Blue Jackets recall top prospect, place defenseman on IR

Johnson, 21, was drafted fifth overall in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft by the Blue Jackets, and played 79 games with the NHL club in 2022-23, scoring 16 goals and 24 assists for 40 points.

However, Johnson was sent to the AHL on Nov. 3 after only recording one goals and two assists in eight games to start the season. In 10 games with the Monsters, Johnson scored at a point-and-a-half pace, producing five goals and 10 assists for 15 points.

Severson, 29, has been out with an oblique injury suffered during the Blue Jackets’ matchup vs. the Philadelphia Flyers on Nov. 19. Two days later, the team announced that he was expected to miss six weeks with injury.

In 18 games this season, Severson scored three goals and five assists for eight points, becoming one of the key offensive contributors for a Blue Jackets squad that heavily relies on offense from the blue line. Zach Werenski and Ivan Provorov are first and third, respectively, on the team in points, with Werenski recording 16 and Provorov totalling 14.

The Blue Jackets are off to one of their worst starts in franchise history, with a record of 7-13-4 through their first 24 games, good for 18 points and last in the Eastern Conference’s Metropolitan Division.

The team lost their last game in a 4-2 defeat against the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday. They’ll look to bounce back against the Ottawa Senators on Friday night, who are the only team in the Eastern Conference with a worse record than Columbus, going 8-9-0 with 16 points.