Damon Severson Out 6 Weeks With Oblique Injury
Blue Jackets defenseman Damon Severson sustained an oblique injury in Sunday’s game against the Flyers and is set to miss approximately six weeks, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in a release. Severson has not been placed on IR, but nevertheless, the team reassigned forward Trey Fix-Wolansky to AHL Cleveland in a corresponding transaction.
This is the second major injury for the Blue Jackets in the early going of 2023-24, as Severson joins forward Jack Roslovic (ankle) on the injured list. Both were given a six-week recovery timeline from their initial injuries. It’s still a far cry from the injuries that decimated Columbus last season, especially among their defense corps.
Severson sustained the oblique injury in a failed dive attempt to keep the puck in the offensive zone, which led to a shorthanded goal by the Flyers’ Ryan Poehling. Set to be an unrestricted free agent last summer, the Blue Jackets acquired Severson in a sign-and-trade with the Devils that saw the 29-year-old earn an eight-year, $50MM deal.
He was off to a decent start in Columbus, recording eight points through 19 games, averaging nearly 21 minutes per game and leading Blue Jackets defenders with a +1 rating. He’d posted an incredibly strong relative Corsi share of 5.6%, meaning the Blue Jackets’ already poor possession stats are likely to dip even further without Severson in the lineup.
In a small silver lining, Severson’s absence should provide more opportunity for a pair of young right-shot defenders to get some more ice time from now until the New Year. 23-year-old Adam Boqvist and 19-year-old David Jiříček moved up to the first and second pairings, respectively, in practice today, according to Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. Both have averaged under 14 minutes per game, and appearances have been limited – especially for Boqvist, who’s been a scratch in 14 out of 19 games for Columbus this season.
Meanwhile, Fix-Wolansky heads back to the minors after making just one appearance during his recall, logging zeros across the scoresheet in 12:32 of ice time against the Coyotes last Thursday. He’d been a healthy scratch in two straight contests. The diminutive winger is off to a scorching hot start in the minors, leading the team with four goals, 12 assists and 16 points through 11 games.
Columbus Not Making Rash Decisions Despite Losing Streak
The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline recently sat down with the Columbus Blue Jackets’ President of Hockey Operations, John Davidson, to discuss the team’s early season woes. But despite the nine-game losing streak, which has seen Johnny Gaudreau get benched and Patrik Laine get scratched, Davidson says no rash changes are inbound for the Blue Jackets. “Woe is me does not work. It’s an emotional game, a hard game,” Davidson told Portzline, “but we need the improvements we’re seeing with some of our younger players — Alexandre Texier, Kirill Marchenko, Adam Fantilli, these guys — to continue, and we need our best players to start playing like they’re capable of playing.”
Damon Severson Leaves Game With Upper-Body Injury
A few minutes ago, the Columbus Blue Jackets suffered their ninth straight loss, this time at the hands of the Philadelphia Flyers. To add insult to injury, after Ryan Poehling of the Flyers scored a short-handed goal in the second period, the Blue Jackets announced that defenseman Damon Severson would not return to the game due to an upper-body injury.
At this point, there has been no update on the severity of Severson’s injury, but more information should be made public before the team’s upcoming game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday. On the night, Severson played in just under 10 minutes of the game and held a -1 rating due to the shorthanded goal.
Over the course of the season up to this point, Severson had played in 18 games for Columbus before tonight’s game, scoring three goals and five assists in total. In an effort to bolster the Blue Jackets defensive core, Severson was acquired as part of a sign-and-trade early in the offseason with the New Jersey Devils.
After doubling down on their core this past offseason, Columbus once again finds themselves in a precarious situation, sitting with a 4-11-4 record entering into Thanksgiving week. Not only do the Blue Jackets have the worst record in the Metropolitan Division, they hold the worst record in the Eastern Conference by a margin of three points.
Blue Jackets Make Patrik Laine A Healthy Scratch
After benching star players Johnny Gaudreau and Patrik Laine in several games, the head coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Pascal Vincent, has made Laine a healthy scratch in the team’s game tonight against the Philadelphia Flyers (X Link). In nine games played this year, Laine has two goals and one assist, as well as a -6 rating.
Columbus has certainly struggled to generate offense from their star players at the forward position this year, as Boone Jenner leads the way with 10 points in 18 games. Before tonight’s game against the Flyers, defensemen Ivan Provorov and Zach Werenski lead the team in points with 11 each on the year.
Spending a combined $18.45MM on both Gaudreau and Laine (22% of their entire cap space), the two have only combined for 10 points in 27 games played, hardly what the Blue Jackets should be expecting at that dollar value. Although the bad start to the year is not solely on the shoulders of Gaudreau and Laine, this is a decision that has appeared to be brewing for quite some time.
