The Blue Jackets' defense has been a relative mess since Zach Werenski was injured against the Washington Capitals last weekend.
Coach John Tortorella has been forced to use the entire roster, shake up the pairings and experiment with multiple options while his Calder Trophy candidate recovers from an upper body injury that resulted from an Alex Ovechkin hit. The Blue Jackets have two regular season games remaining (counting today's game in Philadelphia) before the playoffs begin next week in Pittsburgh, and there may be some good news on the horizon:
Torts says he's "totally confident" Werenski will be ready for the start of playoffs. #CBJ
— Tom Reed (@treed1919) April 8, 2017
GM Jarmo Kekalainen also told Reed that Werenski has been skating on his own in recent days, which is a positive development for a team that has lost its way in the last 5-7 games. Entering Saturday's game against the Flyers, the Blue Jackets had dropped five straight games after making it 70-plus games without a three-game losing streak.
The 19-year-old Werenski had 11 goals and 47 points at the time of his injury, and was dangerously close to setting the Blue Jackets' franchise record for points in a season by a defenseman (51, by James Wisniewski). He has been a huge part of the Blue Jackets' power play, contributing 21 of those points on the man advantage, and been a mainstay on the top defensive pair alongside Seth Jones.
Torts on Zach Werenski's status & Gabriel Carlsson making his @NHL debut today!#CBJ pic.twitter.com/d15ZRf8yKl
— ColumbusBlueJackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) April 8, 2017
