Report: Blue Jackets' Nathan Horton could miss all of training camp
The Columbus Blue Jackets revealed Wednesday that Nathan Horton will miss at least part of training camp while dealing with an ailing back. General manager Jarmo Kekalainen did not seem overly concerned about it at that point, but Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch reports the injury could cause Horton to miss all of camp and perhaps even the start of the regular season.
It’s obviously not ideal to be without Horton who played just 36 games last season dealing with surgery recovery for the first half of the season and an abdominal injury later in the year.
Horton had 19 points over those 36 games, but was not able to participate in the playoffs.
The good news is that the Blue Jackets said that Horton’s shoulder and abdomen are fully healed, but this back situation is definitely a concern, but maybe not an overwhelming one.
No surgery is comforting for a shorter-term recovery, but the indefinite timeline for when the 29-year-old forward will return remains a bit unsettling about the whole situation.
That Horton will miss at least a portion of training camp is disappointing as he didn’t get many reps with his new team last season. Additionally, he’s playing on a pretty sizable contract with six years left on it. After Year 1 was essentially a bust due to things beyond Horton’s control, there’s pressure to deliver more this season with that $5.3 million cap hit looming overhead.
The Blue Jackets are also dealing with the contract negotiations with restricted free agent Ryan Johansen, so that means two of Columbus’ best players aren’t able to participate in camp right now.
Columbus coaches and management will have a chance to get a longer look at some other players in camp as a result of those absences, but odds are, at some point over the next few weeks they could get one or both of Johansen and Horton back. At that point, the organization and its fans can resume getting excited about what looks to be a promising season, but this probably isn’t the way anyone wanted to see it start.
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