- This morning, the Columbus Blue Jackets surprised many by reassigning defenseman David Jiříček to their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters. Shortly after, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic wrote a scathing article (Subscription Article) on Columbus’ handling of the sixth overall pick of the 2022 NHL Draft. Jiříček has rarely had a consistent role with the Blue Jackets despite the team carrying a subpar defensive core and has little else to prove in the AHL after scoring 13 goals and 57 points in 84 career games.
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Blue Jackets Rumors
Blue Jackets Reassign David Jiříček, Mikael Pyyhtiä
The Blue Jackets announced Wednesday that they’ve returned top defense prospect David Jiříček to AHL Cleveland. Left-winger Mikael Pyyhtiä is joining him on the road down to the minors, leaving Columbus with a pair of open roster spots.
Jiříček, who turns 21 next week, has had quite an underwhelming start to the season. After making the opening night roster as expected, the 2022 sixth-overall pick has been a healthy scratch 12 times in 18 games, despite a shoulder injury to fellow right-shot defenseman Erik Gudbranson keeping him out of the lineup since mid-October.
Most expected that injury to open up more playing time for Jiříček, who had 10 points in 43 games for the Jackets last year and was an AHL All-Star in his first season in North America in 2022-23. But head coach Dean Evason has instead opted to give more minutes to 24-year-old Jordan Harris, who was acquired from the Canadiens in this summer’s Patrik Laine trade.
Jiříček’s path to NHL ice got further muddied when Columbus claimed fellow righty Dante Fabbro off waivers from the Predators last week. Fabbro has more than earned his lineup spot in his first few games for the Jackets, though, posting three points and a +3 rating in four appearances while averaging nearly 20 minutes per game.
Jiříček drew into the lineup against the Bruins on Monday for the first time in over a week, but he played a season-low 8:14 in Columbus’ 5-1 win. Overall, the 6’4″ Czech has averaged just 11:12 of ice time through six appearances in 2024-25, down from last season’s already limited 14:36 mark, and has one assist with a -2 rating. That’s despite Columbus controlling 60.5% of expected goals with Jiříček on the ice at even strength compared to 47.9% last year.
The lack of playing time has led to some fervent trade speculation over the past few days, although there’s yet to be a credible report of an imminent move. It’s the first roster move for Jiříček this season after he was assigned to and recalled from Cleveland on five separate occasions in 2023-24.
Jiříček will now undoubtedly log heavy minutes in Cleveland while awaiting his next NHL chance, whether in Columbus or elsewhere. Since arriving in North America immediately after his draft year, the blue-liner has 13 goals and 44 assists for 57 points in 84 AHL games with a -27 rating. He joins a Cleveland defense that’s currently being dominated by first-year pro Denton Mateychuk, who was selected six spots after Jiříček in 2022 and has a remarkable six goals and 16 points through his first 15 AHL contests.
Pyyhtiä’s reassignment comes with Kent Johnson being set to come off injured reserve in the coming days after missing just over a month due to a shoulder injury. The writing was on the wall for the 22-year-old Finn, who was a healthy scratch for the first time this season against Boston and has just one goal in 17 games with a -6 rating despite averaging nearly 14 minutes per contest.
The Blue Jackets selected Pyyhtiä in the fourth round of the 2020 draft. He made the opening night roster for the first time this season, getting some brief looks on the penalty kill as well. He had seven goals and 28 points in 60 appearances for Cleveland last season, his first extended run in North America. He now has a goal and three assists in 36 career NHL appearances dating back to the 2022-23 campaign.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Kent Johnson Should Return Next Week
- The Columbus Blue Jackets should get a jolt to their 14th-ranked offense next week. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic reports that Kent Johnson will return next week from his shoulder injury. Johnson was off to a solid start to the 2024-25 campaign with two goals and five points in four contests before succumbing to the shoulder injury on October 17th.
- The Montreal Canadiens announced that defenseman David Savard wouldn’t participate in tonight’s matchup against the Blue Jackets because of an upper-body injury. He was present with the team in today’s practice and wasn’t ruled out until after warm-ups. He’s managed four assists in 17 games on the year and will miss his first game of the season.
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Metro Notes: Johnson, Brindley, Eller, Ersson
Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson is back practicing today for the first time since he injured his shoulder back on October 17th in a game against the Buffalo Sabres. Johnson has missed ten consecutive games due to the injury he suffered when colliding with a Blue Jackets teammate.
The former fifth-overall pick played in just four games before the injury but was very productive, posting two goals and three assists while averaging 16:46 of ice time per game. Johnson looked as though he was ready to break out two seasons ago when he recorded a 40-point season as a 20-year-old. However, last season, his play fell off dramatically, as he tallied just six goals and ten assists in 42 games.
In other Metropolitan Division notes:
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated forward Gavin Brindley off injured reserve and loaned him to the Cleveland Monsters of the American Hockey League. Brindley broke his finger in a preseason game on October 1st and ended up missing the first 15 games of the regular season. The 20-year-old made his NHL debut at the end of last season in April after he was drafted by the Blue Jackets in the second round of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. An undersized forward, Brindley had a very successful run in the NCAA with the Michigan Wolverines, recording 37 goals and 54 assists in 81 career games from 2022-24.
