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Predators Claim Liam Foudy Off Waivers From Blue Jackets

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The Predators have added some extra forward depth as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that they’ve claimed forward Liam Foudy off waivers from the Blue Jackets.

The 23-year-old was a first-round pick by Columbus back in 2018 (23rd overall) out of OHL London.  While he put up a point per game with the Knights in his post-draft season, consistent production has been tough to come by in the pros.  Foudy has just seven goals and 12 assists in 90 career NHL contests over parts of five seasons.  Things have gone a lot better for him in the minors with AHL Cleveland as he has 35 points in 41 appearances at that level but needed to clear waivers to get back there.  Clearly, that didn’t happen.

Once viewed as a possible important part of their rebuild, the Blue Jackets have since stockpiled several young middlemen which effectively pushed Foudy, a natural center, to the wing.  While the position swap worked better for him as a speedster, their extra depth ultimately knocked him out of the lineup first and now off the roster entirely.

Meanwhile, Nashville is in the midst of shaking up its forward group under new GM Barry Trotz.  Bringing in Foudy is a no-risk proposition for them as he’s on a contract that’s below the league minimum and he will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next summer.  Notably, the Preds had a full roster so a move needed to be made to add Foudy to the active roster.  That move was done by placing defenseman Luke Schenn on IR.  Schenn was injured in the season opener and was given a four-to-six-week recovery timeline.

Columbus Blue Jackets Extend AHL Affiliate

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Since the 2015 season, after changing their AHL affiliation away from the Springfield Falcons, the Columbus Blue Jackets have maintained an affiliation agreement with the Cleveland Monsters. Today, the Blue Jackets organization announced that they would be extending that agreement under a new multi-year agreement between the two parties.

Given the fact that the team already had a previous agreement for this season, and a multi-year agreement suggests the agreement is two years or more, this will cement the Monsters as the longest-serving AHL affiliate of Columbus over their franchise history. As the Blue Jackets officially became an NHL team during the 2000-01 NHL season, their first AHL affiliate would be the Syracuse Crunch, an affiliate that would last until 2010. They would then come to an agreement with the now-defunct Falcons, before finally landing with the Monsters at the start of the 2015-16 season.

Notably, in their first season as the direct AHL affiliate of the Blue Jackets, the Monsters would go on to win the 2016 Calder Cup, sweeping the Hershey Bears in the final series, becoming the first Columbus affiliate to win a championship. At that time, the team was led by Oliver Bjorkstrand and has now transitioned to being led by Trey Fix-Wolansky.

In the announcement, Blue Jackets Director of Player Personnel, Chris Clark, spoke in high regard for the relationship saying:

“Giving our young players an opportunity to grow and develop both on and off the ice in a world-class environment like the one they have with the Cleveland Monsters is very special and we couldn’t be prouder and more excited that our partnership will continue for many years to come. Both organizations share a commitment to succeed at the highest level, while growing the game and having a positive impact in our communities and state and we look forward to continuing that work together.“

Columbus Blue Jackets Activate Zach Werenski, Waive Liam Foudy

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced three roster moves. Star defenseman Zach Werenski has been activated off of injured reserve, and forward Liam Foudy has been placed on waivers for the purpose of assignment to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters as a corresponding move.

Also, prospect forward Jordan Dumais was activated off of injured reserve and loaned to the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL.

It had been anticipated by some that defenseman David Jiricek would find himself returned to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters whenever Werenski ended up returning to the lineup.

That’s not the case, though, and according to team reporter Jeff Svoboda Jiricek is actually projected to retain his spot on head coach Pascal Vincent’s nightly lineup. Per Svoboda, 2018 eighth-overall pick Adam Boqvist is likely to be headed for the press box to make room for Werenski’s return.

This activation is great news for the Blue Jackets, who have only enjoyed 14 total games of Werenski both this season and last. Injuries have dogged Werenski in recent years, but when healthy he’s among the NHL’s most dynamic blueliners.

Widely considered a true number-one defenseman, having Werenski in the lineup significantly enhances the Blue Jackets’ ability to compete on a nightly basis.

The result of Werenski’s activation is that Foudy, 23, gets exposed to waivers. The Blue Jackets spent the 18th overall pick at the 2018 draft to select Foudy out of the London Knights of the OHL. The Blue Jackets seemed to be making a bet that Foudy’s genuinely elite speed would allow him to develop into not only an elite OHL scorer but also an impact NHLer.

