The Columbus Blue Jackets are placing defenceman Zach Werenski on injured reserve, retroactive to December 20th the team announced on Sunday.
The former All-Star was not seen on the ice at practice on Saturday and has already been ruled out of the team’s contest against the Islanders. While the team is using the general “lower body injury” designation, it appears to be an ankle injury suffered last Saturday against the Anaheim Ducks.
Werenski had to crawl off the ice after blocking a shot in the third period of his team’s eventual 4-3 loss, and would not return to the contest. It’s a big blow to the Blue Jackets blue line as the 28 year old currently has 40 points (14G, 26A) across 35 contests this season.
Scans reportedly came back clean with no indications of broken bones, however the team has thus far offered no concrete timeline for their star defender’s return to action. Following their late afternoon tilt against New York, the team is immediately back in action against the Ottawa Senators on Monday night.
With a day off in between, and then a 3 game home stand to follow, it’s very likely Werenski could stay back in Columbus to continue to recover, before trying to draw back into the lineup on Wednesday vs. the Devils.
In a corresponding move, General Manager Don Waddell announced that forward Mathieu Olivier off injured reserve following a 13 game absence of his own.
Photo: Jenn G. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.