The Blue Jackets are coming off their best season in franchise history, went 7-1-0 in preseason and just re-signed their best player in Ryan Johansen, but it's hard to be too optimistic about the team right now.
Boone Jenner recently broke his hand, Nathan Horton doesn't have a timetable for a return and rumors have surfaced that he'd be lucky to play at any point this season.
If that wasn't enough, the team has now been hit with news that Brandon Dubinsky, fresh off signing a six-year extension, will be out indefinitely and may not return for the foreseeable future.
Injury woes continue in #CBJ. Told Dubinsky is out indefinitely and not available to start #NHL season. Possible long term situation
— Nick Kypreos (@RealKyper) October 8, 2014The Blue Jackets initially thought Dubinsky's injury would only keep him out of the lineup on a day-to-day basis, so this must be a hard pill to swallow.
Now without three of their top-6 forwards, they certainly have their work cut out for them.
The good news for Columbus is that Cam Atkinson and Ryan Johansen could both take another step forward, and that rookies Alex Wennberg and Marko Dano look ready to make an immediate impact on the team.
Their defense is good, and they still have Sergei Bobrovsky between the pipes so as bad as things look right now, they should be able to survive these early season injuries; at least for a while.
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