Jerome Miron – USA TODAY Sports
Even with the Columbus Blue Jackets season shortened by not making it into the playoffs, there’s been a lot of activity up to this point for the team.
First, the Blue Jackets have signed forward Mark Letestu to a two-year extension that will take his contract through the 2014-15 season. Letestu was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in November 2011. From kget.com:
“Mark is a smart, versatile forward who brings consistency and a great work ethic every time he takes the ice and we are very pleased to have him remain with our hockey club,” said Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen.
It was also confirmed last week that Marian Gaborik is suffering from an abdominal injury that is not related to any other injury he suffered this past season. In his exit physical, he mentioned that he was experiencing some soreness and discomfort in his abdominal area, so the team sent him to see a specialist and it was decided that the best course of action for the injury would be to have surgery. Prior to this, Gaborik was to fly to Helsinki, Finland to join the Slovakian team and play in the IIHF World Championship, which began this past Friday. That, of course, is no longer in his off-season plans.
Once he has the surgery, Gaborik will have a recovery period of three to four weeks and will then be able to get back to off-season training as usual. It sounds as if this will not affect any time for the upcoming 2013-14 season, but sometimes things do not always go according to plan and we’ll probably have to wait until then to see for sure.
Stephanie Lewark is an NHL and Pittsburgh Penguins Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow her on Twitter (@steelcitysports), check out her Facebook page, or add her to your Google+ circle.