So far, that bet hasn’t paid off, as Foudy has just 19 points in 90 career NHL games. In his longest stretch of extended NHL action, the 2022-23 season, Foudy managed just 14 points in 62 games. Owner of a $762.5k cap hit through the end of the season, claiming the pending RFA could be an intriguing possibility for teams who may believe they can harness Foudy’s past potential as a prospect in ways the Blue Jackets to this point have not been able to.

As for the move to activate Dumais, what’s notable here is that the Blue Jackets were unable to secure a waiver to allow the 19-year-old to spend 2023-24 in the AHL.

There’s an argument to be made that Dumais has absolutely nothing left to prove at the QMJHL level (he did score 140 points in just 64 games last season, after all) but it seems that such arguments may not have been enough to earn Dumais the type of waiver from the CHL that Shane Wright received. So he’s headed back to the Halifax Mooseheads, where he could very well post video game-like numbers for another season.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Snapshots: Kane, Zub, Werenski

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In the most recent 32 Thoughts podcast episode, Elliotte Friedman added credence to the idea that star free agent Patrick Kane could sign with the Dallas Stars. Friedman says that a very reliable source shared the likelihood of Kane landing in Dallas, adding that the stylistic fit could be good for the aging veteran.

The Stars rapidly rise up the power rankings of teams likely to land Kane, leapfrogging the New York Rangers, Florida Panthers, and Buffalo Sabres. Dallas has flexed a very deep forward group this season, providing nearly identical ice time to each of their top three lines. The only weak spot is likely 34-year-old winger Evgenii Dadonov, who’s spent the year alongside Wyatt Johnston and Jamie Benn. This could be the role that Kane takes over if he joins the Stars; bringing a little more mobility and finesse to the line.

Only three forwards in Dallas’ top nine have scored a goal at this point in the year: Joe Pavelski, Benn, and Roope Hintz. Kane’s all-out-offensive style may be enough to kickstart the Stars’ scorers.

Other notes from around the league:

Jet Greaves Returned To Minors

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  • After being recalled to the Columbus Blue Jackets on an emergency basis yesterday morning, the team has announced they have returned goaltender Jet Greaves back to their AHL, the Cleveland Monsters. Greaves served as the backup option behind Spencer Martin last night against Detroit, giving regular starting netminder, Elvis Merzļikins, a bit more time to recover from a bout of the flu.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Blue Jackets Recall Jet Greaves Under Emergency Conditions

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that goalie Jet Greaves has been recalled from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters under emergency conditions. The move suggests that starter Elvis Merzļikins, who left Saturday’s win over the New York Rangers after two periods due to flu symptoms, is not healthy enough to dress for tonight’s contest against Detroit. Greaves will likely back up Spencer Martin, who’s in line to make his first start as a member of the Blue Jackets after making 15 saves on 17 shots in relief on Saturday.

Greaves, 22, made his NHL debut late last season when injuries ravaged the Blue Jackets’ crease. An undrafted free agent signing out of the OHL’s Barrie Colts in 2021, Greaves has quickly worked his way up a thin organizational depth chart and has claimed the starting role in Cleveland. He’s off to a good start this season in the minors, stopping 29 of 31 shots in a 5-2 win over Lehigh Valley over the weekend.

It’s a tough early-season interruption for Merzļikins, who has excelled thus far after a rough 2022-23 campaign. Despite taking a season-opening loss against Philadelphia last week, Merzlikins has allowed just three goals on 60 shots faced and boasts a sparkling .950 save percentage through 1 2/3 outings. If the Blue Jackets are going to make any headway in a tough Eastern Conference battle, they’ll need a big bounce-back effort from Elvis, who finished near the bottom of the league with a .876 save percentage and 4.23 goals-against average in 27 starts last season.

Latest On Elvis Merzļikins

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  • Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent said via team reporter Jeff Svoboda that netminder Elvis Merzļikins “has a stomach bug” and missed today’s practice after leaving last night’s game. Per Vincent, Merzļikins’ status for tonight’s game is in question, and as a result, Spencer Martin (who saved 15 of 17 shots last night in relief against the New York Rangers) could start his first game as a Blue Jacket tomorrow night when the team hosts the Detroit Red Wings.

Blue Jackets Activate Mathieu Olivier, Eric Robinson Clears Waivers

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10/15/23 1:00 PM: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Robinson has cleared waivers, and The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline reports that the Blue Jackets will be sending Robinson to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.

