The Columbus Blue Jackets took the ice this morning for practice before their matchup tomorrow night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Columbus notably had three goaltenders on the ice, and team reporter Jeff Svoboda confirmed that Elvis Merzļikins has resumed skating after nursing an upper-body injury.
It looks like Merzlikins is healthy enough to participate in tomorrow night’s contest with the team announcing they have returned netminder Jet Greaves to their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, after serving on an emergency recall. Greaves suited up in two games for the Blue Jackets on the recall but spent the entire time on the bench with fellow goaltender Daniil Tarasov taking both starts.
It’s anyone’s guess who the Blue Jackets will choose to start tomorrow night’s contest with Merzlikins and Tarasov producing similar numbers to start the 2024-25 regular season. According to Hockey Reference, the two have combined for a 2-3-0 record through five games with a .869 save percentage and a -4.0 goals save above average. The deciding factor may hinge on Merzlikins’ health summary tomorrow morning.
Other Metro notes:
- The New Jersey Devils sent defenseman Seamus Casey to AHL Utica this morning in exchange for Daniil Misyul despite the former scoring three goals and four points in his first eight NHL contests. Team reporter Amanda Stein revealed additional content for the move mentioning that although defensemen Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce won’t suit up tomorrow night, their return “is imminent”. The two undoubtedly will improve New Jersey’s chances of returning to the NHL playoffs next spring as they currently sit ninth in the NHL in points percentage through eight games.
- Mollie Walker of the New York Post reported mild injury news for the New York Rangers sharing forward Alexis Lafrenière is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. Lafrenière has been one of the team’s best forwards out of the gate with three goals and six points in five games while averaging 17:45 of ice time per night. With it being the last game of the team’s current three-game road trip, he may be on the shelf tomorrow against the Montreal Canadiens depending on the injury’s severity.
What’s going on in Columbus? Injuries already starting to pile up, Yet again, And the Jackets are clearly trying to bury Jiricek.
I’ve been asking the same question. I’ve heard that poor training routines can result in higher likelihood of injury, but it could be just plain bad luck.
If you actually watched the games you’d see that Jiricek actually bplayed the last game.
He’s not being buried. The new motto is you have to earn it. He finally earned the right to play so he’s playing.
You’re obviously not a Columbus fan or you would known this already.