The Columbus Blue Jackets are getting some much-needed reinforcements up front.
Head coach Rick Bowness confirmed that forwards Mason Marchment and Isac Lundeström will be activated from injured reserve ahead of tomorrow’s matchup against the Dallas Stars. It’s a welcome boost for a team that’s been grinding through injuries and lineup shuffles all season.
To make room on the roster, the Blue Jackets will need to make an additional move. The most likely scenario?
Placing another injured player on IR rather than sending someone down to the AHL. Columbus has a few candidates for that, with Dante Fabbro, Elvis Merzļikins, and Denton Mateychuk all currently banged up but not officially on IR.
Marchment, who joined the Blue Jackets in December via trade from the Seattle Kraken, was on a heater before getting sidelined with an upper-body injury. In his first seven games with Columbus, the 30-year-old winger racked up five goals and seven points, bringing a scoring punch the team desperately needed.
He’ll be looking to pick up right where he left off-and maybe settle a score against his former team. He’s faced the Stars twice since leaving Dallas but hasn’t found the scoresheet yet.
As for Lundeström, the 26-year-old center has been quietly anchoring the bottom six in his first season with Columbus. Signed to a two-year deal last summer, the former first-round pick has chipped in one goal and five points across 35 games. He’s been out for the past month with a lower-body injury but now gets a chance to re-establish his role in the lineup.
With these two back, Rick Bowness will finally have something resembling a healthy forward group-something he hasn’t had since taking over behind the bench on January 12. Outside of Miles Wood, who remains unavailable, this will be the closest the Blue Jackets have come to full strength in weeks.
And the timing couldn’t be better. Since Bowness stepped in, Columbus has shown signs of life, going 3-1-0 under his leadership.
But if they’re going to make a serious push toward the postseason, there’s no time to waste. The Jackets still sit seven points out of the final wild-card spot in the East, and every game from here on out carries weight.
Getting Marchment and Lundeström back is a step in the right direction. Now it’s about turning that momentum into points.