According to the official Twitter account of the Columbus Blue Jackets, the club has taken veteran forward Matt Calvert off of the injured reserve list as of Saturday morning.
🎵 Guess who's back
back again
Calvy's back
tell a friend 🎵#CBJ https://t.co/CGajqsFc2J— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) December 2, 2017
Matt Calvert Taken Off the Injured Reserve
This move has been a long time coming, with Calvert sustaining a lower-body injury in the match up against the Tampa Bay Lightning on November 4th. After missing the last 12 games, Calvert returned to practice on Thursday and will be available for selection against the Washington Capitals on Saturday night. During his absence, head coach John Tortorella has attempted to fill Calvert’s position with the likes of Jordan Schroeder, Markus Hannikainen, and Tyler Motte, with varying degrees of success. In order to make room on the active roster, the club will send defenseman Ryan Murray to the IR retroactive to November 27, resulting from an injury he sustained against the Montreal Canadiens.
Calvert will be the third forward to return to active duty in recent weeks, following the reintroduction of centermen Lukas Sedlak and Alexander Wennberg since November 22nd. In their absence, the club adopted a “next man up” mentality and have managed to win eight of their 12 November games. Calvert is an essential piece of the Jackets penalty kill unit and will likely slide right back into this role come Saturday night.
In the 14 games prior to his injury, Calvert was experiencing a bit of a career resurgence as a member of the bottom six, contributing eight points in the form of three goals and five assists. The undersized winger will certainly look to reintroduce his unique brand of tireless hustle and intelligent defensive play this evening if Tortorella gives him the nod. The Jackets will face off against the Metropolitan Division rival Washington Capitals tonight at 7pm following a 4-2 win last night against the Anaheim Ducks.
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