This story was originally included in our weekly Friday Insider column.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — After an arduous first week of training camp, the Blue Jackets took an off day Thursday — time to rest their loins, lick their wounds and hope for better news the rest of the way.
The offseason hunch that, gee, Boone Jenner, Brandon Dubinsky and Josh Anderson could make a monster third line in Columbus has been quashed by the stark reality that none of those three players are full participants in training camp.
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Dubinsky, who had offseason wrist surgery, has taken part in skating drills but nothing involving contact. GM Jarmo Kekalainen said he could be cleared “soon,” but that isn’t exactly a time-stamp. The club hopes he’ll be ready to play at the start of the regular season; anything earlier might be a bonus.
Jenner is more mysterious. He has only recently started skating on his own away from the club, easing his way back into the mix after suffering a “middle-body” injury in his preseason workouts. There’s no timetable for his return.
And then there’s Anderson, the messy story has set an ominous mood over the whole of camp.
The Blue Jackets and Anderson’s agent, Darren Ferris, might have “vastly different” opinions over Anderson’s worth, as Ferris told The Athletic last week, but the two sides are not far apart.
According to one source, it’s about a $150,000 gap per season over a three-year contract.
Ferris and the Jackets also have discussed a one-year contract, which would get Anderson to next summer, when he has arbitration rights. But the salary gap is even bigger between the two sides in their one-year offers.
The Blue Jackets have dug in their heels, believing they shouldn’t bow to a player who has come to the table with one good NHL season on his resume and not much leverage per the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement.
Ferris has dug in his heels, vowing to wait it out until his client gets “fair market value.”
The two sides don’t appear to have budged since training camp started. They’re both standing on principle. This could take a while. Anderson will miss his ninth day today.
Ferris told The Athletic last night that he and Anderson will travel to Switzerland next week to begin training — he wouldn’t specify a day — and that Anderson could spend the season playing in Europe, perhaps also playing for Canada in the Olympics.
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The Blue Jackets, meanwhile, are talking up all of their veterans and youngsters in camp, players that could fill Anderson’s void should this drag into the season.
That includes coach John Tortorella, who said Anderson’s absence was a topic in his opening meeting with the players. After that, he’s tried to coach as if Anderson doesn’t exist.
“The coach has moved by that already,” Tortorella said. “He’s going to put a fresh body in there that’s going through this camp, that’s doing the things they need to be doing to get ready to play.
“This is the group we’re coaching, and jobs are open.”
The Blue Jackets have other injuries to consider, too.
On Tuesday, center Sam Vigneault suffered a broken finger during a fall in a 5-2 loss to Chicago. He’s out four to six weeks.
On Wednesday, right wing Jordan Schroeder and left wing Joe Pendenza suffered upper-body injuries. They’re day-to-day.
New Albany’s Kole Sherwood has been out since suffering a high-ankle sprain late in the Traverse City prospects tournament.
Tortorella said training camp will move into a different phase today, when the Blue Jackets begin a stretch with three preseason games in three days. They host Pittsburgh at 7 p.m. tonight in Nationwide Arena.
“We’re breaking into two practice groups, and it’s going to be pretty obvious how the groups are broken up,” Tortorella said. “Group 1 will be a lot of the National Hockey Leaguers and guys who have earned a spot there. It’ll be more than the numbers we’ll carry (into the season), but guys we think should be in Group 1.”
There also will be a Group 2, Tortorella said, comprised mostly of players who will dress for AHL Cleveland this season. Monsters coach John Madden will coach that group.
Some players will move from Group 2 to Group 1, and vice versa, based on their performances in preseason games and practices.
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The Blue Jackets will likely get through the next three exhibition games — tonight vs. Pittsburgh, Saturday at Chicago and Sunday vs. Nashville — before making the next significant wave of cuts.
Opening night is two weeks from today. The Blue Jackets could use some good news between now and then.
Top photo credit: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images