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Patrik Laine Sidelined For Six Weeks

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that forward Patrik Laine suffered a clavicle fracture in last night’s 6-5 overtime win against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The fracture happened in the second period when Laine fell to the ice and crashed into the boards to the left of the Maple Leafs net. He skated off the ice holding his left shoulder and exited the game.

This year has been one to forget for the 25-year-old as he has just six goals and three assists in 18 games thus far this season and is a -10. Laine hasn’t been as dynamic in Columbus as he was during his time with the Winnipeg Jets, but he has been close to a point-a-game player the last two seasons.

Despite putting up good numbers before this year, this is not the first time Laine has missed significant time. Laine was out of the lineup for nine games earlier this season after he suffered an upper-body injury. He also missed an additional three games this month due to an illness. Last season, Laine missed 24 games due to a variety of injuries as well as an additional two games when he had COVID-19.

Moreover, Laine was a healthy scratch about a month ago in what he called, “the most embarrassing thing to happen to me.”

Columbus Blue Jackets Activate Elvis Merzļikins

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that netminder Elvis Merzļikins has been activated off of injured reserve. Merzļikins has missed the team’s last three games with an illness. The activation positions Merzļikins to be the starter for the Blue Jackets’ game tonight against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Merzļikins’ return comes at an important time for the Blue Jackets. Despite significant offseason additions, the Blue Jackets have struggled immensely this season. Their on-ice issues have caused the team’s hockey operations decision-makers to come under significant outside pressure. With the team still mired in last place in the Metropolitan division, the return of Merzļikins can potentially give the franchise a much-needed lift.

The 29-year-old Latvian netminder is entrenched as the team’s starter, in large part due to his contract. He’s set to cost $5.4MM against the cap each season through 2026-27. But while that cap hit might be the most significant factor securing his spot as the Blue Jackets’ unquestioned number-one goalie, his performance this year has also done him favors. In 19 games, Merzļikins currently has a .910 save percentage, which is a massive improvement from the .876 mark he posted last season.

In 2022-23, the argument could be made that Merzļikins was the worst-performing regular netminder in the entire NHL. This season, no such arguments can be made as Merzļikins now boasts an above-average save percentage. Although the playoffs seem to be out of reach for the Blue Jackets, barring a miracle, Merzļikins’ return can help Columbus remain competitive on a more regular basis.

Merzlikins Returned To Practice, Still Out With Illness

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  • Although he is still on the team’s injured reserve due to an illness, Brian Hedger for the Columbus Dispatch reports that goaltender for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Elvis Merzlikins returned to practice with the team today. Largely the most competent goalie on the Blue Jackets this season, Merzlikins holds a 6-8-4 record in 19 starts, carrying a .910 SV% and a 3.10 GAA.

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Erik Gudbranson Receives One-Game Suspension

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The NHL has handed down its second suspension within the last hour, announcing (video link) that Blue Jackets defenseman Erik Gudbranson has received a one-game ban for acting as the aggressor with Panthers winger Nick Cousins on Sunday.

While chasing a loose puck in the third period, Cousins hit Gudbranson from behind, sending Gudbranson face-first into the boards.  Cousins was initially given a major penalty for his hit but it was dropped to a minor after review, keeping him in the game.  Six minutes later, Gudbranson responded by going after Cousins, throwing him to the ice following a zone entry and then throwing several punches.  He received a minor penalty on the play for instigating along with a five-minute fighting major, and a game misconduct.

Gudbranson will miss Thursday’s game against Toronto and will forfeit $20.8K.  The money will go to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Blue Jackets Recall Daniil Tarasov, Send Jet Greaves To Minors

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have swapped backup goaltenders, recalling Daniil Tarasov and sending Jet Greaves down. Greaves has appeared in two games with the Blue Jackets since being recalled on December 6th. He set a 1-1-0 record and recorded 72 saves on 77 shots, good for a .935 save percentage. The pair of games were Greaves’ second and third games in the NHL, after making his debut last season. Greaves has looked strong in his limited minutes, totaling a .937 save percentage through his three career games.

Greaves, 22, has also appeared in 12 AHL games this season, setting a 9-3-0 record and 0.899 save percentage. He set the same save percentage through 43 AHL games last season, going 19-16-5. The pair of consistent seasons brings Greaves’ career totals in the AHL up to 84 games played, a 40-31-7 record, and a combined .901 save percentage. Greaves was on an emergency recall with the Blue Jackets, who are without typical starter Elvis Merzlikins.

Tarasov is in a similar spot to Greaves, with both players being young goaltenders who have received minimal chances in the NHL and set strong numbers in the minor leagues. The 24-year-old Tarasov has played in four AHL games this season, recording a 2-1-0 record and .915 save percentage. The early season brings his career AHL totals to 32 games played, a 16-11-3 record, and a 0.897 save percentage. Tarasov has also appeared in 21 career NHL games, including 17 last season. He’s set a combined 4-13-1 record and .900 save percentage in the NHL. Tarasov will join Spencer Martin in Columbus’ goalie room. Martin has played in 11 games and set a .892 save percentage this season.

