The National Hockey League stretch run is about to begin after the conclusion of a thrilling 4 Nations Face-Off — and the playoff-hopeful Columbus Blue Jackets are getting healthy at the perfect time.
Both Boone Jenner and Kirill Marchenko were activated off injured reserve and will play against the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night, the team announced on Friday.
“The Columbus Blue Jackets have activated forwards Boone Jenner and Kirill Marchenko off Injured Reserve, team President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Don Waddell announced today,” wrote the official release.
“The club also announced that forward Kevin Labanc was placed on Injured Reserve after undergoing shoulder surgery on February 18 and will miss the rest of the campaign. In addition, forward Owen Sillinger will also miss the remainder of the 2024-25 season with a knee injury.”
While the injury updates to Labanc and Sillinger are disappointing, Jenner and Marchenko are two of the team’s most important players. And considering the Blue Jackets are just a single point back of the final wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference, the update is monumental.
Jenner hasn’t played this season after undergoing shoulder surgery at the beginning of October. The 31-year-old has missed 56 games; the captain has amassed 192 goals and 364 points over 715 games in Columbus since his debut 2013-14.
Marchenko has been absolutely phenomenal in Ohio in 2024-25, leading the forward core with 21 goals and 55 points in just 53 games. It’s been a true breakout campaign for the Russian, who has been terrific on the top line all campaign long. The 24-year-old missed three contests after suffering a broken jaw against the Dallas Stars on February 2.
With a couple of key reinforcements back, the Jackets will look to make a late push and advance to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2019-20.
Blue Jackets still very much alive in Eastern Conference
Columbus has been hanging around the playoff picture for most of the season, but went into the 4 Nations Face-Off break on a four-game losing streak. That has the club at 26-22-8 with 26 games left.
The hope in Ohio is that the return of Jenner and Marchenko will help the squad string together some wins down the stretch. The Eastern Conference is extremely crowded, but the Jackets have played well enough this season to continue hanging around.
That’s especially true because of Norris Trophy front runner Zach Werenski, who just led the 4 Nations in scoring despite being a defenseman. The American has been otherworldly for his team this year, and was for large stretches Team USA’s best player.
After a 13-day break, the Blue Jackets are back in action against the Blackhawks at home on Saturday night. They’ll welcome Chicago to Nationwide Arena before Dallas visits on Tuesday. Following that, it’s a home-and-home against the Detroit Red Wings to end the month of February.
It’ll be interesting to see if Columbus can have some sustained success down the stretch with their captain, as well as best performing forward, both back in the lineup.
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