Columbus Blue Jackets Recall Marcus Bjork
The Columbus Blue Jackets still have one game before the break, and they’re making a slight change to the roster. Marcus Bjork has been recalled, while Jake Christiansen is on his way back to the minor leagues.
Bjork, 25, has played in 26 games for the Blue Jackets this season as a rookie, after signing a one-year entry-level contract in the summer. The undrafted defenseman was a solid contributor for years in the SHL before deciding to try his luck in North America, and has so far acclimated quite well.
With 11 points in those games, Bjork actually leads all Blue Jackets defensemen in scoring this season. A lot of that has to do with the major injuries suffered by key players, but it’s impressive nonetheless for a first-year player seeing part-time duty.
Christiansen, 23, only played in one game during the recent call-up, and has 18 total for the season. He has scored just two points and rarely gets much ice time. On the year, he’s averaging fewer than 14 minutes, meaning he might be better off playing in the minor leagues, if his development is still a priority.
Blue Jackets Claim Lane Pederson Off Waivers From Canucks
The Blue Jackets have added some forward depth as NorthStar Bets’ Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that they’ve claimed center Lane Pederson off waivers from the Canucks. To make room for him on the active roster, Columbus has placed winger Gustav Nyquist on injured reserve.
Pederson successfully made it through waivers back in October while he was still with Carolina. With them, he played in four games with AHL Chicago before being included as a salary offset in the trade that also saw Vancouver pick up defenseman Ethan Bear. The 25-year-old remained in the minors with Abbotsford for nearly two months, averaging just shy of a goal per game which earned him a recall in late November.
Since being brought up, Pederson had been a regular for the Canucks, getting into 11 games (including last night’s contest against Columbus while on waivers), picking up a goal and two assists while averaging just under 13 minutes a night. For his career, Pederson has two goals and six helpers in 55 games between Arizona, San Jose, and Vancouver. He’s on a one-way contract for the league minimum salary of $750K and is arbitration-eligible if he can get into 25 more games this season. Otherwise, he becomes a Group Six unrestricted free agent.
The move is a low-risk flyer for the Blue Jackets who needed a replacement for Nyquist who is out indefinitely while there’s a strong chance they’ll be trading a few players between now and the March 3rd deadline so extra bodies were going to be needed at some point. Pederson has a chance to play a regular role in Columbus in the hopes of finding some NHL stability that has so far eluded him across four different organizations.
Blue Jackets Recall Jake Christiansen
The Blue Jackets have brought up some extra depth in advance of their game tonight against Seattle, announcing the recall of defenseman Jake Christiansen from Cleveland of the AHL. His promotion is likely related to Nick Blankenburg‘s upper-body injury that caused him to miss last night’s game against Vancouver.
It’s the second recall of the season for the 23-year-old who got into 17 games with Columbus during that first stint before being sent back to the Monsters late last month. Christiansen had a pair of assists during that stretch while averaging a hit and block per game in just under 14 minutes of playing time per night. He has been more productive in the minors, picking up a dozen points in 23 contests and is only a year removed from a 45-point sophomore year with Cleveland.
Columbus now has seven healthy defensemen on the roster so there’s no guarantee that Christiansen will be in the lineup tonight against the Kraken. The blueliner is in the final year of his entry-level contract and will be eligible for salary arbitration this summer.
Gustav Nyquist Out Indefinitely With Upper-Body Injury
It’s starting to get closer to the time of year when teams will be holding out potential trade assets to protect them from injury. Unfortunately, the Columbus Blue Jackets hadn’t reached that point yet with Gustav Nyquist, who suffered an injury on Wednesday against the Edmonton Oilers. Today, the Blue Jackets have announced that Nyquist is out indefinitely with an upper-body ailment.
It was less than two weeks ago that reports emerged about the Blue Jackets talking to teams about Nyquist, who is on an expiring contract and comes with plenty of experience. The 33-year-old has ten goals and 22 points on the season and was playing nearly 18 minutes a night for the banged-up Columbus squad.
