Blue Jackets place forward Carson Meyer on injured reserve

The Columbus Blue Jackets are facing even more injury trouble. The team has announced that forward Carson Meyer suffered an oblique strain during Tuesday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Lightning. As a result, the forward has been placed on injured reserve and will be out for six-to-eight weeks.

In a corresponding move, the Blue Jackets have recalled forward Trey Fix-Wolansky from their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters.

This season has not gone according to plan for Columbus, and a major reason for their disappointing form has been injuries. Columbus has a whopping seven players already on injured reserve, meaning Meyer will be their eighth player to land on the list. Additionally, the Blue Jackets have franchise defenseman Zach Werenski on long-term injured reserve.

It’s been an absolutely brutal run of injuries for head coach Brad Larsen’s squad, costing the team valuable contributors such as Werenski, Jakub Voracek, captain Boone Jenner, Jake Bean, Yegor Chinakhov, Justin Danforth, Nick Blankenburg and now Meyer.

These injuries have given some players in the Blue Jackets organization a greater chance to show what they can do at the NHL level than they’d likely have been afforded were the team in better health. Meyer is one of those players, as he’s gotten 13 games at the NHL level this season, a total that already matches his games played from last year.

In those 13 games, Meyer hasn’t managed to get on the scoresheet yet, but he’s registered 22 hits and six blocked shots. He’s found more offensive success at the AHL level, where he has scored 18 points in 15 games this season.

Speaking of AHL success, Meyer’s replacement on the Blue Jackets’ roster is Fix-Wolansky, who has set the American League on fire so far this year. His 34 points in 26 games lead Cleveland, and his quality performance earned him some NHL games earlier this year.

The former Edmonton Oil King has developed nicely since being drafted in the seventh round by the Blue Jackets at the 2018 draft and will look to put together some quality performances in his current go-around at the NHL level.