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Blue Jackets Place Adam Boqvist On IR With Shoulder Strain, Make Six Other Roster Moves

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The Blue Jackets have made a series of roster moves ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Islanders, as outlined in a team release. The team has placed defenseman Adam Boqvist on injured reserve with a shoulder strain, placed goaltender Elvis Merzlikins on IR with an illness, and forward Cole Sillinger on IR retroactive to November 26 with an upper-body injury. Columbus has recalled three players from AHL Cleveland in response: defenseman Nick Blankenburg and goalie Jet Greaves have been summoned on an emergency basis, while forward Emil Bemström is coming up on a standard recall.

Additionally, the club has activated netminder Daniil Tarasov from long-term injured reserve, although he will remain with AHL Cleveland on a conditioning stint. He had previously been assigned to the minors on an LTIR-specific conditioning stint.

Boqvist, who sustained the injury in last night’s overtime loss to the Kings, is expected to miss four weeks, per the team. It’s horrible timing for the 23-year-old, who was beginning to settle into a top-pairing role alongside Zach Werenski after starting his season on a rough note. Boqvist made just four appearances in the team’s first 18 games, sitting as a healthy scratch on a near-nightly basis. He’s now made nine straight appearances, however, and had logged over 20 minutes in each of his last three contests. Since his last healthy scratch on November 18 against the Capitals, Boqvist had three assists, a +7 rating and 11 shots on goal.

The 2018 eighth-overall selection by the Blackhawks had a strong showing despite dealing with injuries in Columbus last year, logging 24 points in 46 games (a 43-point pace) and leading qualified Blue Jackets defenders with a 48.7% Corsi share at even strength. It’s fair to claim he was misused out of the gate by head coach Pascal Vincent, likely costing the struggling Blue Jackets a handful of points in the standings. Boqvist’s possession numbers have once again been strong this season, posting a relative Corsi share of 2.1%.

His spot on the active roster is assumed by Blankenburg, who figures to make his season debut tomorrow with Erik Gudbranson out sick. The 25-year-old made his NHL debut for the Blue Jackets at the tail end of the 2021-22 campaign after signing as a free agent out of the University of Michigan and has made a strong offensive impact despite standing at just 5-foot-9 – quite a diminutive frame for an NHL defender. His play at the minor-league level has been excellent, notching three goals, eight assists and a +9 rating in 18 games with Cleveland.

Meanwhile, Merzlikins is expected to miss one week with an illness after making 35 saves on 39 shots last night. He will miss the team’s next three games and can return on December 14 against the Maple Leafs. Backup Spencer Martin will likely start two of them, with Greaves potentially making his season debut Friday against the Blues in the second half of a back-to-back. Martin, who has a 3.02 GAA and .902 SV% after being claimed off waivers from the Canucks in September, now has an extended chance to make his case to stay on the roster with Tarasov nearing a return to NHL play.

Bemström comes back up to the NHL roster after being demoted to Cleveland on November 16, clearing waivers in the process. To say the 24-year-old took his demotion well is an understatement – he lit up the minors with ten goals and four assists in eight games, including five multi-point efforts. After showing he absolutely does not belong at a second-tier level, it’s not surprising to see him back in Columbus today after depth winger Eric Robinson was dealt to the Sabres.

There is no change in Sillinger’s status, and he remains listed as day-to-day. It’s unclear when he’ll return to the lineup, although he’s eligible for activation at any time, given the existing length of his absence.

Buffalo Sabres Acquire Eric Robinson From Columbus

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4:48 p.m.: The draft pick included in the deal will only be transferred to the Blue Jackets if Robinson plays 45 NHL games this season, per CapFriendly. He’s already logged seven appearances with Columbus.

3:27 p.m.: The Sabres have made the news official, sending a 2025 seventh-round pick (originally belonging to the Predators) to Columbus in return for Robinson’s services. In a corresponding transaction, forward Brandon Biro was returned to AHL Rochester.

