SvoNotes: Blue Jackets slowly but surely getting back to health

SvoNotes is a weekly column by BlueJackets.com writer Jeff Svoboda.
If there ever was a sight for sore eyes, it came Friday morning as the Blue Jackets were getting ready to take on the Seattle Kraken.
The team had an optional skate ahead of the game, but one player who took the option is someone who hadn't been on the ice in quite some time.
All-Star defenseman Zach Werenski had a huge smile on his face as he shot pucks, took passes and generally just got his feet wet again after missing most of the season with a shoulder injury. Werenski won't play again this season, but he's now at the point of his rehab that he's able to put the skates on and join his teammates for a skate.

"It's good," said Werenski, who suffered his season-ending injury Nov. 10. "I think at first, those first few months, you really feel disconnected from the team. You're not around. You're not at the rink. You aren't traveling. You're watching, but more so just as a fan. For me, at no point was I ever in a return-to-play mentality, so it's just like your season is over. There's 70 games left. It sucks. It's hard to be a part of it.
"But now that I'm back around the guys more, I'm at the arena when they're working out and skating, seeing them, it definitely feels like I'm more a part of it again. It's good to be back."
The even better news for the Blue Jackets is Werenski isn't the only one who feels that way. Teammates Justin Danforth and Jake Bean also suffered season-ending shoulder injuries early in the season -- Danforth on Oct. 22, Bean on Nov. 15 -- but have locker stalls again at Nationwide Arena as they are back on the ice working their way toward full health.
While it's been a dreadful season of injuries for the Jackets -- and another tough one occurred last week when Sean Kuraly suffered what's likely a season-ending oblique muscle -- getting some players back on the road to recovery is a good sign. It feels even better for those players, who feel much more like themselves when they have the chance to put on the skates and hang out with their teammates.
"I think it helps for sure," Danforth said. "You stay in the loop a little bit. I think we have a good group of guys here to where it's not like, someone gets hurt and, 'See you in six months.' It's a good group of guys. We mesh pretty well, so it makes it a lot easier."
It's also helped those players going through rehab that, well, they're not alone. It's not been fun for head coach Brad Larsen when it comes to filling out a lineup card, but the plethora of injuries that has hit the team throughout the season -- not a single player has been able to skate in all 64 games to this point -- meant that those going through the misery of rehab at least had company.
"We've had pretty much the whole team out at some point," Werenski said with a chuckle. "So this last month or so since I've been back, it's been good to have guys going through it with me. They are a little bit farther ahead of where I am in terms of recovery, but it's just good to talk to them, pick their brain. We're all going through the same thing, so it's good to have guys you can relate to."
While the frustration of the injuries is similar for each player, there were different vibes for each. For someone like Danforth, he went down just as he was starting to cement a role with the squad, as the veteran who didn't make his NHL debut until last season at age 28 had two goals in six games in the early going.
"Obviously it's frustrating," Danforth said. "I thought I had a good camp and a good start to the year and was starting to build some more confidence and get into a rhythm and really figure out this league a little bit. So yeah, it's frustrating. But it's not something I can't get back to. I hope I come back better than I was before."
Werenski, on the other hand, is one of the leaders of the team, someone signed through 2027-28 who has earned an "A" on his sweater. While the Blue Jackets had gotten off to a tough start before his injury, losing Werenski was one of the signs it just might not be the Jackets' year.
Considering his role on the team, Werenski certainly wasn't happy to step away, but he's tried to make the most of his time off the ice. He's learned more about diet and nutrition in an effort to make himself better when he gets back to action, and he's also thrown himself into his charity work that includes sponsoring a suite on gamedays at Nationwide Arena.
"That's kept me sane a little bit," he said. "I have that suite I donated, and that's been rewarding because I get to meet our cancer heroes and army veterans. Whenever I leave there, I always think to myself, 'This isn't that bad, what I'm going through.' Obviously it sucks, but actually mentally I'm in a really good spot."
While Werenski won't be able to return this year -- his main goal is to be healthy when he heads home for offseason training at the end of the season -- Danforth said his rehab is on schedule and he hopes to see time late in the year if everything continues to trend well.
"I think it's possible," he said. "My job right now is to go 100 percent and be an option for them if they need me."

