In one of the worst cases of bad timing I can recall, hours after Dispatch reporter Aaron Portzline wrote a blog on Kristian Huselius‘ encouraging progress following offseason hip surgery, and his likely impact on the Blue Jackets‘ roster, the Swede is making news again, having torn a pectoral muscle while weightlifting as part of his offseason training routine.
The injury effectively shelves Juice until at least November, and given that he was still working on rehabbing his surgically repaired hip, might easily keep him out of the lineup until January, given he’ll need to recover from both injuries and THEN get back into game shape.
I would expect the Jackets to put Huselius on long term IR as soon as possible, freeing up salary to allow them to look for a free agent who could be plugged into a playmaking role in the top six. Options might include a 1 year deal for a veteran like Brendan Morrison, Cory Stillman, or Sergei Samsonov, or potentially making a trade.
On the other hand, this could also open up some options for players like Ryan Johansen, Derick Brassard, and Cam Atkinson.
Life had been a pretty sunshine and rainbows offseason for Jackets’ fans. Time to see how Scott Howson responds to this unexpected cloud.