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Rick Nash Won't Be Interviewed For Blue Jackets GM Vacancy

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Carolina Hurricanes reporter Walt Ruff tweeted that Hurricanes forward Jesper Fast has re-joined team practice after missing Carolina’s last three games with an apparent upper-body injury. Fast hasn’t played since March 19th and is “nursing something” according to Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind ’Amour.

Fast had struggled leading up to the injury announcement, tallying just a single assist in his last six games. Fast has never been an offensive juggernaut but has been a consistent 30-point producer and has seen a drop off this season in his scoring. Through 66 games, the 32-year-old has just six goals and 12 assists and his shooting percentage has dropped four percent below his career average to just 8.6% on the season.

In other evening notes:

  • Aaron Portzline of The Athletic writes that the Columbus Blue Jackets are unlikely to interview director of player development Rick Nash for their vacant general manager position even though he was just named the general manager of Team Canada for the upcoming IIHF World Championships. Blue Jackets president of hockey operations John Davidson spoke with The Athletic on Saturday to discuss his search for the team’s next GM after firing Jarmo Kekäläinen. Davidson reiterated that he is looking to hire a person with experience as an NHL GM and that he planned to look outside Nationwide Arena for the next hire. Davidson told The Athletic that he has spoken with Nash and others within the organization to let them know that they will not get an interview for the position as the timing isn’t right for them to move into the role of general manager.
  • The Chicago Blackhawks had a trio of injured players on the ice today as Taylor Hall, Connor Murphy, and Reese Johnson skated before the teams practice. Hall won’t be back into the lineup until next season after undergoing ACL surgery on his right knee in November. While Hall’s timeline is fairly clear, Murphy’s return date is murky at this point as he has not played since January 13th and may not return before the end of the season. Murphy was initially diagnosed with a groin injury, but that was eventually changed to a core injury. Johnson also joined the other veterans after being ruled out due to concussion protocol. The 25-year-old last played on March 12th and sat out the last five games. He has dressed in 42 games this season for Chicago and has two goals and three assists.

Blue Jackets Recall Tyler Angle

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that they’ve made an emergency recall from the Cleveland Monsters and are bringing up forward Tyler Angle to the NHL roster.  The 23-year-old made his NHL debut last year in April with the Blue Jackets, recording his first career NHL goal in his second career game on April 14th, 2023, against the Buffalo Sabres.

Angle hasn’t seen NHL action since his two-game audition last April and is in the midst of his fourth consecutive season in the AHL with the Monsters. Thus far this season in 34 games, the former seventh-round pick in the 2019 NHL entry draft has seven goals and eight assists. Throughout his AHL career, Angle has 40 goals and 59 assists in 194 career AHL contests.

The Blue Jackets forward ranks have been decimated by injuries in recent weeks which led to Angle getting the emergency recall. Columbus is without the services of forwards Kent Johnson, Adam Fantilli, Justin Danforth, Yegor Chinakhov and Sean Kuraly due to injury and is also without Patrik Laine who is out indefinitely after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.

Angle is unlikely to be with the Blue Jackets for an extended period as Kuraly and Chinakhov could be back in the lineup over the next week or two barring any unforeseen setbacks.

Elvis Merzlikins To Play For Latvia At 2024 World Championship

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Some players on non-playoff teams still have the chance to play meaningful games over the next couple of months by representing their national teams at the 2024 Men’s World Championship in Czechia. One will be Blue Jackets starter Elvis Merzļikins, who confirmed to Latvian reporter Ulvis Brože that he’ll represent his country at the tournament. The Riga-born netminder will make his sixth appearance at the tournament, although only his second since joining Columbus in 2019. He’s done quite well at the tournament, posting a .917 SV%, 2.51 GAA, and three shutouts in 27 appearances despite playing behind one of the historically weaker rosters at the tournament. A leg injury stopped him from joining Latvia at last year’s event, which paved the way for Canucks prospect Arturs Silovs to put together a .921 SV%, 2.20 GAA, and 7-3-0 record in 10 games as the squad upset their way to a bronze medal.

Blue Jackets Modify Brendan Gaunce’s Recall, Reassign Trey Fix-Wolansky

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The Blue Jackets are down to two post-trade deadline recalls after they covered Brendan Gaunce’s emergency recall into a standard one Sunday, per a team release. The club also assigned winger Trey Fix-Wolansky to AHL Cleveland.

Gaunce, 29, has been in the majors since an emergency summons on March 12 in the wake of depth forward Justin Danforth exiting the lineup due to a suspected concussion and a brief illness sidelining Kirill Marchenko. The 6-foot-2, 217-lb center has played in all seven Blue Jackets games since, recording a goal and a -2 rating while averaging 12:19 per game.

