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Nick Blankenburg

Columbus Blue Jackets Make Multiple Roster Moves

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The Columbus Blue Jackets announced on Wednesday that they have recalled goaltender Jon Gillies from their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, on an emergency basis. In addition, the team has assigned defenseman Jake Christiansen and goaltender Jet Greaves to the Monsters.

The move to send Christiansen back to the AHL could indicate that another defenseman, Nick Blankenburg, may be available for tomorrow’s game against the New Jersey Devils, per Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch. Blankenburg has been sidelined with an ankle injury since March 27 and was considered week-to-week, but could return to the lineup after an absence of 10 days and five games.

Gillies and Greaves have once again been swapped for one another on the NHL roster as Elvis Merzlikins remains sidelined with a lower-body injury. Greaves is returning to the Monsters after making his NHL debut on Tuesday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 22-year-old goaltender set a franchise record for shots faced and saves in his first NHL game, stopping 46 of 49 shots in a 4-2 loss. Greaves spent less than two days on the NHL roster after he was added from Cleveland on emergency recall on Monday.

As noted by AHL beat reporter Patrick Williams, the return to Cleveland will give the young Greaves good experience in high-stakes games. The Monsters are set to face off against the Belleville Senators tonight, with both teams three points out of the final playoff spot in the AHL’s North Division.

The Blue Jackets acquired Gillies in a pre-deadline trade with the Arizona Coyotes. It took a while for him to make his first NHL appearance with the team, but he made an immediate impact, stopping 24 of 27 shots in a 4-3 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators last Sunday.

Since making his NHL debut in the 2016-17 season, the 29-year-old journeyman has gone 8-15-3 with a 3.29 goals-against average and .893 save percentage in 33 career contests with the Blue Jackets, New Jersey Devils, St. Louis Blues, and Calgary Flames.

Despite his solid performance over the weekend, Gillies has struggled in the AHL this season, posting a 3.70 goals-against average and .878 save percentage in 15 appearances with the Tucson Roadrunners before the trade. He’s yet to appear with the Monsters since Columbus acquired him over a month ago.

Meanwhile, Christiansen heads back to the Monsters after being added to the Blue Jackets’ roster on an emergency basis on March 25. The 23-year-old defenseman has recorded three assists, four penalty minutes, and 25 shots on goal in 23 games with Columbus this season. The undrafted free agent signing is in his third professional season after completing five campaigns of junior hockey with the WHL’s Everett Silvertips.

Columbus Blue Jackets Issue Injury Updates

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In what’s becoming a tired refrain, the Columbus Blue Jackets have issued multiple injury updates after a blowout loss over the weekend. Defenseman Erik Gudbranson’s season is over with a separated shoulder, while defenseman Nick Blankenburg is week-to-week with an ankle injury and could also be done for the year. Winger Mathieu Olivier may have also played his last game this season, as he’s out two to four weeks with a lower leg bone bruise. Goalie Elvis Merzlikins is also day-to-day with a lower-body injury.

For Gudbranson, the injury ends a rocky first campaign in Columbus after signing a four-year, $4MM average annual value contract in the offseason. The 31-year-old had 13 points in 70 games, seeing his defensive play regress back to some of the worst metrics in the league after a brief spike last season with the Calgary Flames.

Blankenburg has also struggled with injuries most of the year, but the 24-year-old rookie has played well. Some doubted Blankenburg’s NHL viability after signing with Columbus as a free agent out of college to end last season. Still, the 5-foot-9, 175-pound defender finished the year with 14 points in 36 games without being a complete defensive liability on a struggling team.

In his first season in Columbus, Olivier has set career highs in every offensive category, playing in 66 games and registering five goals and 15 points. The 26-year-old hard-nosed winger had found a consistent home on the team’s fourth line.

Without Merzlikins in the fold for the next few games, Columbus is down to minor-league veterans Michael Hutchinson and Jon Gillies as their netminders for the next few games.

Columbus Blue Jackets Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced three roster moves: the team has activated defenseman Nick Blankenburg off of injured reserve, placed forward Eric Robinson on injured reserve retroactive to January 3rd, and recalled netminder Jet Greaves from their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, on an emergency basis.

Blankenburg, 24, returns to the Blue Jackets’ roster at an important time as his team is besieged by injuries. Those injuries have caused Columbus to rely on rookies such as Tim Berni and Marcus Bjork to play larger roles than they’d likely otherwise be playing. With Blankenburg now back, coach Brad Larsen will have another option to help out his beleaguered blueline.

