The Columbus Blue Jackets announced that center Brandon Dubinsky was put on injured reserve on Monday. He will likely be sidelined for four to six weeks with a strained oblique muscle.
INJURY UPDATE: C Brandon Dubinsky (strained oblique) placed on IR – expected to miss 4-6 weeks. #CBJ
Release: https://t.co/EZm0QKNaDK
— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) October 8, 2018
Brandon Dubinsky Injured
Dubinsky left practice on Sunday complaining about discomfort. Today the team revealed the details of the injury.
He has one goal this season. He also had a 68.8 faceoff winning percentage. His possession numbers were 62.7 percent Corsi with a relative Corsi of 17.5. Although a small sample size, those are among the best possession statistics in Columbus this season.
Over his thirteen-year NHL career, Dubinsky has played for the New York Rangers and Columbus. He has put up 148 goals and 278 assists for 426 career points in 764 career games. He was originally drafted in the second round, 60th overall of the 2004 NHL draft by the Rangers.
Dubinsky is playing in the fourth year of six of his current contract. His annual cap hit is $5.85 million per season.
How The Dubinsky Injury Will Impact The Blue Jackets
Dubinsky had only 16 points in 62 games last year. He hasn’t scored 20 or more since the 2010-11 season. But he’s a veteran center for the Blue Jackets. He’s been with them for seven seasons. Pierre-Luc Dubois leads the team up the middle with Alexander Wennberg behind him. The loss of Dubinsky is a blow to the Blue Jacket’s depth and defensive capabilities as a team.
One area the loss of Dubinsky may have a significant impact Columbus is on defensive zone faceoffs. Dubinsky has always been a good faceoff man with the majority of them coming in the defensive zone. However, last year he had a faceoff win percentage of 54.7. His defensive zone start percentage was 63.3. Riley Nash will be expected to pick up the slack.
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