The Columbus Blue Jackets will open their regular season schedule on Thursday against the Buffalo Sabres. They can only hope that what follows goes better than their preseason.
Columbus announced that Boone Jenner has been placed on the injured reserve list. On top of that, defenseman Ryan Murray and forwards Sonny Milano and Nathan Horton are now on the non-roster injured reserve list.
Milano (facial fractures) isn’t expected to play for Columbus when he’s healthy, but the other three players were supposed to be important parts of the 2014-15 Blue Jackets’ roster.
Jenner recently had surgery on his broken hand and isn’t expected to return until November. Horton has a degenerative back condition that will keep him sidelined for an undetermined amount of time. On the plus side, Murray (knee) has been getting better, per the Columbus Dispatch.
Those losses likely influenced Columbus’ decision to bring back Jack Skille by claiming him off of waivers, but the big question is if the Blue Jackets will be able to sign restricted free agent Ryan Johansen before he starts missing games.
Inclduing Johansen, Columbus is facing the possibility that it won’t have its projected top line for the start of the season.