buffalo.