1:32 p.m.: The Buffalo News’ Lance Lysowski has confirmed that the Buffalo Sabres have acquired Eric Robinson from the Columbus Blue Jackets. This was originally reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Robinson, 28, is in his seventh season of NHL play, after signing with the Blue Jackets as an undrafted free agent in 2018. He’s since totaled 266 career NHL games and 82 career points. The details of the trade are not yet certain, although Lysowski reports that Robinson won’t join Buffalo for their Thursday matchup against the Boston Bruins.

Robinson has appeared in seven games with the Blue Jackets this season, scoring one goal and recording a -3. He has also played in nine AHL games and scored four points. It was Robinson’s first appearance in the AHL since 2019-20, as the veteran winger has been a fixture of Columbus’ lineup over the last four seasons. He recorded a career year in the 2021-22 campaign, scoring 10 goals and 27 points in 67 games. He followed it up with 12 goals and 24 points in 72 games last year.

Robinson is a New Jersey native who played four seasons at Princeton University from 2014 to 2018. The Nashville Predators invited Robinson to their training camp ahead of the 2015-16 season and signed a professional try-out contract with the team ahead of the 2016-17 season. He also briefly signed with Nashville’s AHL affiliate, before opting to return for his senior season, where he set a collegiate-career high of 31 points in 36 games and earned an NHL contract with Columbus.

He is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st and carries a $1.6MM cap hit this season.

Patrik Laine Scratched Due To Illness

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On TSN’s Insider Trading today, Pierre LeBrun relayed some of the reservations the NHL might be having about a potential NHL return to Olympic hockey participation in 2026. The NHL hasn’t taken part in the Olympics since the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia, a tournament in which Canada took gold. The league did not participate in the events in 2018 and opted not to return in 2022 due to COVID concerns as well as concerns surrounding travel.

LeBrun told viewers that NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman spoke to the NHL board of governors and had concerns about the Olympic arena in Milan, Italy which is not built yet and has a projected timeline that would see construction conclude just six to eight weeks before the Olympics begin.

On top of that, there remains no agreement on many important details such as families travelling to the Olympics as well as an agreement on the players’ insurance.

Lebrun added that he believes this is the most negative he has heard the NHL talk about 2026 Olympic participation but he does add that NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly is not pessimistic towards NHL players returning to the Olympics.

In other evening notes:

  • The Nashville Predators announced that forward Cole Smith missed tonight’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks with an apparent illness. The 28-year-old is currently listed as day-to-day, and it is unknown whether he will be able to suit up on Thursday when the Predators take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. Smith has just one full NHL season under his belt and has started this year at a solid pace with four goals and five assists in 24 games while averaging nearly three hits a game.
  • Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that Columbus Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine was a scratch tonight due to an illness. No word yet on any timeline for Laine to return as the news came out just before the start of the Blue Jackets’ game against the Los Angeles Kings. Mathieu Olivier was expected to be scratched for the game but took Laine’s place in the lineup and scored his first goal of the season in the 4-3 loss. Laine has struggled out of the game this season and has been a healthy scratch at times, he has just five goals and two assists in 16 games thus far which is well short of the numbers he has put up in recent years where he has been a point-a-game player.

Gudbranson A Game Time Decision Due To Illness

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  • Team reporter for the Columbus Blue Jackets, Jeff Svoboda, reports that defenseman Erik Gudbranson will be a game-time decision for the team’s game tonight against the Los Angeles Kings, as he is suffering from an illness. Mostly known as a defensive-style defenseman, even with less ice time per night, Gudbranson is producing better offensively this year for the Blue Jackets, scoring two goals and nine points in 26 games.

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Latest On Spencer Martin

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After an injury to Daniil Tarasov put the Columbus Blue Jackets short one goaltender, the team claimed veteran Spencer Martin off of waivers from the Vancouver Canucks. It was a somewhat risky bet, as Martin struggled immensely in 2022-23. But so far Martin has put forth improved performance, as his .903 save percentage this year is quite a bit better than the .871 mark he had last year.

Unfortunately for Martin, his time in Columbus could very well be nearing an end. As Tarasov gets closer to a return from his injury, The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that Martin is “likely to go back on waivers.” (subscription link)  Although Martin could clear waivers and end up with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, the dire state of goaltending for some teams across the NHL means its far from a guarantee that the Blue Jackets will be able to retain Martin.