Blankenburg made his NHL debut last season after ending a four-year collegiate career at the University of Michigan and has played in seven games this season. He’s scored three points in that span and has skated in just over 18 minutes per night.

Replacing Blankenburg on injured reserve is Robinson, a 27-year-old winger. Like Blankenburg, Robinson is an undrafted player who enjoyed a fruitful NCAA career en route to the Blue Jackets organization.

Robinson has 10 points in 31 games so far this season and has been a first-unit penalty killer for Columbus alongside veteran center Sean Kuraly. He’ll now be on injured reserve moving forward as he recovers from an upper-body injury.

This recall is the fifth emergency recall of the season for Greaves, the Blue Jackets’ 21-year-old netminder. Greaves has been forced into the organization’s number-three role thanks to an injury to Daniil Tarasov, and has been shuttled from Columbus to Cleveland relatively frequently as a result.

Greaves, who like the other two players involved in today’s transactions did not hear his name called at the NHL draft, made his professional debut last season. He split time between Cleveland and the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings, posting a .905 save percentage in the AHL and a .907 in the ECHL.

This season, Greaves has only played in the AHL. (to go along with the time he’s spent on the bench in Columbus) He’s gotten into 15 games for the Monsters and gone 6-6-2 with a 3.69 goals-against-average and an .885 save percentage.

Greaves’ numbers are admittedly far weaker than they were last season, but it’s worth noting that the Monsters have been one of the AHL’s weakest teams over the past two seasons. With this emergency recall, Greaves will be on the bench for tonight’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes, backing up Joonas Korpisalo.

Snapshots: Three Stars, Laine, Bear

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The NHL released its Three Stars for last week, with Filip Forsberg leading the way. The Nashville Predators winger scored five goals and seven points in three games, extending his lead in the team scoring race. Forsberg now has 14 goals and 32 points in 35 games, not quite the same pace he set last season when looking for a new contract. Even with a Forsberg hat trick on New Year’s Eve, the Predators failed to secure two points against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Second and third went to Erik Karlsson and Antti Raanta, who each had outstanding weeks. Karlsson had seven assists in four games and now leads the entire NHL in that category with 40 through his first 39 games. The San Jose Sharks defenseman is having an incredible bounce-back campaign and will once again be a Norris candidate thanks to a huge point total. Raanta, meanwhile, stopped 67 of 71 shots across three wins, keeping the Carolina Hurricanes on their 11-game streak.

  • Patrik Laine is out of COVID protocol and back with the Columbus Blue Jackets, according to Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The star ginger will be back in the lineup tomorrow and is expected to skate with Kent Johnson and Jonny Gaudreau on the top line. Laine’s season has been constantly interrupted by injury and illness, resulting in just 20 games played so far. He has nine goals and 16 points in those appearances.
  • Portzline adds that Nick Blankenburg, who has been out since November, will travel with the club for their game against the Ottawa Senators but is not expected to play. The 24-year-old was averaging more than 18 minutes a night in his seven appearances before going down to a broken ankle.
  • Now that the calendar has been turned to 2023, players on one-year deals are eligible to sign extensions as Joe Pavelski did yesterday. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports that Ethan Bear and the Vancouver Canucks are expected to talk this week about a potential deal, though there is no guarantee a contract is signed so quickly. Bear has played well for the Canucks since they acquired him at the end of October from the Carolina Hurricanes, and is currently scheduled to become a restricted free agent when his one-year, $2.2MM deal expires.

East Notes: Red Wings, Raanta, Blue Jackets

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Robby Fabbri is nearing a return for the Red Wings and there’s more help on the horizon as well as head coach Derek Lalonde told reporters, including MLive’s Ansar Khan (Twitter link) that wingers Tyler Bertuzzi and Filip Zadina are on the same timeframe for a return and should be back in the next eight to ten days.  Bertuzzi has missed the last month after undergoing wrist surgery and while he’s off to a slow start this season, he had a career-high 62 points in 2021-22.  Meanwhile, Zadina has missed more than seven weeks with a lower-body injury.  With those two and Fabbri close to coming back, Detroit’s forward group is about to get a lot deeper in the very near future as they look to hang around the Wild Card battle.