Latest On Blue Jackets Injuries

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It’s not a controversial statement to say that the Columbus Blue Jackets have not had the season they were hoping to have. Despite aggressive offseason moves adding key young talents and older veterans, the team is currently among the NHL’s worst, undone by underperformance from crucial stars as well as sudden turnover at leadership positions. With the team looking less and less likely to be a true playoff contender, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline sought out comment from Blue Jackets ownership regarding the direction of the franchise. (subscription link)

Team president of business operations Mike Priest, who Portzline calls a “close confidant” of owner John P. McConnell said the following regarding the state of the team: “nobody wants to be where we are with our record. That’s not what we expected.” He also added: “I can say we’re all very frustrated, we’re disappointed.” Many have speculated as to whether the Blue Jackets would consider moving on from general manager Jarmo Kekäläinen. Although Kekäläinen oversaw the most successful period in franchise history under John Tortorella, one wonders if he’ll get the chance to lead the Blue Jackets into the future given the rapid disintegration of his plans to return to the playoffs in 2023-24.

Laine, Sillinger Close To Return

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Blue Jackets Plan To Carry Three Goalies When Tarasov Returns

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With Daniil Tarasov’s conditioning stint set to end in a week and Elvis Merzlikins’ illness not expected to keep him out for long, the Blue Jackets will soon be facing a three-goalie situation.  However, rather than try to trade or waive one of the three (which also includes waiver pickup Spencer Martin), Columbus intends to keep them all according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link).  There are only two other teams who are now regularly keeping up three netminders (Detroit and Montreal are the others) but at this point, it appears as if GM Jarmo Kekalainen doesn’t think he can get Martin through unclaimed.

Boone Jenner To Miss Six Weeks With Fractured Jaw

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The injured list in Columbus has grown considerably this week already and today, another player has been added to it as the team announced (Twitter link) that center Boone Jenner has been placed on IR.  He’s set to miss the next six weeks due to a fractured jaw suffered on Friday against St. Louis after being hit by a shot from teammate Ivan Provorov in the second period.

While the Blue Jackets have underachieved this season, Jenner is one of the few individual exceptions.  He leads the team in goals with 13 while leading all forwards in points with 18 in 28 games.  The captain had also gotten off to a nice start at the faceoff dot as his 55.6% success rate is the best of his career.  Jenner also leads all Columbus forwards in ice time per game, logging 19:33 per night while playing in all situations.

Jenner joins defenseman Adam Boqvist (shoulder), goaltender Elvis Merzlikins (illness), and forward Cole Sillinger (upper body) as those who have been placed on injured reserve this week alone.  Veteran blueliner Damon Severson and center Jack Roslovic are also on there as well.  All told, they have nearly $23MM on IR now.

All of a sudden, Columbus’ center depth has taken another big hit.  That should open up an even bigger role for Adam Fantilli who has done well since moving back to his natural spot down the middle.  Head coach Pascal Vincent will need to decide if he wants to put Patrik Laine back at center (once he returns from an illness) to cover for Jenner to allow their younger centers to ease in on the wing.  Alternatively, Kent Johnson and Dmitri Voronkov are both natural centers while Justin Danforth (who has briefly played there this season) could also shift over.

The Blue Jackets are back in action on Sunday against Florida.  With Jenner’s placement, they have an open roster spot and it wouldn’t be surprising to see that spot filled in time for that game, either by a recall or someone activation from IR.

Snapshots: Laine, Gudbranson, Bussi, Salt Lake City

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The Columbus Blue Jackets will be without both Patrik Laine and Erik Gudbranson, as neither player traveled with the team for their Thursday night matchup against the New York Islanders due to illness. This is the second consecutive game that the duo will miss, after being held out of the team’s Tuesday home game against the Los Angeles Kings.

With his absence on Thursday, Laine will have only played in 16 of the Blue Jackets’ first 28 games. He’s missed action for a variety of reasons, going on injured reserve with a tricep strain in mid-November and serving as a healthy scratch shortly upon his return. The 25-year-old winger has scored five goals and seven points in the games he has appeared in, also adding six penalty minutes and a -9. It’s a step down in production from Laine’s 2022-23 season, where he managed 22 goals and 52 points in 55 games.

And while Laine’s scoring pace has decreased, the 31-year-old Gudbranson has managed nine points in 26 games this season, already a higher point total than he’s managed in eight of his 13 NHL seasons. Gudbranson is in his second season with Columbus, signing a four-year, $16MM contract with the team in July of 2022.

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