What Your Team Is Thankful For: Columbus Blue Jackets

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As Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaches, PHR will be taking a look at what teams are thankful for in 2023-24. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Who are the Blue Jackets thankful for?

Boone Jenner.

Not only is the team captain first among the team in goal-scoring, but he is first in scoring among all Columbus forwards. If Jenner is set to continue his offensive pace for the rest of the season, he is set to clear his career record in both goals and points.

While high-priced players such as Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine continue to struggle early in the season, Jenner is picking up their offensive slack in a big way. Not only has Jenner been getting it done on the offensive end, but his defensive play has been solid this year as well.

Currently sitting at 56.1% faceoff percentage in nearly 500 draws, Jenner also carries at 51.0% Corsi For percentage, as well as a 91.0% On Ice SV%, both of which sit higher than his career averages. It has been a tough start to the year for the Blue Jackets in the standings, but their team captain is by far and away their most stable and consistent player each night.

What are the Blue Jackets thankful for?

An improved defensive core.

After finishing last season at 31st in the NHL in terms of GA/G, the General Manager of Columbus, Jarmo Kekäläinen, swung two big trades to dramatically improve the defensive depth for the Blue Jackets. In only three days, Columbus acquired Damon Severson from the New Jersey Devils in a sign-and-trade, while also acquiring Ivan Provorov from the Philadelphia Flyers in a three-team deal.

There is still a lot of time left in the season, but in the same GA/G statistic, the Blue Jackets have managed to jump up nine spots, allowing goaltender Elvis Merzlikins to play more comfortably between the pipes. Not only has their defense improved, but Provorov, along with defenseman Zach Werenski, sits third and first on the team in scoring, respectively.

Unfortunately, Severson will find himself on the team’s injured reserve for a total of six weeks due to an oblique injury, and rookie defenseman David Jiricek is experiencing some growing pains in his first full season with the team. Nevertheless, thanks to the big moves made to upgrade the blueline last offseason, the Blue Jackets defensive core is much improved from where it was just a season ago.

What would the Blue Jackets be even more thankful for?

More production from their star players.

This season, one of the most glaring issues in Columbus is the lack of production from both Gaudreau and Laine, who are making a combined $18.45MM until the 2026-27 season. As we are now in December, the two have only combined for eight goals and 20 points, much lower than what should be expected out of both of them.

Gaudreau, for his part, has managed five points in his last five games but only scored eight points in his first 20 games before that. Laine, who is one of the more natural goal-scorers in the NHL, has scored three points in his last five games, only managing a total of four points in his previous 10 games. The Head Coach of the Blue Jackets, Pascal Vincent, sent a serious message to Laine only a few weeks ago, making him a healthy scratch for the first time in his career.

Now playing in their 22nd season as a franchise, the Blue Jackets only playoff series victory came back in the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs, where the team relied heavily on star talent such as Artemi Panarin and Pierre-Luc Dubois. If Columbus is hoping to return to contention, although it will likely not be this year, their star players must lead the way.

What should be on the Blue Jackets holiday wish list?

More draft picks.

On paper, if the Blue Jackets can get their star players clicking again, this team has the depth to compete in the Eastern Conference playoff race as soon as next year. Unfortunately, aside from Gaudreau, Columbus has historically had a difficult time recruiting free-agent talent, meaning they will have to improve this team via trades and the NHL Draft.

Last year, given the strength at the top of the draft, the Blue Jackets “settled” for Adam Fantilli with the third overall selection, who otherwise would have been the top player available in several other drafts. At this year’s draft, there is similar talent at the top of the class, and Columbus looks poised to once again have a top-10 pick.

Sitting at 27th place in the league and last place in the Metropolitan Division, the Blue Jackets should be one of the featured sellers at this year’s trade deadline, with plenty of teams looking to improve their lineup. Columbus will almost certainly look to move out at least one defenseman and could look to seriously thin out their surplus of bodies in the forward core as well.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Cole Sillinger Out With Upper-Body Injury

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  • One of the missing players from the Columbus Blue Jackets practice this morning was forward Cole Sillinger, who is out with an upper-body injury and is considered day-to-day (X Link). Although Columbus has picked things up a tad since a rough start to the season, Sillinger is now in his second season of dramatically struggling with production. In 88 games played over the last two seasons, Sillinger has only scored four goals and 16 assists, after scoring 16 goals and 15 assists in 79 games in his rookie season.

