Zach Werenski is expected to be out for the rest of the regular season for the Columbus Blue Jackets because of a separated shoulder and torn labrum.
The defenseman had a goal and an assist in a 5-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday before leaving at 17:01 of the first period after missing a check and hitting the glass.
“[Werenski is] a special talent. You can’t replace him,” defenseman Andrew Peeke said Friday. “It’s as simple as that but obviously we have to work together, playing new pairs and do what you do best, that’s the biggest thing. Play to your strength and things will work out.
“Injuries will happen. That’s the downfall in this game but its’s an opportunity for guys to step up and try and replicate what [Werenski] can do.”
Werenski has eight points (three goals, five assists) in 13 games this season and leads Columbus in ice time per game (23:36), almost two minutes more than defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, who is second (21:37).
“What can you do? He’s gobbling [24] minutes a night. He’s a pretty important guy,” Blue Jackets coach Brad Larsen said.
Columbus also placed defenseman Nick Blankenburg and forwards Sean Kuraly and Jakub Voracek on injured reserve Friday.
Blankenburg is expected to miss 6-8 weeks with a fractured ankle and high ankle sprain he sustained Thursday. He had a goal and three blocked shots in 22:25 of ice time Thursday, and has three points (two goals, one assist) in seven games this season, playing on the top pair with Werenski.
“Don’t underestimate what [Blankenburg] is doing for us either,” Larsen said. “He’s going to be long term here too and that was our top pairing. So, they’re out. It’s a tough pill to swallow this morning but you move by it. It’s an opportunity for some other guys to show and we’re going to see that.”
The Blue Jackets were forced to play more than half the game Thursday with four defensemen; they also lost Erik Gudbranson at 7:15 of the second period with an upper-body injury after a check into the boards by Flyers forward Nicolas Deslauriers. Larsen said Gudbranson is day to day.
Defensemen Gavin Bayreuther, Marcus Bjork and David Jiricek were added on emergency recall from Cleveland of the American Hockey League. Bayreuther has played in one game with the Blue Jackets this season and had eight assists in 43 games with them last season. Bjork has five points (two goals, three assists) in 11 games with Cleveland this season; Jiricek, the No. 6 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, does not have a point in two games with Columbus this season and has five assists in six AHL games.
Larsen said Bjork will make his NHL debut Saturday at the New York Islanders (7:30 p.m. ET; MSGSN2, BSOH, ESPN+, SN NOW).
“They want to play,” Larsen said. “There’s guys here that are excited to play, I’m going to tell you right now. They see what’s in front of them, right? So someone has to take those minutes. You can pull a group together. It’s going to be a challenge, there’s no question but you’ve got to meet it head on. You’ve got to go out there and we’re going to work at it.”
Later Friday, Jiricek was assigned to the AHL and defenseman Jake Christiansen was recalled. Christiansen had one goal in eight NHL games with the Blue Jackets last season and has four assists in 11 AHL games this season.
Kuraly is day to day with an upper-body injury sustained in a 5-1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in the 2022 NHL Global Series on Nov. 5. He has four points (two goals, two assists) in 12 games.
Voracek is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury sustained in a 6-3 loss to Colorado on Nov. 4. He has six points (one goal, five assists) in 11 games.
“Sometimes these things pull you together,” Larsen said. “You know, you get banged up and everybody kind of leaves you for dead except for the guys in that room that believe.”
Columbus (4-9-0) is in last place in the Metropolitan Division and had lost five straight prior to Thursday.
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