General Manager and Alternate Governor Jarmo Kekalainen announced today that Adam Fantilli will be out for eight weeks due to a laceration on his calf. That would put the date of return at around March 27. The laceration happened last Sunday during the Blue Jacket’s game against the Seattle Kraken. At the time, it did not appear that the injury was severe, although Fantilli had limped off the ice in a way that worried many fans. The Columbus Blue Jackets had waited for further evaluation until the team returned to Columbus following their road trip.
So far this season, the young rookie is third in points on the Blue Jacket’s roster, with 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points. This also puts Fantilli in the number four spot in points rankings among all NHL rookies. He is also tied for third in goals among NHL rookies with Columbus Blue Jacket’s forward Dimitri Voronkov and ranks seventh in assists.
Recently the Columbus Blue Jackets had also announced that forward Patrik Laine is out for an indefinite amount of time as he entered the NHL/NHLPA player’s assistance program. This leaves the Blue Jackets without two top forwards for quite some time. Recently, Columbus has been able to notch a win against the St. Louis Blues without either forward, but they will have to make due for longer.
The Blue Jackets have about 10 days off for the NHL All-Star break until they are back home on Saturday, February 10th, at 7 pm for a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. The 2024 All-Star events will go from Thursday, February 1st, to Saturday, February 3rd.
