The Columbus Blue Jackets have confirmed that they will be without center Lukas Sedlak for six weeks. This is due to an ankle injury that Sedlak suffered during Blue Jackets practice on Monday.
Lukas Sedlak to Miss Six Weeks with Ankle Injury
If the Blue Jackets weren’t in need of a center before, they certainly will be now. With the confirmation that Sedlak will be out for six weeks, this leaves Columbus with Alex Wennberg, Nick Foligno, and Brandon Dubinsky as the three players remaining on the roster currently playing center.
Sedlak, 24, was off to a decent enough start for someone who spends most of his time on the fourth line. He has two goals in eight games during this season, and with this injury confirms that he will, yet again, not play in a full 82-game season having playing in 62 games in 2016-17.
While he isn’t ever someone that will light up the stat sheet, Sedlak is a serviceable bottom six center that Blue Jackets head coach John Tortorella has come to trust. In his 70 career NHL games he has a 3.80 Relative Corsi-For Percentage (Rel.CF%). This goes to show just how truly effective he is.
For those of you who do not follow Rel.CF%, anything in the positive range for a bottom six forward is good, and anything above a 1.00 for anyone is good. That puts his 3.80 into perspective.
Who Could Fill In?
The first option would be to push one of the players currently playing wing on the Blue Jackets roster to center and keep Zac Dalpe on the Blue Jackets roster. The most likely candidates would be Boone Jenner or Pierre-Luc Dubois.
Jenner has played center before, and has shown he is effective at the position. As for Dubois, that was the long-term plan the Blue Jackets wanted for him, to play center. And now is the time to test it out and see if it is a fit for him.
The second option would be to call upon Jordan Schroeder or Tyler Motte to fill in at the center position for the fourth line. Motte was a fan favorite in Chicago for playing the role well, so giving him a chance would be less than surprising.
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