Adam Boqvist isn't too concerned about picking up where he left off.
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He's back in the Blue Jackets' lineup again after missing 13 games with a shoulder strain, but returning to form isn't exactly a new experience. Boqvist, 23, has dealt with injuries more than he'd care to remember during his first five NHL seasons, so it's almost routine now.
"I've been through this so many times," he said. "I kind of understand what I have to do when I'm coming back to be successful. I feel like I just catch a bad break whenever I'm playing at my best or something like that, but hopefully this one will be a smooth return, and I can just help the team win."
Boqvist hasn't had an NHL season that didn't include an injury absence, starting with his first two for the Chicago Blackhawks .
Despite making his NHL debut in 2019, a little more than a year after the Blackhawks selected him eighth overall in the draft, Boqvist has yet to play his 200thgame. Going into a game Saturday against the Minnesota Wild , he was still 13 games shy thanks to a collection of injuries that have limited his high for games played in a single season to just 46 last year for the Blue Jackets.
Boqvist is still considered young in the NHL, especially among defensemen, but he's also an old pro at dealing with injuries. This one, however, stung him in a different way. After sitting out as a healthy scratch in 14 of the Jackets' first 18 games , he'd earned the role of partnering with Zach Werenski on the top defense pairing and was playing well.
Then it stopped again.
"I feel like every injury is different," Boqvist said. "You get perspective with everything, but this one? I felt bad because being healthy scratched for 14 games, and then coming back and playing big minutes with (Werenski) in the last game ... it hurt. So, I just want to pick it up where I left it, where I was when I got hurt."
If anybody on the Jackets' roster can do it, it's Boqvist, and his familiarity playing the left side as a right-shot defender could come in handy. Werenski, a lefty, is out with a high-ankle sprain and the Blue Jackets also reassigned Jake Christiansen , another lefty, to the Cleveland Monsters to clear a roster spot for Boqvist.
Five of their seven NHL defensemen are righties, which means one must play on his 'off' side. It was slated to be Damon Severson , working as Boqvist's partner, starting out against the Wild on Saturday. Those two could flip sides, however, after Boqvist worked most of training camp on the left. He also has prior experience doing it in juniors with the London Knights.
"When you come back from injury, you want to play where you're most comfortable but either way works," Boqvist said. "Wherever the coach wants to put me, I'm fine with it. I'm just happy to play. When you start thinking about stuff, then it's harder."
Jordan Dumais is heading to Columbus for medical evaluation of an injury stemming from the prospect's participation for Canada in the world junior championship.
Dumais, 19, is one of the Blue Jackets' top prospects . He was selected in the third round (96thoverall) of the 2022 NHL draft held in his hometown of Montreal and has shown elite potential by tearing up the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
Dumais, a playmaking right wing, had 140 points on 54 goals and 86 assists in 64 games last year for the Halifax Mooseheads, and is off to an even better start this season with 16-31-47 in 21 games. He left Halifax for Canada's world juniors camp in December, made the team and finished with 1-1-2 in five games during a disappointing run that ended without a medal.
A report Friday in Le Journal de Québec said Dumais aggravated a prior injury affecting both hips during the world junior camp. He also struggled during the tournament with the issue, which the report said is something that's bothered Dumais "for several seasons."
Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen spoke with the Dispatch on Saturday and confirmed that Dumais is heading to Columbus on Sunday. He declined to reveal specifics about the injury but said the first he'd heard of it was after the world junior tournament.
Now, it's about determining severity.
"We just want to make sure that he gets looked at properly and thoroughly, and we'll listen to what the doctors have to say," Kekalainen said. "It's just an injury that's happened lately."
Dumais impressed for the Blue Jackets at the annual Traverse City NHL Prospects Tournament in September and looked good starting out in his second NHL training camp. An undisclosed issue forced him out of action and kept Dumais in Columbus, on injured reserve, for the start of the Blue Jackets' season.
Once that was resolved, he went back to Halifax to play his fourth QMJHL season. Kekalainen didn't reveal what that issue was, but said it was different than what Dumais is dealing with now.
The Jackets are possibly three weeks from getting captain Boone Jenner back from a fractured jaw, but he's back on the ice.
Jenner, who was injured when struck in the face by a deflected puck Dec. 8 against the St. Louis Blues , participated in the Jackets' morning skate Saturday without skating on a line during rushes. He has missed 11 games. Injured defenseman Nick Blankenburg, who's missed seven games with an upper-body injury, also joined the skate.
That's an indication both are ramping up their preparations for whenever returns are granted. Jenner's mouth is wired shut while his injury heals, so that could still be weeks away. He's been selected to represent the Blue Jackets at the NHL All-Star game in February at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto .
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Blue Jackets notebook: Boqvist returns, Dumais injured, Jenner skating
