Before Kent Johnson could return to the Blue Jackets lineup, the CBJ forward had to pass a major test.

The Jared Boll test.

Johnson – who has been out since Oct. 17 with an upper body injury – returned to practice with the Blue Jackets last week, but he was held out of contact drills at first. It wasn’t until Saturday in Montreal that Johnson fully tested his injury with the help of the CBJ enforcer turned assistant coach.

“Boller was running me with the pad there in Montreal,” Johnson said with a laugh. “I got a lot of contact there, so it feels really ready.”

Johnson still has to be activated from injured reserve, but he skated on the team’s second line with Adam Fantilli and James van Riemsdyk on Wednesday, and head coach Dean Evason said the plan is for Johnson to return for Thursday night’s game vs. Tampa Bay.

Considering that Johnson had shoulder surgery after an injury last February – and how bad things looked when he first hit the ice after tripping over teammate van Riemsdyk vs. Buffalo just over a month ago – a return after four weeks of action feels like a best-case scenario for Johnson.

“Right when it happened, I was just looking at the dates and the games, and I had some games, I was like, ‘Oh, this one maybe,’ ” he said of a potential return. “I think it’s been quicker than that. It’s been a good recovery. A lot of credit to the trainers and strength staff here, everyone helping me out and getting me right.”

The Blue Jackets will be happy to have Johnson back, as the No. 5 overall pick in the 2021 draft was showing his considerable offensive skills in the early going. The 21-year-old’s start included two goals and three assists in the four games he played, and he had at least a point in every game as well as goals in each of the first two contests.

More than that, he was becoming a key part of the CBJ power play and penalty kill units, as Evason was happy with Johnson’s all-around game.

“I was not only impressed with his skill set but his attention to detail – his penalty kill and his defensive game, his ability to carry the puck through the neutral zone,” Evason said. “In the short time that I’ve seen him, he’s a well-rounded player that plays in all three zones extremely well. He’s a rink rat – just loves the game.

“He’s going to provide us with a good boost with his energy level as well.”

After playing just four games in the past nine months, Johnson said he’s excited to return to the ice and get the reward of playing after all the work off the ice that he’s put in.

“It makes it even more fun, more perspective and whatnot,” he said. “Even looking at the games played, we still have so many games. I feel pretty lucky. A lot of my friends are in college and they only play like 35 (games). I don’t really want to be too mad about missing four weeks. I have a lot of games, a lot of hockey, hopefully, so just try to stay healthy now and keep going.”

Jiricek, Pyyhtia Sent to Cleveland

With Johnson likely coming off the injured list, the Blue Jackets had to open a roster spot for his return, but they opened up two Thursday by sending forward Mikael Pyyhtia and defenseman David Jiricek to AHL Cleveland.

The move involving Jiricek drew more attention, as the sixth overall pick in the 2022 draft and one of the team’s top prospects had played just six of the first 18 games, posting one assist and averaging 11:12 of ice time. In his last three games, Jiricek played less than 10 minutes, and the Blue Jackets got to the point where they felt the talented 20-year-old blueliner needed ice time.

“I watched last year when I got the opportunity to come here in the playoffs in Cleveland, and I thought he played very, very well, not just defensively but offensively,” general manager Don Waddell said. “For whatever reason, it hasn’t gone as smoothly, the transition to the NHL, this year. He’s played some games. I know he hasn’t played the minutes that he wants to play.

“But his confidence, we can tell just watching him the other night, he’s worried about making that mistake. He’s 20 years old. He’s gonna be 21 years old at the end of the month. He’s very young. Playing in the NHL is a tough position to start, especially for a young player. We just made the decision we thought it was best to let him go play games in Cleveland, and we’ll see how it goes.”

There’s no doubt Jiricek is a talented player, especially on the offensive end, where his booming shot and instincts with the puck on his stick can take over. He’s used to playing an aggressive game defensively, using his size to shut down rushes before they start and hound opposing players, but so far this season he’s appeared caught in between wanting to do that and being afraid of getting burned.

Evason said Blue Jackets coaches have been meeting with Jiricek to go over his game on a regular basis, and Jiricek has been receptive to the team’s approach.

“The thing with Jiri is when the puck is on his tape, he’s fantastic,” Evason said. “When the puck is not on his tape, he needs to get some more detail in his game. And he understood it. He’s worked his ass off when he hasn’t played. He’s been committed to trying to do the things that we’re asking him to do to be a really great pro in this game.

“He’s got an offensive upside that is elite, but to play defense in the National Hockey League, you have to defend, and he is learning. He’s committed to doing it. So our belief is when he gets (to Cleveland), he’s going to do it … and he’s going to develop to the point where he gets his butt back here and he helps us win.”

The reality of the situation is there aren’t many defensemen Jiricek’s age in the NHL, let alone those that play at a high level. According to Hockey-Reference, there are just 14 blueliners who will be 21 or younger as of Feb. 1, 2025, who have played NHL minutes this year, and learning to go up against the best in the world is a process for all of them.

“This is a tough league,” Evason said. “It’s the best league in the world. The players are so elite. I can’t imagine trying to play and have success in the league. It’s incredible. And the athletes today – the speed, the strength, the size, it’s all elite. So yeah, it’s a difficult league to play, and so you need to work at it in order to get good at it, in order to have success.”

Ironically, Evason noted the opposite part of the equation is true for Pyyhtia, as the 22-year-old wing has excelled at the defensive side of the game but struggled to find offensive confidence at the NHL level. Pyyhtia has a single goal in 17 games with the blue Jackets this year, and with Johnson coming back, they hope a player who was a scorer in the Finnish Liiga can rediscover some offensive upside in the AHL.

“We’re extremely happy with Tuna and the way that he’s conducted himself and he’s played,” Evason said. “He needs to go just play and hopefully score some goals and feel good about his game offensively because his defensive side is fantastic.”

Lindstrom Has Surgery

The other bit of news from Waddell on Wednesday was that the team’s first-round draft pick this summer, center Cayden Lindstrom, underwent a procedure yesterday on his back.

The No. 4 overall pick in the draft is yet to play a game this season, and Waddell noted that while rehab had gotten Lindstrom to about 90 percent, the surgery will allow him to get to 100 percent.

“He wanted to try to work through it, and the doctors were all good with that,” Waddell said. “The timetable initially wasn’t about right now. It’s about making sure we get this player prepared. He’s going to be an NHL player with us for a long time. We wanted to make sure we did the right things.

“We got to the point that he just couldn’t get to that 100 percent and felt this was necessary to do it.”

Lindstrom had 27 goals and 46 points in 32 games with Medicine Hat of the WHL last year but was knocked out of the lineup with a finger injury at midseason. The back injury followed, and while Lindstrom did return to skate in four playoff games with the Tigers in spring, the Blue Jackets have been cautious with someone who they expect to be a cornerstone of the franchise going forward.

Waddell said the procedure Wednesday was a microdiscectomy, which is used when a disc presses up against a nerve in the back, causing pain and discomfort. It’s a minimally invasive procedure, and Waddell said doctors are confident he’ll return to full health.

“It’s a very short procedure, and everything went well,” Waddell said. “They felt that what they saw is exactly what they thought they would see. His recovery will be back to 100 percent, and hopefully he can play hockey again this season.”

The general manager and president of hockey operations noted that Lindstrom will largely rest for the next 30 days, then continue his rehab in Columbus.

“Knowing what we know and now what is confirmed yesterday, we feel very comfortable that this is just a one-time thing and that there won’t be any long-term effects from it,” Waddell said.