Lundestrom Still Out, and Columbus's Forward Math Gets Tighter as Camp Nears

Isac Lundestrom's status remains unclear, and with training camp approaching, that uncertainty is starting to matter more. As I noted a few days ago, the Blue Jackets have otherwise run a clean offseason — Nichushkin in from Colorado, Luke Tuch signed, Cole Sillinger locked up for three years at $13.875 million. The forward group looks meaningfully better on paper than the one that scored 2.1 goals a game and went 2-8 down the stretch last spring.

The problem is that depth is only depth until someone is missing from it. Lundestrom was part of the arithmetic Columbus built around, and with no timeline public, Bowness's staff is planning around a question mark. The Blue Jackets already know what happens when the forward group thins out under pressure — they watched it in real time last April.

No diagnosis has been reported, no return date offered. For now it's just a name on the wrong side of the ledger as the calendar closes in on camp. Worth watching.