Blue Jackets Activate Ivan Provorov Off IR

The Blue Jackets will get one of their top blueliners back in the lineup tonight versus Dallas.  Per a team announcement, Columbus has activated Ivan Provorov off injured reserve.

The 29-year-old has yet to play this season due to a lower-body injury.  It carried a week-to-week designation and, overall, Provorov winds up missing a little more than four weeks with the injury.

Provorov is coming off one of his better years in 2025-26.  He played in all 82 games, chipping in offensively with 31 points, his third straight season and fourth in five with at least 30 points.  He also led the team in blocked shots with 134 and logged 24:49 per night of ice time, the ninth-highest ATOI league-wide.

For his career, Provorov has 86 goals and 227 assists in 778 games over parts of 10 NHL seasons after being a first-round pick by Philadelphia back in 2015.  Instead of replacing one of their top six defenders for his season debut, it’s likely that Columbus will dress seven blueliners, relays NHL.com’s Robert Tiffin (Twitter link).

Earlier this week, the Blue Jackets preemptively cleared a roster spot for Provorov’s activation when Carson Soucy was waived and assigned to AHL Cleveland after passing through unclaimed.  Their active roster stands at a full 23 players.