Sergei Federov Injury
So the Columbus Blue Jackets, plagued by injuries for the last few seasons, got more bad news today: Sergei Fedorov has injured his shoulder and is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks recovering.
This is bad news for a team that lacks scoring depth up front. Fedorov had an off year last year, managing “only” 44 points in 67 games, but he was still the 4th highest scorer on the team (and Nikolai Zherdev, the man above him, appears likely to be a hold out this year). More, much more, was expected of Fedorov when he was acquired last season. Injuries and a slow start combined to keep him from having the impact his $6 million salary suggest he ought to have.
From a salary cap perspective, the only good news is that the Blue Jackets are off the hook for paying Fedorov while he remains on the injured reserve list. If he misses 6 weeks he would be out until about early November, missing about 8-10 games. 8 games would free up about $580,000 of actual cap space. Not a whole lot, especially considering that the Blue Jackets are already well below this year’s $44 million cap. So the good news isn’t really all that good after all.
Looks like the fans in Columbus may have another year of disapointments ahead of them. The other additions, notably Fredrik Modin, should help to offset Fedorov’s loss, but the team was really hoping to field the full roster they’ve put together this year. They will not be able to replace Federov, even when Fedorov isn’t fully on his game.