Blue Jackets News & Rumors: Johnson, Voronkov, Fantilli & More

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Welcome to the last game in October for the Columbus Blue Jackets. They host the New York Islanders in their Halloween game on Wednesday night at Nationwide Arena.

With a win, the Blue Jackets would finish the month with a 5-3-1 record, something virtually nobody predicted. As for the Islanders, they enter Wednesday night’s game scoring only 22 goals in their first nine games while winning just three times. They’re coming off a 3-1 home loss to the Anaheim Ducks in a game which they dominated chances but had no finish.

In this gameday edition of News & Rumors, we will provide a couple of quick injury updates, some good news for once. Then we’ll discuss a developing theme with one of the Blue Jackets’ rising stars.

Johnson Does Not Need Surgery

The Blue Jackets got the best possible news. Kent Johnson will not need surgery on his injured shoulder. It was the same shoulder he had surgery repaired last season.

To say getting that news was a big sigh of relief for Johnson and the Blue Jackets is a major understatement. He will put in the necessary work to heal and then come back in a reasonable amount of time.

Kent Johnson Columbus Blue Jackets
Kent Johnson will not need surgery. (Jess Starr/The Hockey Writers)

The Blue Jackets do not give specific timeframes these days. With injuries like Johnson’s, it’s especially hard to pinpoint a timeline anyway. The fact that his locker stall is still in the room was a good sign he got good news on his upcoming recovery. Erik Gudbranson and Boone Jenner each had surgery. Their stalls are not in the room.

It will be a while before we see Johnson in a game. But given he and the team avoided the worst-case scenario, it’s possible we could see him closer to midseason than the end of the season. Given how he reacted when the injury occurred, that is very positive news for a player who was off to a hot start.

Voronkov Getting Closer

Some more good news. Dmitri Voronkov continues to get closer to game action. The Blue Jackets originally stated that he could return by the end of November. While they haven’t provided a recent update, his presence at practices and the optional morning skates is encouraging.

Whether Voronkov can beat the original timeline is still to be determined. But from all indications watching him, he seems close. It will now be a matter of how he feels after the practices.

Voronkov was spotted in a non-contact jersey at Tuesday’s practice. He then skated with the optional group on Wednesday. His eventual return would provide a big boost, literally, to the lineup. Once he is ready, expect him to go somewhere in the middle-six.

Fantilli Helping Shape Blue Jackets Culture

Adam Fantilli had a good night Monday against the Edmonton Oilers. He scored a goal on a great feed by Cole Sillinger. He also setup the first NHL goal of Mikael Pyyhtia.

If you saw Fantilli’s postgame Monday, you saw how happy he was for Pyyhtia getting his first. This is actually a trend not only for Fantilli, but for other players on the Blue Jackets as well, specifically Johnson and Sillinger. What is that trend?

If your teammate does something great, join them in celebration even if you didn’t do anything special in the game. Let me set the scene.

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Postgame Monday, I ran into Johnson in the elevator. All he could talk about was just how ecstatic he was for Fantilli and Sillinger each having great games. Sillinger was the game’s second star with 1-2-3 on the night.

Fantilli said that this is something that he talked about with Johnson and Sillinger. Let him explain.

“Me, Silly and KJ went out to lunch and we talked about stuff like that a few days ago,” Fantilli said. “(We talked about) how big it is for us to want each other to have that type of success. When KJ has a three-point night and me and Silly don’t have anything, we’re still happy for KJ that he was able to go off like that. It only helps our team to have the young guys start to contribute more. I think being happy for each other is contagious and it really helps the environment. It helps the culture. Having KJ buy into that is great.”

This is the Blue Jackets’ young core taking the initiative to be there for each other no matter what happens good or bad. If you needed evidence of a healthy room, this is it.

Side Dishes

  • The Blue Jackets will play their first back-to-back of the season upcoming on Friday against the Winnipeg Jets and then Saturday against the Washington Capitals. Head coach Dean Evason said today there are no excuses for back-to-backs. “If you can’t play 25 minutes two nights in a row as a professional athlete, we’ve got an issue.”
  • The Blue Jackets are middle of the pack in shots on goal and fourth in goals per game. They need to ride the hot wave as much as possible before things cool off.
  • The Blue Jackets will roll the same lineup Wednesday night with Elvis Merzlikins getting another start. Here are your expected lines and pairs.
  • Yegor Chinakhov-Sean Monahan-Kirill Marchenko
  • Cole Sillinger-Adam Fantilli-Mikael Pyyhtia
  • Zach Aston Reese-Justin Danforth-Mathieu Olivier
  • James van Riemsdyk-Sean Kuraly-Kevin Labanc
  • Zach Werenski-Ivan Provorov
  • Jake Christiansen-Damon Severson
  • Jack Johnson-Jordan Harris
  • Elvis Merzlikins/Daniil Tarasov

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