10/14/23 1:02 PM: With winger Mathieu Olivier expected to come off injured reserve tonight, the Blue Jackets needed to open up a roster spot.  That spot is being vacated by winger Eric Robinson as the team announced that Robinson has been placed on waivers.  He has been designated as waivers/non-roster, opening up the spot immediately even though he’ll be on waivers until 1 PM CT on Sunday.

Olivier missed the season opener for Columbus due to a leg injury and with an IR placement being able to be back-dated, they were able to stash him on there even though he winds up missing less than a week of action.  The 26-year-old played in a career-best 66 games last season for the Blue Jackets, picking up five goals and ten assists along with 81 penalty minutes and 178 hits while logging 11:38 per night.  That was enough to earn him a two-year, $2.2MM deal back in June, one that bought out his final season of RFA eligibility while giving them an extra year of club control.

As for Robinson, he has done well in a slightly elevated role the last couple of years, putting up a career-high 27 points in 2021-22 while following that up with 24 points and a career-best 12 goals last season despite averaging less than 14 minutes per night in each year.  On the surface, it would seem like someone with that production might be a candidate to be claimed.  However, the 28-year-old has a $1.6MM cap charge this season and with so many teams tight to the cap, there’s a good chance he’ll go through unclaimed.  If that happens, Columbus can clear a pro-rated $1.15MM of his contract by sending Robinson to the minors.

Columbus could have elected to send one of their five waiver-exempt players down with the logical candidate being David Jiricek who was just recalled yesterday.  However, with the Blue Jackets down to just seven defenders including Jiricek, they decided that waiving Robinson was the safest route to take to get Olivier back into the lineup.

Blue Jackets Place Zach Werenski On Injured Reserve, Recall David Jiricek

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The Columbus Blue Jackets announced a pair of roster moves this morning, placing defenseman Zach Werenski on injured reserve after sustaining a quad contusion in last night’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers on a hit from forward Garnet Hathaway, which resulted in a minor penalty and $5,000 fine. Werenski will miss between one and two weeks. In response, the team recalled top defense prospect David Jiricek from AHL Cleveland.

This continues to be a tough stretch of injury luck for Werenski, who missed the last 69 games of last season with a shoulder injury. Werenski skated 13:43 last night and recorded a -1 rating before exiting the game, which ended up being a 4-2 loss for Columbus in their home opener. It was the start of a four-game homestand for the Jackets, who don’t play on the road until October 21st at Minnesota.

It opens the door for Jiricek, the sixth-overall pick in 2022, to force his way onto the roster over the next few games. The Blue Jackets are reportedly shopping a defenseman to make room for Jiricek on the active roster, but a trade might now wait until later in the month with Werenski on the sidelines. Jiricek was one of the best rookies in the AHL last season, logging 38 points in 55 games for the Cleveland Monsters and earning a look in four NHL games with Columbus. He’s still looking for his first NHL point, however.

Columbus head coach Pascal Vincent confirmed earlier this morning that it wasn’t likely to be a long-term absence for Werenski, the team’s undisputed number-one defender. However, Jiricek, a right-shot defenseman, won’t be able to directly replace the role of Werenski, who plays on the left side. While Jiricek could get some significant minutes over the next few weeks, the most direct effect of this injury will be on offseason addition Ivan Provorov, who will now likely slide up to the top pairing alongside Damon Severson. Provorov had a tough outing against his former team last night, recording just two shot attempts and a -2 rating in over 25 minutes of ice time.

Latest On Zach Werenski

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As reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Columbus Blue Jackets franchise defenseman Zach Werenski exited last night’s game after suffering a quad contusion. Werenski was injured on an apparent knee-to-knee collision with Philadelphia Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway, and Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent told reporters that Werenski’s injury is not believed to be one that will cause a long-term absence.

This development is extremely unfortunate, as Werenski, 26, was limited to just 13 games played last season due to injury. Although this injury may not keep Werenski out “long-term,” it is not clear exactly when he’ll be able to return to the ice for Columbus. That alone is a major blow for the club, as Werenski is the best player in an organization dripping with desperation to return to the playoffs after a nightmarish 2022-23 campaign. In what is expected to be a cutthroat Metropolitan Division playoff race, the Blue Jackets will have to hope Werenski can return to full health quickly so they can avoid falling behind.

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