Elsewhere in the East:

  • While Carolina’s original intention might have been to send Pyotr Kochetkov back to the minors when Frederik Andersen returns from his injury, his play has made that much more difficult. Accordingly, Adam Proteau of The Hockey News opines that Antti Raanta might be the odd one out between the pipes.  He has a 2.53 GAA with a .900 SV% in 14 starts this season, a decent return on a $2.25MM AAV.  While the Hurricanes likely wouldn’t be able to command a sizable return for Raanta’s services, he could be a useful pickup for a team looking for a short-term option between the pipes.
  • The Blue Jackets announced (Twitter link) that goaltender Daniil Tarasov suffered an upper-body injury in practice on Friday. The 23-year-old was likely to be sent to the minors soon with Elvis Merzlikins clearing COVID protocol earlier this week but this will now delay that for at least a few days as Tarasov is listed as day-to-day.  He has played in a dozen games with Columbus this season, recording a 3.40 GAA with a .907 SV%.
  • Still with the Blue Jackets, defenseman Nick Blankenburg has resumed skating as he works his way back from a broken ankle, relays Aaron Portzline of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has been out for the last seven weeks due to the injury and there remains no timetable for his return.  Blankenburg has three points in seven games so far this season.

Zach Werenski Out Rest Of Season

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have updated the status of Zach Werenski and it isn’t good news. The star defenseman suffered a separated shoulder and torn labrum last season and is expected to miss the rest of the regular season. The team has also moved Nick Blankenburg, Sean Kuraly, and Jakub Voracek on injured reserve, while recalling Gavin Bayreuther, Marcus Bjork, and David Jiricek.

Blankenburg is out six to eight weeks with a fractured ankle. Kuraly is considered day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Voracek is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. Erik Gudbranson is also day-to-day but will not play tomorrow.

This is about the worst-case scenario for the Blue Jackets, who managed to win last night for just the fourth time this season. The team has already struggled to keep the puck out of their own net, allowing 57 goals through 13 games. By removing Werenski – and to a lesser extent Blankenburg – their defensive group now looks incredibly thin with basically no first-pairing talent. The 25-year-old also makes more than $9.5MM per season, a higher cap hit than anyone other than Johnny Gaudreau.

Without him, the team suddenly looks like a group that will be unable to turn around their tough start. The draft lottery in a year with several high-end prospects looks like a tempting reward for finishing near the bottom of the league.

The silver lining, perhaps, is that a young player like Jiricek could receive some interesting NHL opportunities. Werenski was the quarterback of the team’s top powerplay unit, a role that will now need to be filled by someone. During Jiricek’s short two-game taste earlier this year he did see a bit of time with the man advantage, though he wasn’t able to record a point.

While they won’t admit it, the Blue Jackets will likely have to transition this season into a development year and start looking toward the future. That will increase speculation about Gustav Nyquist, Vladislav Gavrikov, and Joonas Korpisalo, all scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency at the end of the year.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Columbus Blue Jackets Activate Nick Blankenburg

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Ahead of today’s game in Finland, the Columbus Blue Jackets have activated Nick Blankenburg from injured reserve. The move meant Gavin Bayreuther has been assigned to the AHL, though he took morning skate with the team overseas so won’t be playing for the Cleveland Monsters tonight.

Blankenburg, 24, missed several games with an elbow injury and will go directly back into the lineup. He was skating next to Vladislav Gavrikov on the second pair yesterday. The undrafted defenseman had two points in his first three games of the season before exiting early in number four, and appears to be a nice find for the club. Signed out of the University of Michigan, he now has five points in his career and will look to build on that number in Finland today.

The club takes on the Colorado Avalanche as part of the Global Series, allowing Patrik Laine to suit up in his hometown of Tampere. Bayreuther, 28, won’t get a chance to experience that and will have to go back to the Monsters when they return to North America. The minor league veteran was scoreless in his one NHL appearance this season.

Columbus Blue Jackets Place Nick Blankenburg On IR, Activate Joonas Korpisalo

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The Columbus Blue Jackets announced a pair of roster moves this morning, placing defenseman Nick Blankenburg on IR retroactive to October 23rd and in a related move, goaltender Joonas Korpisalo has been activated off of IR. Korpisalo will not immediately join Columbus, however, as he’s been assigned to the Cleveland Monsters of the AHL on a conditioning assignment. Columbus next plays tomorrow afternoon in Newark against the New Jersey Devils. Cleveland plays this evening, but doesn’t play again until next weekend.

