The beat keeps on going for the Columbus Blue Jackets. Coming off a big 3-2 win in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, their next tough game and opponent awaits them on Thursday.
The Blue Jackets will make their first of two trips to the Bell Centre in Montreal Thursday night to take on the Canadiens. The two teams are separated by one point in the overall standings. Both teams hold a playoff spot in their respective division.
Teams in the Atlantic would root for a Blue Jackets’ regulation win to keep the Canadiens at 88 points. The Bruins also have 88 points but have played more games. The Ottawa Senators (85) and Detroit Red Wings (84) want to try to close the gap for third in the Atlantic.
Meanwhile, teams like the Penguins and Islanders would prefer a Canadiens’ regulation win in the race for the Metropolitan Division and the potential of home-ice advantage.
We start this week’s edition of Blue Jackets News & Rumors with a lineup change in advance of Thursday night’s game.
Wood In, Johnson Out
Despite earning a big regulation win on Tuesday night, the Blue Jackets are electing to make a change. Head coach Rick Bowness told reporters in Montreal that forward Miles Wood comes in for Kent Johnson.
Lineup change for #CBJ tonight, Miles Wood draws in and will play with Jenner Lundestrom. Kent Johnson sits. Jet Greaves gets the net v. @CanadiensMTL Pregame
Coverage begins at 6:30 @FanDuelSN_CBUS— Dave Maetzold (@DMaetzMedia) March 26, 2026
Bowness has been hesitant to make changes with the Blue Jackets doing so well. But for this game in Montreal, according to Jackets’ Insider Jeff Svoboda, Wood is coming in because of his speed and forechecking ability against a fast team like the Canadiens.
Still, having Johnson be the scratch is certainly interesting.
The Blue Jackets’ second line did not have a good night against the Flyers on Tuesday. With the other lines playing well enough, if Bowness wanted to make a change, it’s not surprising that it’s Johnson.
The coach has previously said that players will be warned if they don’t have a good game and would sit if it happened again. It remains to be seen if Johnson was actually warned. But it reinforces the depth the Blue Jackets have available.
Dmitri Voronkov remains out. There’s no indication of when he’ll return but hasn’t played in a game in two weeks. Defensemen Jake Christiansen and Egor Zamula have to wait their turn. Now Johnson will have to wait his. Danton Heinen will go to Johnson’s spot on the second line with Wood playing on the fourth line with Boone Jenner and Isac Lundestrom.
Bowness will not hesitate to make changes even after a win. If there is a lesson to be learned from the Johnson scratch, it’s that the coach will evaluate both how a player is playing and a potential matchup with an opponent to determine if a change will be made.
Speaking of the roster…
Organizational Roster Consistency
Quick question. What have you not noticed of late from the Blue Jackets? You haven’t seen any news of call ups from the Cleveland Monsters.
It’s normal for NHL teams to have a slew of call ups due to injury or performance. That hasn’t been the case with the Blue Jackets. The last move involving the Monsters was back in January. Since the Olympic break, no Monsters have been called to Columbus.
That is a major change from the recent past. It means the injury situation hasn’t been severe enough to make a call up. The man-games lost going into Thursday night’s game was just 179. Brendan Smith remains on IR and has missed the last 33 games.
The Blue Jackets have a roster of 24 with two extra forwards and two extra defensemen for each game. This has allowed GM Don Waddell to let the teams to have continuity on their rosters without a lot of disruption.
With just 10 games left in the Monsters’ regular season going into Thursday night, they are solidly in an AHL playoff spot. That lack of disruption has played a key role in making sure the Monsters have the best chance to make the playoffs while not rushing any of the younger guys.
That consistent development will play a major role for the Blue Jackets’ organization down the road. It’s another feather in the cap of Waddell being able to find the right balance of avoiding call ups while making sure both teams have the proper man power.
Monsters’ head coach Trent Vogelhuber has spoken to the Hockey Writers in the past about this very thing. Constant call ups disrupted what he was trying to do. He always had to come up with new and different lineups. Monsters GM Chris Clark would have to bring in PTO’s sometimes just to have enough players.
In the 2025-26 season, that has not been an issue. Both the Blue Jackets and Monsters have been able to operate in a way that keep both teams optimized when it comes to their rosters. When considering a reason for each team’s success, that has to be near the top of the list.
Side Dishes
- Speaking of the Monsters, they did add two new players this week. Charlie Elick’s junior season was over. He was assigned to the Monsters. Also Owen Griffin’s season in Oshawa ended. The Monsters signed him to an ATO.
- As for the big games to watch that affect the Eastern playoffs, the Penguins play the Senators in Ottawa. The Islanders host the Dallas Stars.
- The Blue Jackets will finish in a playoff spot to end Thursday no matter what happens. They still hold a game in hand on the Islanders. They could open a three-point lead for second in the Metro in a best-case scenario. The worst-case is they’ll be in third tied in points with the Islanders in the Metro but trail in the wildcard. Get used to figuring out all the scenarios with each passing day.