The 2012 first-round pick is on his third NHL organization, ending up with Columbus in 2021 after stints with the Canucks, Bruins, and the Swedish Hockey League’s Växjö Lakers HC. He hasn’t been overtly impressive in major-league minutes while with the Blue Jackets, posting 7-5–12 in 50 games over the last three seasons with a -3 rating while averaging under 10 minutes per contest, but keeping him around allows younger prospects like Fix-Wolansky to play out the stretch run of the minor-league campaign with Cleveland and log high-end minutes.

Gaunce, who remains third on Cleveland in scoring with 19-20–39 in 46 games, is in the back half of a two-year, $1.525MM extension signed in June 2022. He carries a cap hit of $762.5K but earns a slightly higher base salary of $775K in the NHL due to the league minimum increasing by $25K last offseason.

Fix-Wolansky was the first post-deadline standard recall for the CBJ, coming up to the majors on March 8 after lighting up the minors at over a point-per-game pace (23-31–54 in 51 GP). The 5-foot-8 winger could not convert that success to the majors, however, posting one assist in eight games with a -2 rating. His only other NHL appearance this season came during a brief recall in November, and he was held without a point in a loss to the Coyotes.

The 24-year-old will return to spark Cleveland as they jockey for playoff positioning in the AHL’s North Division, in which they sit second with a 35-21-3-3 record. He’s appeared in NHL games in three straight seasons, a solid feat for the 2018 seventh-round pick.

Fix-Wolansky is in the first season of a two-year, $1.55MM extension he inked shortly before reaching restricted free agency last summer. He earns a $350K salary while in the minors but is guaranteed at least $425K in salary this year.

Blue Jackets Assign David Jiricek To AHL, Recall James Malatesta

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David Jiricek’s stint with the Blue Jackets was short-lived.  Two days after being recalled under emergency conditions, the team announced that they assigned the blueliner back to AHL Cleveland while bringing up forward James Malatesta.  Malatesta’s recall is on an emergency basis and thus won’t count against their post-deadline recall limit.

Jiricek has split this season between Columbus and Cleveland with a small majority of his games coming at the NHL level.  He has played in 36 games with the Blue Jackets so far, collecting nine points and 39 blocked shots while logging a little under 15 minutes a night.  In the minors, meanwhile, the 20-year-old has been much more productive, collecting seven goals and ten assists in 24 games.

Jiricek has now officially burned the first year of his entry-level contract but there is still a milestone to watch for.  If he’s on the active roster for 40 games, he would accrue a season of service time toward UFA eligibility.  Accordingly, the Blue Jackets haven’t brought him up much lately; his two-day recall from earlier this week was his first in nearly two months.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see his NHL action be limited down the stretch for that reason.

As for Malatesta, he’s in his first full professional campaign after wrapping up his junior career on a high note, winning Memorial Cup MVP with QMJHL Quebec.  The 20-year-old leads the Monsters in penalty minutes with 79 through 53 games so far while chipping in with a dozen goals and nine helpers.  It’s unclear which forward’s availability is in question for their game tonight against Vegas which created the emergency conditions for Malatesta to be recalled.

Preliminary List Of GM Candidates Between 30 And 40 So Far

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  • The Blue Jackets have made a very deep preliminary list of candidates for their vacant GM position. In the latest TSN Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun indicated that the team has between 30 and 40 candidates on their initial list and more could be added depending on how things go early in the playoffs.  Columbus has been without a GM since Jarmo Kekalainen was fired five weeks ago with John Davidson serving in an interim capacity since then.

Blue Jackets Recall David Jiricek

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4:16 p.m.: Columbus has recalled Jiříček under emergency conditions, per a team release. The move does not count toward their three remaining post-trade deadline standard recalls.

3:26 p.m.: The Blue Jackets plan to recall top defense prospect David Jiříček from AHL Cleveland, reports Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The move is in response to an injury plaguing top blue-liner Zach Werenski, who Portzline reports was absent from practice on Thursday. Head coach Pascal Vincent said he’s “hopeful” Werenski will be available for Friday’s game against the Avalanche after blocking a shot late in Columbus’ prior game against Detroit, but the team is still waiting on the results of his evaluation (via the team’s Jeff Svoboda).

Jiříček, the sixth overall pick of the 2022 draft, has been buried on the depth chart this season and has even been the subject of a few trade rumors. The 20-year-old had a banner year in 2022-23 as one of the best rookie defensemen in the AHL, earning an All-Star Game nod while also taking home the silver medal, Best Defenseman, and All-Star Team honors at the World Junior Championship with Czechia. He logged his first four NHL games as well but was held without a point in two early-season and two late-season showings. Regardless, most expected him to crack the Blue Jackets out of camp this season, but he ended up as one of their last cuts and started out the campaign in Cleveland.

With continued strong play, Jiříček has forced his way back into the majors multiple times this season with injuries plaguing Columbus’ blue line. His usage has been controversially minimal, averaging 14:47 per game, limiting him to a goal and nine points in 36 contests despite boasting a passable 48.1 CF% at even strength on a defensively challenged team. He’s since been passed over for multiple recalls, with Vincent recently saying the organization preferred to keep him playing heavy, important minutes with Cleveland down the stretch. As such, Jiříček hasn’t played an NHL game in over two months, last suiting up on Jan. 9.