Blankenburg, 24, suffered an upper-body injury last Sunday in a game against the New York Rangers, appearing to injure his left arm. The defenseman tried to play through the injury, but left early in the second period. Blankenburg is considered day-to-day, and was practicing today in a non-contact jersey, reports BlueJackets.com’s Jeff Svoboda. Undrafted by an NHL team, Blankenburg spent four seasons at the University of Michigan, capped off by a stellar senior season in which he scored 14 goals to go with 15 assists in just 38 games. After the season, he turned pro, signing with Columbus and making his NHL debut on April 13th of this year. To date, he has two goals and three assists in 11 career games, all with Columbus.

Korpisalo has yet to play this season while recovering from season-ending hip surgery on March 24th. The 28-year-old has made his mark with the Blue Jackets, establishing himself as one of the league’s best backup goaltenders. However, he did struggle last year, recording an .877 save-percentage and 4.10 goals-against average in 22 games. Despite the struggle, Columbus showed their faith in the veteran by signing him to a one-year $1.3MM contract extension this spring. Once healthy, Korpisalo can look to rebound from his poor performance and injury issues of 2021-22 while fighting for playing time alongside starting netminder Elvis Merzlikins, who has struggled himself to start this season.

Injury Notes: Canucks, Chytil, Blankenburg

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These days, most news on the Vancouver Canucks relates to their early struggles to start the season. Given their 0-4-2 start after a tough 8-15-2 start last season, flanked by their extensions with Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller, but lack of extension with Bo Horvat, the team’s captain, the questions are fair and the storylines sensible. That said, Canucks head coach Bruce Boudreau did provide a few updates to the media this afternoon, including The Athletic’s Harman Dayal, regarding the team’s injuries.

Defenseman Quinn Hughes, who missed last night’s game against the Buffalo Sabres, a 5-1 loss in Vancouver’s home-opener, is still considered day-to-day as of right now, good news for one of the team’s best players, who is currently averaging 27:14 of time-on-ice per night, a career-high so far. No real update was given on defenseman Tucker Poolman, who has played in just three games this season, Boudreau calling it a “tough situation,” the 29-year-old having “good days and bad days.” It’s unclear exactly what is bothering Poolman, but he did miss a large chunk of last season while dealing with migraine issues. Defenseman Travis Dermott, who suffered a concussion in late September, has been progressing well, Boudreau said, but will not play this week.

  • The New York Rangers and Columbus Blue Jackets will each have to finish their game shorthanded this evening. For the Rangers, center Filip Chytil left the game with an upper-body injury and will not return, says The Athletic’s Arthur Staple. Chytil had been tripped up earlier in the game, crashing hard to the ice and slow to get up, presumably the cause of the injury.
  • Also leaving that game is Columbus defenseman Nick Blankenburg, who suffered an upper-body injury, the team confirms. Blankenburg had been involved in an awkward collision earlier in the game, appearing to injure his left arm, writes Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. The defenseman attempted to play through the injury, but ultimately left the game early in the second period.

Nick Blankenburg Signs Two-Year Contract

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The Columbus Blue Jackets have signed young defenseman Nick Blankenburg to a two-year contract worth a total of $1.65MM, after impressing in his short stint at the end of the season. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that the deal is one-way in both years and will pay $800K in 2022-23 and $850K in 2023-24 ($825K AAV).

Blankenburg, 24, was signed out of the University of Michigan as an undrafted free agent and immediately made an impact, scoring three points in seven games with the Blue Jackets at the end of the season. He was a restricted free agent this summer without arbitration rights, meaning this deal suggests he is truly in the team’s NHL plans moving forward.

And why not, given the level of play he showed at the end of the year. You may think a defenseman who stands just 5’9″ and weighs in under 180 lbs would be one that plays on the perimeter but not Blankenburg, who racked up 19 hits in that seven-game tryout at the end of the year. Blue Jackets Jarmo Kekalainen even noted that in his statement today:

Nick is a hard-nosed, competitive, smart defenseman who really impressed us after his arrival late last season. He has great potential, and we are very excited to watch his continued growth and development with our club.

The fact that he has built-in chemistry with Blue Jackets top prospect Kent Johnson from their time at Michigan doesn’t hurt, as the two joined the organization at basically the same time. They will likely both feature on the NHL roster this season, though Blankenburg will have to compete for any playing time he wants. He’s the eighth defenseman signed to a one-way contract, and has some pretty established talents in front of him on the depth chart.

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