Hutchinson Arrives

Before stepping on the ice in relief of Elvis Merzlikins on Saturday in Ottawa in his CBJ debut, Michael Hutchinson had played exactly nine competitive hockey games this season.
Seven were with the AHL's Henderson Silver Knights, where he was caught up in a goaltending logjam with fellow veteran Laurent Brossoit and prospect Jiri Patera in the Vegas system.
The other two were in the Spengler Cup, the midseason international competition that matches Team Canada against top European club teams.
In other words, there weren't many opportunities for Hutchinson to see game action, which is one reason the goalie was so excited to be acquired at the trade deadline to join the Blue Jackets in a swap for Jonathan Quick. In fact, it was a fun birthday present for Hutchinson, who arrived in Columbus last Friday on the same day he turned 33.
"A couple of days ago, I had a feeling Vegas was going to make a move," he said. "Doing the math in my head, I felt like I was the odd person out, so I had a little bit of an idea, but at the same time, you never know.
"It's one of those things I had the feeling I was going to get moved, but I was excited for a new opportunity somewhere. I'm really happy to come here."
The well-traveled Hutchinson now joins his seventh NHL team, though he's actually seen the ice in a game for just five of them. Add in six AHL stops as well as two ECHL squads and the Barrie, Ontario, native knows what it's like to have to get established in a new place with a new squad.
"I was telling my wife, it feels like the first day of school," said Hutchinson, who noted he has at least played previously in Winnipeg with Patrik Laine and Jack Roslovic. "Luckily, it's not my first rodeo with getting moved. You end up learning little things along the way. I know my first time ever with a new team, being moved, was really stressful. It's something that you find little things to start to make things as easy as possible, to adjust as easily as possible.
"At the end of the day, it's just hockey. It doesn't matter where you're playing. It's the same game. Luckily as a goalie, your job doesn't really change. It's just stop the puck."
Hutchinson had posted a 55-55-15 record with a 2.79 goals-against average, .905 save percentage and six shutouts in 137 career NHL games before arriving in Columbus. The right-catch goalie stopped 15 of 16 shots in his debut against the Senators and made 35 more stops in relief last night in Pittsburgh. He'll likely get a chance to start a few times down the stretch, though Merzlikins will get the lion's share of the work.
"I think we still have (four) back-to-backs left, so there is some work left for Hutchinson," general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said. "We needed to leave (Daniil) Tarasov in the minors where he can play a lot of games, a lot of minutes, and there's no reason to have him come here and sit on the bench."

Eye on the Monsters

As Kekalainen alluded to there, the status of the Cleveland Monsters now becomes a big piece of the puzzle as the Blue Jackets finish off the season.
With Columbus out of the race, the organization would love to see Cleveland make the postseason in the AHL to give some of the team's young players an opportunity to experience playoff hockey. Currently, the Monsters sit two points out of a playoff spot with 17 games to go.
The team wants Tarasov, who has played just 22 games this season and 37 over the past two seasons between Cleveland and Columbus, to rack up starts and experience down the stretch. Meanwhile, the Blue Jackets made a paper transaction on deadline day last Friday, sending Cole Sillinger to the Monsters then recalling him before that day's game vs. Seattle.
Players had to be on the Monsters roster as of Friday at 3 p.m. to be eligible to play in the AHL postseason, so the move allows the Blue Jackets the ability to send Sillinger down to gain experience and help the cause should a playoff berth materialize.
"We don't have any plans," Kekalainen said when asked if there was a specific time Sillinger might go down to join the Monsters. "This is just something that if and hopefully when we make the playoffs in Cleveland ... that will be a great experience for Cole, just as it was for Zack Werenski (in 2015-16). Hopefully, a deep run, if we can get healthier and get some guys playing in Cleveland, Cole will be a great addition to that group."
There had been talk that such young players as Kent Johnson and Kirill Marchenko would join Sillinger, but there are some other factors at play. While Sillinger has struggled offensively, posting a 2-6-8 line in 59 games this year after an impressive debut campaign a year ago, both Johnson and Marchenko have shown massive growth throughout the season.
In addition, teams are allotted just four non-emergency recalls from the AHL after the deadline, and Sillinger already takes up one of them. Doing the same with Johnson and Marchenko would have cost the Jackets two more of those spots, and Kekalainen said some other players in Cleveland might deserve a shot to see time in Columbus down the stretch as well.
Included in that group are wing Trey Fix-Wolansky, whose 25 goals are tied for fifth in the AHL; center Josh Dunne, who has six goals in the last 10 games; and rookie defenseman David Jiricek, the first-round pick who earned an AHL All-Star bid this season with the Monsters. There's also Yegor Chinakhov, who has spent the past two seasons with the Jackets but was sent to Cleveland after coming off injured reserve last week.
"We have some guys there that we would like to use, so they can show what they can do," Kekalainen said. "Fix-Wolansky has had a great season, but hasn't really had the opportunity to show that here. Josh Dunne is another player who has done really well in the American League and deserves a chance to show what he can do here."
At the same time, the Blue Jackets want to give Cleveland the best chance to win, Kekalainen acknowledged.
"It's the balance of giving them the opportunity and taking some of their best players from there now that they are fighting for their lives and trying to make the playoffs," the GM said.
Cleveland also got an addition Tuesday with the announcement that the Blue Jackets had signed 2021 first-round pick Corson Ceulemans to a three-year entry-level contract starting next season. The defenseman who played two years at the University of Wisconsin also signed a tryout offer with Cleveland and will spend the rest of the season there.
Caitlin Foley contributed to this report.