- New acquired Washington Capitals forward Lars Eller will make his return to the Capitals lineup tomorrow night after he was acquired via trade from the Penguins this week (as per Tarik El Bashir of the NHL Network). Eller practiced today with the Capitals and centered the third line where he was flanked by Andrew Mangiapane and Jakub Vrana. Eller was one of the few bright spots for the Penguins this season and dealt with very difficult deployment in Pittsburgh, starting over two-thirds of his shifts in the defensive zone. Despite the unfavorable zone starts, the 35-year-old still managed to put up four goals and three assists in 17 games.
- Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson left practice early yesterday after suffering a small tweak (as per Jordan Hall of NBC Sports Philadelphia). The issue is apparently not something that will keep Ersson out long-term, but it will keep him out of the lineup this evening as Aleksei Kolosov will be the backup to starter Ivan Fedotov. The Flyers already have three goaltenders on their roster and won’t need to make a roster in order to replace Ersson.
Blue Jackets Claim Dante Fabbro Off Waivers From Predators
2:15 PM: Columbus has moved Kent Johnson to injured reserve to make space for this waiver claim, per Aaron Portzline of The Athletic. Johnson hasn’t played since suffering a shoulder injury on October 17th. Columbus will be able to make this IR placement retroactive to that date, making this move purely a paper transaction and Johnson eligible to return as soon as he’s back to full health.
1:00 PM: The Blue Jackets have claimed defenseman Dante Fabbro off waivers from the Predators, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. Columbus’ assignment of Kent Johnson to IR opens the roster spot to make this possible.
Fabbro, a 6’0″ right-shot defender who was a first-round pick out of Boston University in 2016, is now in his seventh NHL season and had been a fringe top-four option for most of his time in Nashville. But after signing a one-year, $2.5MM extension in March to keep him off last summer’s restricted free-agent market, Fabbro tumbled down the Preds’ depth chart and was a healthy scratch in five straight games before landing on waivers yesterday.
In hindsight, 2023-24 marked the writing on the wall for Fabbro’s tenure in Nashville. He was a healthy scratch on more than a few occasions last season, too, only making 56 appearances and averaging a career-low 16:21 when in the lineup. This year, Fabbro went scoreless in six games with a -3 rating and set a new career-low with a 13:06 ATOI before hitting the waiver wire.
Some thought Fabbro’s $2.5MM cap hit meant teams would stray away from submitting claims, but Columbus has the second most cap space in the league, at $22.92MM, per PuckPedia. It’s not a challenge to fit him on the roster financially, although they now carry eight defensemen. With Erik Gudbranson potentially out for the rest of the season after shoulder surgery last month, there likely won’t be a ton of roster movement regarding Columbus’ back end from here on out unless more injuries strike.
Fabbro’s addition does give the Jackets another experienced name on the back end, and he has decent career possession numbers with a 50.0 CF% and 49.5 xGF% at even strength. However, his presence on the roster means additional competition for 20-year-old right-shot defender David Jiříček, who’s been a healthy scratch for all but five games this season and has averaged under 12 minutes per game in the lineup. It’s not a promising sign for his development after Columbus selected him sixth overall in 2022.
Since Nov. 1 is in the rearview mirror, waiver priority is determined by reserve standings order in terms of points percentage. That means the Canadiens, Sharks, Blackhawks, Ducks, Flyers, Kraken, and Penguins all passed on Fabbro.
AHL Cleveland Signs Roman Ahcan
- The Blue Jackets’ AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, have re-upped forward Roman Ahcan on a one-year deal for the rest of the season. He’d previously been with Cleveland on a PTO and more than earned his spot on the club with seven goals through his first 10 games. That’s a huge jump in production for the 25-year-old, who had nine goals and 19 points in 52 games with Cleveland last year. The Minnesota native has been with Cleveland ever since graduating from the University of Wisconsin in 2022 but has yet to land an NHL contract.
Kent Johnson Skated After Practice Today
Philadelphia Flyers goaltender Samuel Ersson is currently managing a minor groin injury (as per Kevin Kurz of The Athletic). Ersson’s condition isn’t expected to sideline him for long, though it’s not yet clear when he’ll return to full participation. The 25-year-old left his last start against the Boston Bruins with what was being called a lower-body injury, but now with that injury defined, it appears that the issue could cost the young netminder some time.
Ersson has shown a lot of promise this season and has arguably taken over the Flyers’ starting role. Given that, the Flyers are likely to take a cautious approach to ensure he avoids further issues. With the demands on goaltenders, groin-related injuries can be particularly limiting and difficult to predict. The Flyers will undoubtedly monitor Ersson’s progress as they continue building a solid roster of younger talent. So far this season, Ersson has dressed in nine games and is sporting a 4-2-1 record, with a .901 save percentage and a 2.68 goals-against average.
