Blue Jackets Place Mikael Pyyhtia On Waivers

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Mikael Pyyhtia is ready to begin his season. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported that the Blue Jackets have placed Pyyhtia on waivers, indicating that he has recovered from the lower-body injury he suffered during preseason.

Pyyhtia, 24, is in his fifth season playing for the Blue Jackets organization. Columbus selected him with the 114th overall pick in the 2020 NHL Draft, and he came to North America toward the end of the 2022-23 campaign after wrapping up his time overseas with the Finnish Liiga’s TPS.

Although he was a quality scorer in the Finnish professional circuit, Pyyhtia has looked outmatched against NHL competition thus far. The Blue Jackets have given him several chances to stay in the NHL, but he hasn’t done enough to secure a consistent roster spot.

Since the 2022-23 season, Pyyhtia has scored five goals and 11 points in 71 contests with a -19 rating, averaging 12:16 of ice time per game. His career 43.9% CorsiFor at even strength further suggests that he isn’t ready for the game’s highest level, and he may never be.

Still, that doesn’t mean Pyyhtia hasn’t found any success in North America. In the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons, while playing for the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters, Pyyhtia registered 10 goals and 44 points in 88 games with a +3 rating, becoming a solid secondary contributor.

However, last season, he surpassed his production from the last two years combined. Pyhhtia finished as the Monsters’ second-best scorer behind Luca Del Bel Belluz, scoring 21 goals and 49 points in 59 games. He registered another two goals and five points in nine postseason contests.

Pyyhtia remains young enough that his NHL future shouldn’t be completely written off. However, unless he has a better year than last season, which is a tall ask, it’s hard to imagine him raising his game to compete at the next level.