Blue Jackets’ Kent Johnson placed on IR, will miss rest of season

The Columbus Blue Jackets placed forward Kent Johnson on Injured Reserve (IR) on Sunday, announcing that the 21-year-old would be undergoing surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left shoulder and will miss the rest of the 2023-24 season.

The club also announced that goaltender Elvis Merzlikins is day-to-day with an upper-body injury, meaning the team added goaltender Jet Greaves to the roster on emergency recall from the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters.

Johnson suffered the injury in a game against the New York Rangers on Feb. 28. According to The Hockey Writers’ Mark Scheig, he may have suffered the injury on the last faceoff of the game.

Johnson, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, was in his second full season with the club, scoring six goals and 10 assists for 16 points in 42 games. During the 2022-23 campaign, he scored 16 goals and 24 assists for 40 points in 79 games.

Before being drafted by the Blue Jackets, Johnson spent two seasons with the University of Michigan from 2020-22, scoring 17 goals and 47 assists for 64 points in 58 games. He represented Team Canada at the 2022 Winter Olympics, scoring a goal and four assists in five games. He also won a gold medal for Canada at the 2022 World Junior Championship.