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Blue Jackets Assign Daniil Tarasov To AHL For Conditioning

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The Blue Jackets have assigned netminder Daniil Tarasov to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters on a conditioning stint as he nears recovery from a knee injury, GM Jarmo Kekäläinen announced today.

To do this, the Blue Jackets first moved Tarasov from injured reserve to long-term injured reserve retroactive to the beginning of the season, then assigned him on an LTIR conditioning loan to Cleveland. This sub-type of conditioning stint means Tarasov can remain with Cleveland for up to six days or three games (with a potential two-game extension), after which the Blue Jackets can determine whether Tarasov can return to play. He remains on LTIR during the conditioning stint, although since the Blue Jackets had over $4MM in accrued cap space before placing him on LTIR, it’s irrelevant to the team’s financial picture.

Tarasov, 24, sustained a knee injury early in training camp and was initially listed as day-to-day. His recovery has drawn out much longer than expected, causing him to miss well over two months of action. The intriguing goalie prospect is no stranger to injury troubles, missing more than half of the 2021-22 season after undergoing right hip surgery.

The 2017 third-round pick began last season on the Blue Jackets roster but was eventually demoted due to poor play. He posted a 4-11-1 record, .892 SV%, 3.91 GAA, and conceded 6.4 goals above average in 16 starts, although he was far from the reason Columbus ranked 31st in goals against last season. Now in the second season of a three-year, $3.15MM contract, he has just 19 NHL starts to his name over the past three seasons, and his mediocre play in the minors since coming over from Russia must have the Blue Jackets questioning his long-term stance in the organization.

Assigning Tarasov on conditioning buys some time for Kekäläinen to make a choice regarding current backup netminder Spencer Martin, who’s given the Blue Jackets a solid .903 SV% and 3.20 GAA in nine appearances (seven starts) since they claimed him off waivers from the Canucks during the preseason. Whether the Blue Jackets opt to prioritize Tarasov over Martin remains to be seen, although it would make sense to go with the younger, higher-ceiling player, given the team sits far out of playoff contention. Martin is 28 years old, and his only season as a full-time backup, last year with Vancouver, was disastrous – posting a .871 SV% and conceding 27.5 goals above average in just 29 appearances.

The Blue Jackets could either trade Martin or look to pass him through waivers, although teams looking for goalie help may want to take a flyer on him, given his decent performance to open the campaign. Tarasov is no longer waiver-exempt and would need to be exposed in order to head to Cleveland full-time.

Chinakhov Comments On Recent Statement From Agent

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Earlier this week, the agent for Blue Jackets forward Yegor Chinakhov indicated that his client was unhappy with his role and while the youngster hadn’t asked for a trade, he’d like to be moved.  Speaking with reporters today including Brian Hedger of the Columbus Post-Dispatch, the 22-year-old tried to pour cold water on that notion to an extent.  He stated his affinity for the team and market but that he simply just wants to play.  Chinakhov started the season on IR and then was sent to the AHL briefly before being recalled early last month.  Since then, he has been a regular most nights but is playing under 14 minutes per game, lately spending time on the fourth line even but has five points in 13 games.  Clearly, the 2020 first-round pick is looking to have a bigger role; he will once again be a restricted free agent in the summer but will have arbitration rights at that time for the first time.

Cole Sillinger Out Day-To-Day

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  • Columbus Blue Jackets center Cole Sillinger is out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, according to team reporter Jeff Svoboda. That’s less than ideal news for Columbus, as Sillinger is still widely seen as a core part of the team’s future. While he hasn’t quite reached the heights of his 16-goal, 31-point rookie season, Sillinger has managed nine points in 24 games this year and seemed to build some solid chemistry with other young Blue Jackets forwards such as Dmitri Voronkov and Yegor Chinakhov.

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