In other Metropolitan Division notes:
- Kent Johnson of the Columbus Blue Jackets participated in a skate after practice today (as per Blue Jackets reporter Jeff Svoboda). Johnson’s return to the ice is a good sign of progress, even in a limited capacity. Johnson has been kept out of action with a shoulder injury since October 17th and isn’t expected to get back into the lineup until the end of November. He was fortunate to avoid surgery but will ultimately miss around six weeks of the regular season with the ailment.
- Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Cameron York will be travelling with the team, hinting at his availability for upcoming games (as per Kevin Kurz of The Athletic). York’s presence on the road is promising for the Flyers but head coach John Tortorella wasn’t sure whether the 23-year-old would play. York has been dealing with an upper-body injury that has kept him out of action since October 23rd and was off to a decent start to the year with two goals and an assist in his first seven games.
Blue Jackets Open To Taking On An Expensive Contract
Back in August when the Blue Jackets moved Patrik Laine to Montreal, Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell acknowledged that teams were already making inquiries about their willingness to take on an expensive contract. At the time, he cautioned that while they had ample cap space, they weren’t necessarily willing to use it right away to absorb a big-ticket deal.
It appears they’re more open to doing so now. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (video link) that Waddell has let teams know that he’s willing to take on a big contract alongside some additional assets. That shouldn’t necessarily be construed as them looking to add short-term help to build off a surprising 5-4-1 start as speculatively, the assets they’d be acquiring with the contract would be the priority.
However, it appears they have a limit on how long of a contract they’re willing to take on. At this point, Seravalli notes that the inquiries thus far have been about their willingness to add a longer-term term deal in the three-to-five-year range. Generally speaking, those types of cap dumps have been either expiring deals or ones with only one year remaining. For now, at least, it appears adding someone signed for that long isn’t in their plans.
With a long list of injuries to start the season, the Blue Jackets were able to open the season above the $65MM Lower Limit of the salary cap with them needing to carry more than 23 players. However, despite that, they’re projected to finish the year less than $2MM above that mark, per PuckPedia. As some of their injured players return and their replacements are sent down, they’ll dip closer to the minimum. If they do wind up selling before the trade deadline, they could conceivably drop below that amount as things stand.
With that in mind, it certainly makes sense for Waddell to be exploring the options that are out there in terms of taking on an unwanted contract in a move that would likely upgrade their current roster and give them extra assets for the future. But for now, it appears their preference is to add the type of expensive short-term contract that other teams aren’t willing to pay to move off of just yet.
Brindley Skating, Likely AHL-Bound When Cleared To Return
- Blue Jackets forward Gavin Brindley has been skating as he continues his recovery from a broken finger sustained in the preseason, notes Mark Scheig of The Hockey Writers (Twitter link). The 20-year-old made his NHL debut late last season after a dominant year at the University of Michigan that saw him put up 53 points in 40 games in his sophomore season. However, despite that output in college and their injuries up front, it appears Columbus plans to have Brindley start in the AHL with Cleveland once he’s cleared to return.
Blue Jackets To Activate Dmitri Voronkov From Injured Reserve
The Blue Jackets will have left-winger Dmitri Voronkov in the lineup for the first time this season tonight against the Jets as he makes his return from an upper-body injury, head coach Dean Evason told reporters (including the team’s Jeff Svoboda). He’ll be activated from injured reserve, but with ample cap space and an open roster spot, no corresponding transaction is necessary.
Voronkov, 24, had his start to his sophomore NHL season delayed when he sustained the injury late in Columbus’ preseason schedule against the Penguins. The initial prognosis wasn’t good, but it quickly became apparent that Voronkov wouldn’t require surgery to address the issue and would be back in weeks, not months. He returned to practice late last week, so he’s had a bit of run-up before re-entering the lineup.
It’s a legitimately impactful bit of news for the Blue Jackets, who have won two in a row and are now in wild-card position early on with a 5-3-1 record through nine games. Their offense clicking at a top-10 rate with 3.89 goals per game has much to do with that, and Voronkov’s return should only help them in that regard. The 2019 fourth-round pick arrived in North America last season after spending the prior five years with Ak Bars Kazan of Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League. He made an immediate impact in a middle-six role, finishing fifth on the team in scoring with 34 points (18 G, 16 A) in 75 games. With Voronkov on the ice at even strength, Columbus controlled 50.4% of shot attempts and 52.2% of expected goals, considerably above team averages.
Evason said that his return will send late-offseason pickup Kevin Labanc to the press box. Signed to a one-year league-minimum pact after being released from his professional tryout with the Devils, the 28-year-old had points in four of his last five games and five assists in seven games overall with a +3 rating. Nonetheless, it’ll be his third healthy scratch of the young season.
Voronkov is a pending restricted free agent. He’s in the final season of his entry-level contract, which earned him a $92.5K signing bonus over the summer and pays him a base salary of $832.5K this season for a cap hit of $925K. He’ll be eligible for arbitration.