Per Aaron Portzline on Twitter, Ryan Murray will be a healthy scratch tonight against the Penguins.
#CBJ D Ryan Murray will be a healthy scratch tonight vs #Pens
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) November 13, 2015While Murray is the best defender on the team he hasn’t played like it recently. This has been a common theme for a John Tortorella coached team. If you’re not playing well you’re going to sit. We’ve seen it already this season with Fedor Tyutin, and this won’t be the last time we see it. It doesn’t matter who you are or how good you are, no one is immune to being a healthy scratch.
For Murray I think this is a great development move. This shows him you can’t get too comfortable out there. This should keep him motivated to continue to improve. Murray is going to be a part of this team for many years so it’s good to send him the message now while the team isn’t going anywhere.
Even if the team was playing up to expectations this would be a tough game and one they are not likely to win. You would like to have Murray playing but it’s not a bad time to send a message as a win will be tough to come by. This way he will be motivated and ready to play against Arizona in a much more winnable game.
I don’t like bringing the doom and gloom but it’s getting to the point where we have to face reality. At 4-12-0 it’s going to take a miracle to climb out of this hole and get into the playoffs. This season needs to be about developing the core players (Murray, Boone, Joey, Saad, Wennberg) and looking to improve the team so they can avoid this same fate next year.
Injury News
Alexander Wennberg is expected to miss about two weeks with a foot injury.
#CBJ officially announce that C Alexander Wennberg has been placed on IR. Estimated return in two weeks.
— Alison (@AlisonL) November 11, 2015This is unfortunate since you want Wennberg out there playing and developing. As of right now no one has been recalled from Lake Erie. Rene Bourque who hasn’t played in a while checks into the fourth line alongside Gregory Campbell and Jared Boll.
Also on the injury front Blue Jackets top prospect Oliver Bjorkstrand is set to miss 4-6 weeks with an upper body injury.
#CBJ top prospect Oliver Bjorkstrand out 4-6 weeks with upper body injury. Not a concussion. Had 0-2-2 minus-2 in 6 games w @monstershockey
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) November 7, 2015As you can see from the tweet Bjorkstrand wasn’t doing that well in the AHL. I think this injury sheds some light as to why. Much like Wennberg, Bjorkstrand needs to be playing as much as possible but again getting healthy is the top priority here. No reason to risk playing hurt and have this linger.
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