Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski went on injured reserve Friday with a bruised quadriceps muscle and is expected to miss one to two weeks.
In his first game back after suffering a torn labrum last November, Werenski took a knee-on-knee hit from the Philadelphia Flyers’ Garnet Hathaway in Thursday’s season opener. Hathaway was fined $5,000 by the NHL’s department of player safety.
Columbus recalled defenseman David Jiricek, 19, to fill Werenski’s roster spot. Jiricek was a first-round pick (sixth overall) in 2022.
In his eighth season with the Blue Jackets, the 26-year-old Werenski has 245 points (79 goals, 166 assists) in 417 regular-season games and 13 points (four goals, nine assists) in 29 playoff games. Columbus selected him with the eighth overall pick in the 2015 draft.
–Field Level Media