He’s still been quite strong in the minors, boasting seven goals and 17 points in 24 games, although a -15 rating in such a short span is somewhat concerning – it’s already the worst on the team. Cleveland’s other major offensive threat on the blue line, Jake Christiansen, has 40 points in 54 games with a +8 rating. Christiansen was a recent emergency call-up to Columbus with Adam Boqvist sidelined due to an upper-body injury.

Still, Jiříček remains undoubtedly the organization’s best and brightest defense prospect. The right-shot blue-liner would also even out Columbus’ current shot discrepancy, allowing Jake Bean to move back to his natural left side against Colorado if Werenski is absent.

Rick Nash Named GM Of Canada’s World Championship Roster

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Team Canada has announced that former Rocket Richard winner Rick Nash will serve as the team’s general manager at the World Championship (Twitter link). Nash served as an assistant general manager on Canada’s 2022 World Championship roster that would go on to earn a silver medal.

This will be Nash’s first foray into general managing, though he’s been in the Columbus Blue Jackets front office since the 2019-20 season – serving as a special assistant to the general manager for two years before taking on the Director of Player Development title that he holds today.

Nash, 39, is pursuing a managerial career after a very successful 15 years in the NHL. He was one of the league’s most potent goal-scorers through the mid-2000’s, managing three different 40-goal seasons between 2003 and 2015. Nash remains Columbus’ franchise leader in goals (289), assists (258), and points (547) – carrying a 145-point lead over Cam Atkinson in second place. He has achieved plenty on the top stage, including winning the Rocket Richard for his 41-goal season in 2003-04, winning two Olympic gold medals, and even winning a championship and MVP title in Switzerland’s National League during the 2004-05 lockout.

Nash has also been highly acclaimed at the World Championship, winning a gold medal and MVP award at the 2007 World Championship and serving as Team Canada’s captain in 2011, his last appearance at the tourney. He’ll now return 13 years later, as Canada looks to build on their gold medal win last season.

Vincent: Blue Jackets Prioritizing Giving Jiricek Big Minutes In AHL Over Recalling Him

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  • With the Blue Jackets playing out the stretch and their back end being a bit thinned out due to injuries and the Andrew Peeke trade, the fact they haven’t recalled David Jiricek has been a surprise to some. Head coach Pascal Vincent told Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (subscription link) that they’re prioritizing him playing big minutes with AHL Cleveland, a team that has been hit hard as of late due to recalls.  Jiricek has played in 36 NHL games this season; he’d accrue a season toward UFA eligibility if he gets to 40.  Speculatively, that could be playing a role in them holding him down there as well.

Blue Jackets Recall Jake Christiansen On Emergency Basis

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The Blue Jackets summoned defenseman Jake Christiansen on an emergency basis from AHL Cleveland on Friday, per a team release. The recall is on response to an injury blue-liner Adam Boqvist sustained in last night’s 3-2 loss to the Senators, per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic.

Christiansen is expected to draw into the lineup for the fourth time this season when Columbus faces the Sharks on Saturday. The Blue Jackets were only carrying six defensemen on the NHL roster after dealing Andrew Peeke to the Bruins at last week’s trade deadline, so they’re eligible to use an emergency recall to ensure they have six healthy defenders for their next game. As such, Christiansen does not count toward Columbus’ four post-deadline standard recalls, of which they’ve already used one.

Boqvist is still being evaluated for an upper-body injury. The Blue Jackets have not issued a timeline for his return to the lineup.

The 24-year-old Vancouver native is in his fourth season with the Blue Jackets organization after signing as an undrafted free agent in March 2020. The former Everett Silvertips star has consistently put up solid offensive numbers in the minors, solidifying a top-four role in Cleveland but never earning a spot on Columbus’ opening night rosters over the years. He signed a one-year, two-way extension ($775K NHL/$275K AHL/$350K gt’d) to remain with the Jackets before his entry-level deal expired last summer.

After leading all AHL defensemen in goals two seasons ago, Christiansen is now on pace for career-highs across the board with 13 goals, 27 assists and 40 points in 54 minor-league games this season. His +8 rating leads Monsters defenders, his 40 points are second on the team, and only Colorado’s Brad Hunt and Manitoba’s Kyle Capobianco have more points among defenders league-wide.

Unfortunately, he hasn’t shown the ability to replicate that success in the majors. He’s suited up for 35 NHL games since his debut in 2022, three of which came this season, logging one goal and five assists with a -5 rating while averaging 14:02 per game. His possession numbers have been middling in a sheltered offensive role, posting a career 43.9 CF% at even strength, suggesting he’s not ready to take on more minutes, either.

He remains an intriguing call-up option for Columbus, though, who are still getting bang for their buck based on his minor-league contributions. If they opt to issue him a qualifying offer, Christiansen will be an RFA with arbitration rights this summer.

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