Heartbreaking Injury Setback for Sean Monahan and the Columbus Blue Jackets
Sean Monahan's bounce back was a huge story in the NHL early this season, but after suffering a brutal injury, it appears his return has been delayed significantly.
Despite many believing they could be in place for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Columbus Blue Jackets have been playing fantastic in 2024/25, with the team right in the thick of the action in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race.
Unfortunately, their season just got a whole lot tougher, as Sean Monahan has been on the sidelines for a few weeks now after suffering a wrist injury earlier in January.
Now, things have gotten worse, as the Columbus Blue Jackets have announced on social media that he will be out for quite some time as he looks to get back to 100% before returning to the ice.
That's a heartbreaking announcement for Monahan, who has worked hard to get healthy and get back on the ice after his time in Calgary ended full of injuries, and after excelling in 41 games this season with 14 goals and 41 points, he likely won't be back until very late in the season.
In the absence of Monahan, the Blue Jackets have turned to rising star Adam Fantili as their top line centre, and thus far he's been thriving in the role alongside Kirill Marchenko, and if Monahan gets back on the ice, this will give them plenty of options up front.
When he's on his game, there's few more reliable and likeable players in the NHL than No. 23, so fans all around the NHL will be hoping to see him at his very best in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this season if the team can hold it together without him.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Gabriel Vilardi | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Cale Makar | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Matthew Boldy | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nicolas Roy | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Claude Giroux | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brayden McNabb | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Artemi Panarin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mark Scheifele | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Vincent Trocheck | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Keegan Kolesar | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Nathan MacKinnon | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Martin Necas | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Reilly Smith | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Tim Stutzle | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mason Appleton | 1 | - | 1 | |
| William Borgen | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sam Carrick | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack Drury | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Capitals | 49 | 33 | 11 | 5 | 71 | |
Jets | 50 | 33 | 14 | 3 | 69 | |
Oilers | 49 | 31 | 15 | 3 | 65 | |
Golden Knights | 49 | 30 | 15 | 4 | 64 | |
Hurricanes | 50 | 30 | 16 | 4 | 64 | |
Stars | 49 | 31 | 17 | 1 | 63 | |
Maple Leafs | 50 | 30 | 18 | 2 | 62 | |
Devils | 51 | 28 | 17 | 6 | 62 | |
Panthers | 50 | 29 | 18 | 3 | 61 | |
Wild | 49 | 28 | 17 | 4 | 60 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||