Just five shifts into his night against the Oilers, though, he collided with Jesse Puljujarvi and left the game. At the time, head coach Brad Larsen told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch that Nyquist would be re-evaluated on Thursday. Announcing an indefinite absence is an ominous conclusion to that evaluation, though it doesn’t necessarily mean anything long-term.
What it does mean, is there will now be plenty of confusion around his deadline value. Nyquist already was showing signs of slowing down, but was still an important two-way player for the Blue Jackets and an ideal trade deadline candidate for many teams.
Just last season he scored 53 points, and given his ability to play both wings, could fit onto a third line almost anywhere. While his $5.5MM cap hit does cause a problem, the Blue Jackets have shown a willingness to retain at the deadline in the past, and could have squeezed a nice asset out of a Nyquist trade.
Now, there’s no telling if he’ll even be moved.
Daniil Tarasov Reassigned To Minor Leagues
The Columbus Blue Jackets have returned Daniil Tarasov to the minor leagues, less than a week after he was activated from injured reserve. The young netminder played once during that time, stopping 26 of 28 shots in a loss to the Nashville Predators on Tuesday
Through 13 appearances this season, Tarasov continues to show that he has the potential to be a full-time NHL option for the Blue Jackets in the near future. The 23-year-old now has a .914 save percentage in his 17-game career, and has arguably outperformed both Joonas Korpisalo and Elvis Merzlikins this season, even if most of his appearances still result in losses (most of the Blue Jackets’ games do).
With Korpisalo on an expiring deal and Tarasov signed to a new three-year contract last summer, his time is coming. The question now will be whether Merzlikins can bounce back from his dreadful 2022-23 season or if there will be a goaltending controversy in Columbus next year.
For now, it doesn’t really matter who plays for the team. Columbus is destined for the bottom of the standings, and letting Tarasov play in the minor leagues may be a better use of his talent. He won’t be waiver-exempt next year, meaning this is the last chance they have to move him freely between leagues.
New York Rangers Checked In On Vladislav Gavrikov
One of the names you will hear a lot as the trade deadline approaches is Vladislav Gavrikov, the Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman that is coming to the end of his three-year, $8.4MM deal. A pending free agent with a relatively low $2.8MM cap hit, he is one of the top rental defensemen on the market, given his size, mobility, and experience. Gavrikov had 33 points last season, and is still logging more than 22 minutes a night this year.
In an article by Arthur Staple of The Athletic, it is revealed that the New York Rangers are one of the teams to have called on Gavrikov. The ask from the Blue Jackets, reportedly, is a first-round pick plus a mid-round pick. Recent years have seen players like Ben Chiarot, and David Savard land first-rounders at the deadline, while Josh Manson was dealt for Drew Helleson and a second last deadline. The key to Gavrikov’s market is how inexpensive he will be. If the Blue Jackets retain half of his contract, the $1.4MM cap hit is easy to absorb for many of the league’s contenders.
Columbus Blue Jackets Listening On Gustav Nyquist
Though it looks like it might change tonight, when the day began, the Columbus Blue Jackets were in last place in the NHL. After signing Johnny Gaudreau to a massive free agent contract, just about everything has gone wrong this season, with a long list of injuries dropping the Blue Jackets out of playoff contention almost right away.
It makes sense, then, that Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen would be looking at ways to turn expiring contracts into future assets. One of those expiring deals is Gustav Nyquist, who is finishing up a four-year, $22MM contract this season. On the Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek explained that the team is now listening to trade offers for Nyquist.
Now 33, Nyquist has long been an effective offensive player in the NHL. In all right of his full seasons in the league, he has scored at least 42 points, and just last season posted 18 goals and 53 points in all 82 games. This year hasn’t been quite as good, with just 18 on the board, but at least some of that is due to the poor performance around him.
Most notably, perhaps, is that he doesn’t rely on powerplay opportunities to get his offense. Nyquist hasn’t cracked 12 points with the man advantage since 2014-15, and actually had just as many shorthanded goals (4) as powerplay markers last season. Two of his eight goals this year are while penalty killing, another attribute that will certainly make him attractive come deadline time.
The Blue Jackets have selected five times in the first round the last two years, and now look like they have a legitimate shot at Connor Bedard. If they can continue to add pieces, there could be much better times just around the corner in Columbus.
