When the Olympic break is over, the Columbus Blue Jackets will be without defenseman Fedor Tyutin as he sprained his ankle while playing for Russia, according to the Columbus Dispatch’s Shawn Mitchell.
Tyutin, who has 24 points in 53 games while averaging 21:33 minutes per contest, will be sidelined for 2-3 weeks. That’s problematic for the Blue Jackets, given that they’re still fighting for one of the fiercely contested Wild Card spots in the Eastern Conference. Presently, they’re just one point shy of the second Wild Card spot.
Columbus has only made the playoffs once before and has never won a postseason game, but expectations were high after a late surge in the shortened 2013 campaign.
Tyutin is the latest significant NHL player to be hurt while playing in Sochi. Other noteworthy players include the New York Islanders’ John Tavares (torn MCL), Rangers’ Mats Zuccarello (fractured hand), Panthers’ Tomas Kopecky (head) and Aleksander Barkov (knee), and Pittsburgh’s Paul Martin (hand).
Henrik Zetterberg’s season might be over after representing Sweden, but Red Wings GM Ken Holland doesn’t believe his back injury was related to his participation in the Olympics.