Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that Sergei Bobrovsky will not be with the team for tonight´s game. The Blue Jackets play in Nashville against the Predators.
#CBJ announce that G Sergei Bobrovsky “will not be with the team” tonight when they play Nashville. Release does not use the word suspension, but that’s how it sounds. pic.twitter.com/oGOSasL2P9
— Aaron Portzline (@Aportzline) January 10, 2019
Bobrovsky sent home by Columbus after an unspecified incident
Sergei Bobrovsky is currently in the last year of his contract that pays him $7.425M per season with the Blue Jackets. Since the beginning of this season, it has been widely rumoured that head coach John Tortorella doesn´t seem to be happy with Bobrovsky´s attitude and performances.
According to the official site of the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Russian goaltender failed to meet the expectations and values of the organization after an unknown incident occurred. This incident is the reason Columbus General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen decided to leave Bobrovsky at home for the game in Nashville tonight.
This year, Bobrovsky has an 18-13-1 record with a 2.87 goals-against average, 90,6% save percentage and two shutouts in 32 games this season. This has been a rocky season for Bobrovsky, who is set to become a free agent on July first. Columbus acquired Bobrovsky in 2012 in a trade with the Philadelphia Flyers.
What This Means for the Future
With Sergei Bobrovsky absent from the team tonight, it seems like 24 years old goaltender Joonas Korpisalo will start. Korpisalo will face fellow finnish goaltender Juuse Saros, who is starting for the Predators. The Jackets called up Jean-Francois Bérubé to back up Korpisalo in Bobrovsky’s absence.
What about the future of Bobrovsky in Columbus? That seems to be more unclear than ever. Having issues with his team and coach John Tortorella, it seems more and more likely that this will be Bob’s last season in Columbus. Prior to the incident, there were questions on whether or not Bobrovsky would resign with the Jackets. Unfortunately for Jackets fans, it seems like Bobrovsky is on his way out.
If the situation is completely untenable, Columbus can try to trade their netminder. Still, Bobrovsky has a no-movement clause in his contract he would need to waive. It will be interesting to see, whether he would waive it in order to get dealt before the trade deadline, which is on the 25th of February.
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