In what has become an unfortunate theme for the Columbus Blue Jackets, injury woes struck again Thursday night when center Kent Johnson exited their 6-4 victory over the Buffalo Sabres after a second-period collision with teammate James van Riemsdyk.
The incident came as van Riemsdyk was hooked by Buffalo’s Alex Tuch, sending him into Johnson’s path. Immediately clutching his left arm, Johnson skated off the ice and went straight to the locker room, visibly frustrated—punctuating his exit by throwing his glove in the tunnel. The Blue Jackets reported the injury as an upper-body issue, and Johnson did not return.
"We'll see how he is tomorrow, but as I said with Goody [Erik Gudbranson], it didn't look good," Jackets head coach Dean Evason said after the game.
"it didn't look good."– Blue Jackets head coach Dean Evason on Johnson's injury
For Johnson, the timing couldn’t be worse. After a challenging 2023-24 season that saw him scratched from the season opener, sent down to the AHL for a stint with the Cleveland Monsters, and ultimately sidelined by a torn left labrum in March, the 21-year-old had been on a redemption arc. Through the first three games of the new season – and a period against Buffalo – Johnson had already amassed five points (two goals, three assists), including an assist on the Blue Jackets’ first goal Thursday night.
"The way he was playing, you never, ever want to see that," teammate Cole Sillinger said in the locker room following the win. "The thing with KJ, he deals with adversity extremely well, so even talking to him, he's already got a smile on his face and is trying to think of the most positive outcomes and things like that. He doesn't deserve that, with what he went through last year, and whatever is evaluated, he'll be coming back stronger."
How soon Johnson will be back on the ice is anyone's guess, as the team will conduct a broader evaluation of the injury on Friday.
For the Blue Jackets, Johnson’s injury is yet another hit in what’s becoming a disturbing pattern of bad luck. Captain Boone Jenner is out for what is believed to be most of the season following shoulder surgery. Defenseman Erik Gudbranson, another key piece, is sidelined for months with an upper-body injury. And forward Dmitri Vronkov isn’t expected back until late November after suffering a shoulder injury of his own. Now, Johnson, on a tear out of the gate this season, joins the growing list of sidelined players.
Kent Johnson stays hot.
— 1st Ohio Battery (@1stOhioBattery) October 16, 2024
Beautiful play to Sillinger, who scores shorthanded to make it 1-0, Columbus. #CBJ
pic.twitter.com/CRcquDTZwX
The Blue Jackets have been no strangers to injury crises in recent seasons, but losing Johnson after his red-hot start to the 2024-25 campaign cuts particularly deep. Johnson appeared to have turned a corner with newfound physicality and confidence, and his four-game point streak to start the season was an exclamation mark on that transformation.
For a franchise that has already seen its fair share of adversity, it’s just one more test.
