Yesterday the Blue Jackets activated Joonas Korpisalo off of the injured reserve.

#CBJ assign Joonas Korpisalo to @monstershockey → https://t.co/z4yUllamrb pic.twitter.com/say9DLbGda

— ColumbusBlueJackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 31, 2016

They did not keep him in the NHL, instead assigning him to the AHL. This was discussed a bit yesterday, this is the best place for Korpisalo to be in right now. He isn’t going to get playing time at the NHL level, with Sergei Bobrovsky playing the way he is. With the Monsters he will be splitting time with Anton Forsberg, but he will at least be seeing regular time.

Korpisalo was the biggest surprise of the Jacket season last year. He came up when Bobrovsky was injured and was excellent. In 31 games he had a .920 save percentage. He carried the team through stretches and most games was a key reason they were even close. He played 18 games in the AHL posting a .913 sv%. He started as the starter for the Monsters in the AHL playoffs, but lost his job after nine games and a .898 sv%.

The injury stalled the start of Korpisalo’s season, but he should still be the first goalie recalled if something were to happen to Bobrovsky.

***
In other prospect news, it seems Zach Werenski’s strong play is getting attention from all over the league. This from Elliotte Friedman’s 30 Thoughts:

24. One exec on Zach Werenski: “I knew he was good, but I never thought he’d have the chance to be better than Noah Hanifin and Ivan Provorov. That’s not a knock on them, but a credit to Werenski.”

There were some people prior to the 2015 draft that thought Werenski was the best defencemen available. Obviously it’s still too early to decide, but regardless each team looks to have picked a great defencemen.

There was some discussion in the comments yesterday about Pierre-Luc Dubois and his struggles in the QMJHL to start the season. Dubois only has one goal and three assists in seven games. Not an ideal start for the third overall pick. Right now I’m willing to write this off as a slow start. Dubois was likely disappointed at not making the NHL and perhaps wasn’t in the right mindset when he returned to the ‘Q.’ If this level of play continues, then Jacket fans should definitely be concerned. For now though I’m not too worried, Dubois should get going soon enough.

You can follow me on Twitter @PaulBerthelot

Join the Discussion: » 2 Comments » Post New Comment

» Blue Jackets extend John Tortorella

» Blue Jackets extend Hockey Operations Staff

» Thoughts on the Blue Jackets Traverse City roster

» How the Blue Jackets can get more national coverage

» Just how bad is the Blue Jackets prospect system?