Blue Jackets’ Dmitri Voronkov leaves preseason game vs. Penguins with upper-body injury
Columbus Blue Jackets forward Dmitri Voronkov left Thursday’s preseason game against the Pittsburgh Penguins with a lower-body injury, the club announced on social media.
INJURY UPDATE: #CBJ forward Dmitri Voronkov suffered an upper body injury and will not return to tonight's game against the Penguins.
— CBJ Public Relations (@BlueJacketsPR) October 4, 2024
After the game, Blue Jackets’ Head Coach Dean Evason did not have a further update, saying that Voronkov is still being evaluated, according to team reporter Jeff Svoboda.
#CBJ head coach Dean Evason did not have a further update postgame. Voronkov is still being evaluated. https://t.co/kClA8Kj0yf
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) October 4, 2024
The 24-year-old Russian winger left the game in the first period, but it wasn’t clear how he injured himself. In five preseason games, Voronkov has three assists.
Drafted by the Blue Jackets in the fourth round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, the 2023-24 campaign was Voronkov’s first in the NHL. In 75 regular-season games, he scored 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points, averaging 13:27 of ice time. He also appeared in four games with Columbus’ AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, recording one assist.
Before going to North America, Voronkov spent five seasons with the Kontinental Hockey League’s Kazan Ak-Bars, scoring 37 goals and 37 assists for 74 points in 182 regular-season games. His best season in Russia was in 2022-23, where in 54 regular-season games he scored 18 goals and 13 assists for 31 points.
Last season, the Blue Jackets went 27-43-12 for 66 points, last in the Eastern Conference and the fourth-worst record in the entire league. They wound up with the No. 4 pick in the draft, taking center Cayden Lindstrom from the Western Hockey League’s Medicine Hat Tigers. Lindstrom missed half of the 2023-24 regular season, only playing in 32 games, but he scored 27 goals and 19 assists for 46 points.