TRAINING CAMP NOTES: Werenski cleared for 'controlled contact'

The shoulder harness was already history and now the red practice jersey is too.
After shedding the harness that he wore most of last season, after surgery May 3 to repair the labrum and rotator cuff in his left shoulder, Zach Werenski has now jettisoned his "no contact" jersey in practice.
Werenski's doctor visit went well Thursday, he gained clearance for "controlled contact" - meaning a gray jersey instead of red - and he even began taking light contact during 1-on-1 battle drills.
"I didn't scrimmage with the guys, but I did some stuff on the other sheet," said Werenski, who battled for pucks against forward Nathan Gerbe and then joined his group for a post-scrimmage practice on the main rink. "I'm going to start doing it after practice. I'll grab a guy or a coach and just work on [taking contact] and then hopefully Monday get back with the team and start doing more contact. My goal is still to play on Friday [Sept. 28] against Pittsburgh in the preseason."

Werenski played all but the first 12 games last season with the torn labrum, which happened against the Boston Bruins Oct. 30 at Nationwide Arena. Wearing the harness, his arm mobility was constricted and he could barely take slap shots or one-timers.
Not long after the Jackets lost to the Washington Capitals in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, surgery was performed on his shoulder. Werenski was given a timeline of five-to-six months to recover fully and Oct. 3 will be the five-month mark.
Should he play next week in a preseason game, his return will be about a week early. That decision will be made by the team's medical staff, coaches, management and Werenski himself.
Coach John Tortorella said the defenseman's opinion will be strongly considered.
"We have to listen to him," Tortorella said. "It's his body, and he's smart enough to know he doesn't want to go through what he went through last year. Obviously, the doctors and the medical staff have a big opinion, and yeah we talk about it, but certainly we have to listen to the player."
At this point, the player is happy with how his body's holding up - including those battle drills against Gerbe.
"I feel really good out there," Werenski said. "My shoulder felt fine. I just forgot how hard it is to battle. It's tiring, so I've got to start doing that next week leading up to the Friday night game."
VISIT BLUE JACKETS TRAINING CAMP CENTRAL 2018
NEWS AND NOTES
Injured left wing Artemi Panarin (neck strain) practiced with his group but didn't scrimmage. Panarin was sidelined to start camp after straining a neck muscle doing pull-ups. He hasn't played in either of the first two preseason games and will also be held out this weekend.
Tortorella said Panarin completed his conditioning skate test Wednesday during a scheduled off day for the rest of the team.
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After cutting the camp roster by three Wednesday, the Blue Jackets' remaining 58 players were divided into two large groups.
The first group that scrimmaged on the main ice at Nationwide Arena consisted mostly of players who will be on the Jackets' roster to start the season, along with a couple of rookies - forward Jonathan Davidsson and defenseman Michael Parpavessis.
The second group, which scrimmaged at the Ice Haus while the first group practiced on the main rink, was largely made up of players who will play in the American Hockey League or junior hockey this season. Those groups will be juggled Friday, with the Blue Jackets holding a morning skate for a group that will travel to St. Louis for a preseason game, but for non-game days there will be two main groups the remainder of camp.
"We're getting into the definition of that," Tortorella said
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Defenseman Ryan Murray and goalie Matiss Kivlenieks didn't scrimmage or practice. Each is day-to-day with minor injuries.
Murray sustained a mid-body injury in the Jackets' 4-1 preseason win against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday at Nationwide Arena, when he was accidentally kicked in an "area you don't want to be kicked," according to assistant Brad Larsen, and couldn't finish the game. Kivlenieks started the preseason opener Monday against the Buffalo Sabres but played just the first period before leaving with a lower-body injury.
Gerbe, a 31-year old veteran, is also dealing with an undisclosed injury.
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Tortorella said the focus of practices will soon include special teams, both power play and penalty-killing.
"We were going to do it today," he said. "It just didn't happen that way. But we are going to start getting into that, yeah. As we split the groups here, I think we're going to have the opportunity to do that."
It will be interesting to see what players are placed onto each unit and where they're stationed.
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Tortorella watched the first two preseason games from the press box at Nationwide Arena, rather than coaching on the bench. His NHL assistants, Brad Larsen and Brad Shaw, handled the coaching duties while Tortorella watched from high above.
"Just the past couple games, watching up there, I can see why you guys [reporters] critique as much as you do, because it's so easy," Tortorella quipped. "It's so slow."
He'll defer the head-coaching duties Friday night in St. Louis, as well - having Cleveland Monsters coach John Madden and his assistants run the bench at Enterprise Center.
"They don't play any exhibition games [in the AHL], so they're going to get that game," Tortorella said. "Not sure if they're going to get another one, but there's rust on us [coaches] just like there is for players. It's a fast game and at ice level, yeah, we need to get work there [too]."
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Goalie Sergei Bobrovsky will debut on the road Friday in St. Louis, starting against the Blues in the Jackets' third of eight preseason games. Here is the playing group for Columbus and the projected lineup:
FORWARDS
Sonny Milano - Riley Nash - Jonathan Davidsson
Anthony Duclair - Ryan MacInnis - Zac Dalpe
Eric Robinson - Liam Foudy - Justin Scott
Paul Bittner - Lukas Sedlak - Nikita Korostelev
DEFENSEMEN
Dean Kukan - Scott Harrington
Doyle Somerby - David Savard
Gabriel Carlsson - Adam Clendening
GOALIES
Sergei Bobrovsky
Brad Thiessen
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"My little legs can only handle so much. It sucks while you're doing it, but you feel way better when you're done." - forward Cam Atkinson, on another muscle burning conditioning skate to conclude practice Thursday.*