Blue Jackets Nyquist out five to six months
NHL.com: The Columbus Blue Jackets announced that forward Gustav Nyquist will miss the start of next season after having surgery on Tuesday to repair a labral tear in his left shoulder.
He is expected to be out for five to six months. If the season were to start at the beginning of January, he could miss at least three months of the season.
“This was a chronic issue that Gus has been dealing with for a number of seasons,” Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. “He has been able to perform at a high level, but a cyst in the area developed over time that has inhibited his ability to continue to do so. As a result, surgery was the best course of action and we look forward to having him back at full strength this season.”
Blue Jackets should increase their interest in Hoffman
Ken Campbell of The Hockey News: Scoring winger Mike Hoffman is still looking for a home for next season. He is looking for more term than teams are willing to offer.
The Columbus Blue Jackets just found out that Gustav Nyquist will be out for five to six months. The Blue Jackets need scoring and were interested in Hoffman before the Gustav news. Signing him would make sense for both their short- and long-term needs.
Hoffman and Nyquist are both left wingers. Aside from Nyquist last season, the left wing trio of Alexandre Texier, Nick Foligno and Riley Nash only scored 21 goals.
Hoffman has scored 58 power play goals over the past five seasons. Only three others have scored more.
The Blue Jackets have just over $9 million in salary cap space with restricted free agent Pierre-Luc Dubois left to re-sign. Gustav’s $5.5 million salary cap hit could be put in the LTIR.
Hoffman wouldn’t make the Blue Jackets serious Stanley Cup contenders but he’d definitely help their status.