In a report from Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch, Vincent was quoted as saying, “It was a hard conversation … but nobody is bigger than the Blue Jackets“. Understandably, Laine is reportedly unhappy with the decision made by his new coach, but Vincent is adamant about sending a message to the entirety of the team about the lack of offense.
After being acquired by Columbus back in the 2020-21 season, even though Laine has scored 60 goals and 72 assists in 165 games as a Blue Jacket, he has historically been known to go through streaks as a player. Notably, from mid-December to mid-February last year, Laine would only score five goals in 22 games, before scoring eight goals in 16 games to end the season.
Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see how Laine’s situation in Columbus continues to play out, as being a healthy scratch for the first time in his career may cause his frustrations to boil over.
OHL Rights To Del Bel Belluz Traded To Saginaw
- The OHL rights to Blue Jackets prospect Luca Del Bel Belluz have been acquired by Saginaw, per a team release. The 20-year-old is in his first professional season with AHL Cleveland and has fared well in his limited action so far, collecting two goals and three assists in six games. Saginaw is hosting the Memorial Cup this year and if Columbus decides that they want Del Bel Belluz to go back and get top-line minutes, they’ll be sending him to a team that’s loading up for what should be a long playoff run.
Columbus Expected To Recall Trey Fix-Wolansky
The Columbus Blue Jackets are expected to recall forward Trey Fix-Wolansky from the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL. Fix-Wolansky has recorded 16 points through 11 games with the Monsters, leading the team in both points and assists. He also ranks fifth in the AHL in points, despite being tied for the fewest games played of anyone in the top 10.
Fix-Wolansky has appeared in 15 NHL games over the course of the last two seasons, scoring two goals and one assist. It’s been a modest showing at the top level, despite Fix-Wolansky showing consistent scoring ability in the minors. In addition to his team-leading tallies this year, Fix-Wolansky also scored 71 points in 61 games last season, again good for the lead spot in Cleveland. In fact, Fix-Wolansky scored over 30 points more than Justin Richards, who ranked second.
The Blue Jackets bring Fix-Wolansky to the NHL lineup in response to centerman Jack Roslovic suffering an ankle injury that’s expected to hold him out for the next six weeks. Roslovic has appeared in 14 games this season, scoring six points and recording a -6. The 24-year-old Fix-Wolansky will become the fourth rookie in the Blue Jackets lineup, if he’s able to slot in, joining Adam Fantilli, Dmitri Voronkov, and David Jiricek. Columbus has gotten exciting play out of their rookie forwards so far, with Fantilli ranked second on the team in scoring with nine points in 16 games and Voronkov not far behind with seven points in 10 games. Jiricek hasn’t found the same early success, though, netting only three points in the 11 games that he’s played this year.
Blue Jackets Place Emil Bemström On Waivers
The Columbus Blue Jackets placed winger Emil Bemström on waivers Wednesday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Bemström, 24, was a fourth-round pick of the team in 2017 and has since become a familiar face in the Blue Jackets’ forward group, amassing 184 games over the last five seasons. Now in the second season of a two-year, $1.8MM contract, Bemström made the team out of camp after not doing so last year, playing in 12 games thus far with three goals, an assist and a -7 rating.
However, he has begun to fall out of favor with first-year head coach Pascal Vincent. Bemström has been scratched in three out of the last five games and posted a -2 rating in 13:29 of ice time in the Blue Jackets’ 5-3 loss to the Penguins on Tuesday.
Bemström’s linemates have changed frequently this season, although he’s spent the most time on the wing with Adam Fantilli and Alexandre Texier. In 26 minutes together across six games, it’s been one of the Blue Jackets’ worst forward lines defensively, allowing 4.68 expected goals against per 60 minutes, according to MoneyPuck.
There is no pending injured reserve activation that would force the opening of a roster spot. If the Blue Jackets decide to fill Bemström’s spot on the 23-man roster after he’s claimed or assigned to the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, it will likely be in the form of a call-up. That could go to 2021 fifth-overall pick Kent Johnson, who’s done well in a brief stint with Cleveland. He’s posted five points in four games after getting sent down at the beginning of November.
That said, Bemström is a decent candidate for a claim, and there are likely to be a few teams considering it. He’s quite affordable, carrying a cap hit of $900K, and will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season. He posted a career-high 22 points in 55 games with the Blue Jackets last season – a 33-point pace – after starting the year with 31 points in 21 games with Cleveland.