Kekalainen Hoping To Get Texier Back Next Season
There was some surprise when it was announced that Blue Jackets winger Alexandre Texier would play this season in Switzerland instead of Columbus at his request to play closer to his family. GM Jarmo Kekalainen told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch that he’s hopeful that the 23-year-old will be able to return next season. Texier has six goals and 14 assists with SC Bern of the NLA this season, good for seventh on the team in scoring with five of the six ahead of him also having NHL experience. He has been a bit more productive in Champions League action, notching two goals and five assists in six games so far. Texier is in the second and final year of his bridge deal with Columbus but is not counting against their salary cap during his absence.
Blue Jackets Activate Three, Assign Marcus Bjork To AHL
The Blue Jackets have made a series of roster moves in advance of tonight’s game against Detroit. The team announced that center Boone Jenner, winger Eric Robinson, and goaltender Daniil Tarasov have been all activated off injured reserve. To make room on the roster, defenseman Marcus Bjork was sent to AHL Cleveland. Meanwhile, goaltender Joonas Korpisalo is unavailable tonight due to personal reasons.
While several veterans have struggled for Columbus this season, Jenner was one of the exceptions. Prior to fracturing his thumb last month, the 29-year-old had 11 goals and 11 assists in 30 games, a 30-goal and 30-assist pace over a full season. Additionally, Jenner is logging over 20 minutes a night and is winning 55.9% of his faceoffs, a career-high. In his absence, the Blue Jackets won less than 40% of their draws. Sophomore middleman Cole Sillinger will come out of the lineup to make room for Jenner in the lineup.
As for Robinson, he had missed the last five games due to an upper-body injury sustained earlier this month. After setting benchmarks offensively in 2021-22 with 10 goals and 17 assists, the 27-year-old has struggled on that side of the ice this season with just three goals and seven helpers in 38 games so far despite his playing time hovering near 14 minutes a night for the second year in a row. Blueliner Gavin Bayruether will be a healthy scratch to open up a spot for Robinson to return as Columbus will go back to a standard alignment of a dozen forwards and six defensemen.
Tarasov, meanwhile, was injured in practice two weeks ago, causing him to miss the last seven games and delaying their decision on whether or not to carry three goaltenders a little longer. The 23-year-old has a .907 SV% in a dozen appearances with the Blue Jackets with his save percentage being just a single point lower than Korpisalo’s.
There haven’t been many bright spots for Columbus this year but Bjork has been one of them. After signing an entry-level deal back in May, the 25-year-old started the season in the minors before being brought up in November and scored in his NHL debut. Bjork has played in 26 games with the Blue Jackets this season, collecting 11 points while logging just over 19 minutes a game. However, having sat out the last game and the fact that he’s waiver-exempt, they’ve decided that he will be the one to lose his roster spot for the time being.
Columbus Blue Jackets Assign Greaves, Fix-Wolansky To AHL
The Columbus Blue Jackets have made a couple of roster moves, sending Jet Greaves and Trey Fix-Wolansky to the AHL. That suggests Elvis Merzlikins is ready to return, and either Boone Jenner or Eric Robinson – who both took part in practice today – will also be in the lineup tomorrow night.
Fix-Wolansky, 23, has played just four games with the Blue Jackets this season, spending most of the year with the Cleveland Monsters. The undersized forward has been outstanding there, to the tune of 34 points in 26 games, but can’t seem to bring that production to the NHL. A seventh-round pick in 2018, even playing games at the highest level is beating the odds, but the Blue Jackets will keep hoping that he can contribute on a more regular basis in the future.
Greaves, meanwhile, still hasn’t appeared in the NHL and is really only an emergency backup at this point. The 21-year-old has recorded an .885 save percentage in 15 appearances for the Monsters this year and has a long way to go before he is seeing meaningful playing time in the NHL.
Getting Jenner back would be the most impactful for the Blue Jackets, who have been without their captain since December 17. The 29-year-old has 11 goals and 22 points this season through 30 games, though like so many other Columbus players, has been outscored heavily at even-strength. Jenner is averaging more than 20 minutes a night for the struggling club, which has dropped to last in the NHL standings.