Cuts announced & injury update

The first major cut of training camp was just released today on Bluejackets.nhl.com.

17 players have been reassigned - here is the list:

COLUMBUS, OHIO – The Columbus Blue Jackets have made their first roster moves since opening training camp on September 14 as the club re-assigned 17 players today, General Manager Scott Howson announced. The current training camp roster consists of 43 players, including injured forwards Alexandre Picard and Zenon Konopka.

The following players were assigned to Syracuse, the club's American Hockey League affiliate: forwards Andrew Murray, Philippe Dupuis, Petr Pohl, Jeff Szwez, Kevin Jarman; defensemen Dan Smith, Trevor Hendrikx, Darcy Campbell, Jon Landry, Kyle Wharton, Jekabs Redlihs, Andrei Plekhanov and goaltender Adam Munro. Forwards Stefan Legein (Niagara/Ontario Hockey League), Matt Marquardt (Moncton/Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) and defenseman Ben Wright (Lethbridge/Western Hockey League) were assigned to their junior clubs. In addition, defenseman Brian Sipotz was returned to the AHL's Chicago Wolves.

No real suprises here. The only draft pick to stick from this year is Jakub Voracek who has played well. We'll probably see the camp roster trimmed even further after the games this weekend to get down to that 30 number.

Also, Aaron Portzline has a few updates on his blog including some injury news:

In other developments, coach Ken Hitchcock said center Michael Peca (general soreness), winger Fredrik Modin (back spasms) and defenseman Adam Foote (hamstring) will be held out until next weekend. Hitchcock said Peca and Foote are "coming along slowly."

Hitchcock said center David Vyborny will skate Friday, but not play again until Sunday. Meanwhile, forward Dan Fritsche (hip pointer), who was injured Wednesday night, won't practice until Saturday or Sunday.

In exhibition news, the Jackets will start Steve Mason in goal on Friday night against the Buffalo Sabres. Defenseman Jiri Novotny and Joel Bouchard will make their pre-season debuts.

Hitchcock says he plans to keep the Jason Chimera-Derick Brassard-Jakub Voracek line intact because of its productivity. The line combined on the Blue Jackets’ first goal in Wednesday night’s 4-3 win over Chicago. Chimera had a goal and two assists, while Voracek and Brassard each chipped in an assist.

Not the greatest news on Peca or Foote but they are vets and know their bodies at this point and they have been around the league long enough to what preseason is all about.

Good news about Vyborny and Fritsche. It will be interesting to see how Bouchard and Novotny perform tomorrow night in their CBJ debuts.

I certainly can't blame Hitch for sticking with the Chimera line -- that group has certainly been delivering. I gotta admit though, I would like to see how Brassard looks with Nash at some point this preseason.

Read more from Portzline here.

-LTL