Blue Jackets Recall David Jiříček, Place Jack Roslovic On IR
The Columbus Blue Jackets brought top defense prospect David Jiříček back up from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters on Monday, per a team release. In a corresponding move, forward Jack Roslovic was placed on injured reserve and is expected to miss four to six weeks with a fractured ankle.
Roslovic, 26, sustained the injury in Sunday’s 4-3 shootout loss at the hands of the New York Rangers. Playing in 14 out of 15 games for Columbus this season, Roslovic has two goals and six assists for eight points with 29 shots on goal and has averaged 16:30 of ice time per game.
The 2021 trade acquisition from the Winnipeg Jets has been working his way up the lineup after starting the season in a bottom-six role, yesterday skating on a line with Johnny Gaudreau and Cole Sillinger. In his place, 24-year-old Emil Bemström, who has three goals and an assist in 11 games this season, will likely slot into the lineup Tuesday against the Penguins.
A hometown son, Roslovic has been inconsistent throughout his NHL career but has provided decent secondary scoring on the whole since arriving in Columbus, notching 47 goals, 84 assists and 131 points in 220 games with the Blue Jackets. The 2015 first-round pick is in the final season of a two-year, $8MM deal and will be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Jiříček, meanwhile, earns a deserved ride back to the NHL roster after being sent down Saturday to make room on the 23-man roster to activate Patrik Laine off IR. His ice time has been rather limited this season at 13:34 per game, a curious move by head coach Pascal Vincent considering his pairing with Ivan Provorov has been decent, as he’s registered a goal and two points along with 19 shot attempts.
Columbus selected Jiříček, who will be 20 later this month, with the sixth overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. Playing in the AHL during his rookie pro season, a rare feat for a player fresh off his draft season, he notched 38 points in 55 games for the Monsters last year and was named the AHL’s Rookie of the Month for December. Jiříček, now the eighth Blue Jackets defenseman on the NHL roster, could return to the lineup tomorrow.
Blue Jackets Activate Patrik Laine, Send Jiříček To AHL
The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that they’ve activated forward Patrik Laine off the IR and sent defenseman David Jiříček to their AHL affiliate the Cleveland Monsters. Laine suffered an upper-body injury on October 20th and has missed the Blue Jackets past nine games.
The news means that Laine will most likely dress for Columbus when they take on the Detroit Red Wings this afternoon. It is welcome news for the Blue Jackets as they currently sit eighth in the Metropolitan Division with a 4-6-3 record in their first 13 games. Laine has been a point-a-game player over the past two years but started slowly this year registering a goal and an assist in four games thus far.
The Blue Jackets were carrying eight defensemen and needed to move someone out to facilitate Laine’s return to the lineup. However, the Jiříček demotion is perplexing for several reasons. The 19-year-old has already exceeded the games played limit for his entry-level contract slide meaning that Columbus will burn a year off his deal regardless and according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic the team told him to find a place to live in Columbus just last week. The native of Klatovy, Czech Republic has been okay in ten games this season with a goal and two assists while keeping his head above water at 5 on 5. He hasn’t seen any time on the powerplay thus far and just over one minute in time on the penalty kill.
Columbus can always recall Jiříček from the AHL if they sustain another injury, but for a team that is developing a lot of young players, demoting a 19-year-old after telling him to find lodging might not sit well in their dressing room.
Snapshots: Darcy Kuemper, Carter Hart, Patrik Laine
Washington Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery shared that Darcy Kuemper got banged up in the team’s last game. He will sit out of the team’s Friday game with an undisclosed injury. The Capitals recalled Hunter Shepard in response. He will serve as the backup behind Charlie Lindgren on Friday.
Kuemper has been in and out of the lineup to start the season, appearing in eight games with the Capitals. He’s managed a 3-3-2 record through that span, recording a .892 save percentage. That’s a step down from the .902 save percentage that he ended the 2022-23 season with – a mark he set en route to a 22-26-7 record in 57 games.
Charlie Lindgren has found himself with the best save percentage on the team, currently sitting with a .929 through the two games he’s appeared in, saving 65 of the 70 shots that he’s faced so far. Shepard also stepped in for one game, allowing four goals on 22 shots but nevertheless managing his first NHL win.
Other notes from around the league:
- Carter Hart will miss the Philadelphia Flyers’ Friday night game with illness. Samuel Ersson is set to start in his place. Ersson has recorded a .830 save percentage and 1-3-1 record through five games this season. Hart has tallied a .913 save percentage and 4-3-0 record in eight games.
- Columbus Blue Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent shared that star winger Patrik Laine could return from his concussion at some point this weekend. The Jackets play on both Saturday and Sunday. Laine has managed two points and a -2 through four games this season.