Blue Jackets expected to be healthy for playoffs
Columbus Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen spoke with media Wednesday, and said he expects the majority of his team's roster to be healthy and ready to go when/if the NHL playoffs take place.
This is excellent news for the Blue Jackets and their fans, as they had tons of injuries throughout this season. At the time of the NHL pause, they had eight players (Brandon Dubinsky, Josh Anderson, Alexandre Texier, Dean Kukan, Cam Atkinson, Seth Jones, Oliver Bjorkstrand, and Nathan Gerbe) out due to injury. Kekalainen said he expects all those players to be good to go besides Dubinsky and Anderson, although he did add that Anderson may be ready to play by August.
This Blue Jackets team, led by head coach John Tortorella, has proven to be a resilient club all season long. Prior to the season, many had them pegged to be one of the worst teams in the NHL after losing Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky to free agency. Instead, they proved all their doubters wrong and were sitting in the final wild card position in the Eastern Conference at the time of the NHL stoppage.
As per the 24-playoff format being released yesterday, Columbus will play the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round. Given how hard they've battled all year along with the fact they will be healthy, they could be a very scary team to face off against.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 14, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Phillip Danault | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Josh Anderson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mikael Granlund | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||