Trade Still Possible Despite Serious Injury for Gustav Nyquist

Columbus Blue Jackets forward Gustav Nyquist will potentially miss the remainder of the NHL’s regular season with a shoulder injury. He suffered the injury on January 25th against the Edmonton Oilers when an inadvertent collision with Jesse Puljujarvi took him out of the game. Still, despite him being knocked out for potentially the rest of the year, a trade is still possible.

INJURY UPDATE: #CBJ forward Gustav Nyquist is out indefinitely with an upper body injury suffered in Wednesday’s game at Edmonton.

— CBJ Public Relations (@BlueJacketsPR) January 27, 2023

Nyquist has 22 points in 48 games with Columbus this season. He was among the many names the Blue Jackets were potentially looking to move at this season’s NHL Trade Deadline but that is no longer clear based on the timeline of his injury. Chris Johnston of TSN reports:

Further to the Gustav Nyquist injury situation: I’m told there’s still a fairly good chance he recovers from his shoulder injury before the end of the regular season. Perhaps even for the final two weeks. That will keep him in play as a trade chip at the March 3 deadline.

Head coach Brad Larsen said of the loss, “He’s a guy I’ve really leaned on so we’re going to miss him.” He added, “He’s in every situation. He’s kind of a stabilizer for me. He’s so consistent in what he gives, effort and the pace he can play at.”

Nyquist has 423 points (174 goals, 249 assists) in 700 NHL games during 11 NHL seasons with the Blue Jackets, San Jose Sharks, and Detroit Red Wings. The Blue Jackets (15-32-4) are last in the Metropolitan Division. They are definitely sellers heading into this deadline and it will be interesting to see if a team makes a move to acquire Nyquist to take advantage of LTIR and hope he returns for the playoffs. The Blues Jackets would most likely only ask for a conditional pick based on Nyquist’s contributions to whatever team he lands with.

Nyquist’s injury is expected to heal without the need for surgery. 

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