Columbus Blue Jackets place goaltender Daniil Tarasov on LTIR for conditioning stint

The Columbus Blue Jackets announced Saturday morning that they had placed goaltender Daniil Tarasov on long-term injured reserve, retroactive to Oct. 12, and loaned him to their AHL affiliate, the Lake Erie Monsters, for a conditioning stint.

Tarasov, 24, hasn’t played a game this season. He’s been out for the first 25 games of Columbus’ 2023-24 campaign as he battles a knee injury.

As explained by Cap Friendly Saturday: because the Blue Jackets have more than $3 million in cap space and would be hurting themselves by going into LTIR, the NHL allows them to continue using regular cap space in this scenario. They can continue accruing cap space based on the $83.5 million upper limit, essentially operating without using LTIR. They are allowed to loan Tarasov to the AHL for up to three games as per the league’s conditioning rules for long-term injuries.

Tarasov will start Saturday night for Lake Erie as he works his way back from his injury. The 6-foot-5, 196-pound netminder was extremely impressive during his first taste of the NHL in 2021-22, accruing a .937 save percentage in four appearances, including three starts. He couldn’t keep the magic going last season, however, posting an .892 save percentage and allowing close to four goals per game on a Blue Jackets team that flirted with last place overall in the NHL standings.

Tarasov is signed through next season at a $1.05 million cap hit. He is still considered a potential long-term solution in Columbus’ net given his size and upside. He hasn’t posted great numbers in the AHL, let alone the NHL, but flashed plenty of potential during his time in the KHL before he came over from his native Russia in 2020-21.

The Blue Jackets have gotten reasonably competent goaltending from their tandem of Elvis Merzlikins and Spencer Martin this season. They’ve combined for a .908 SV%.