- Isac Lundestrom suffered an Achilles injury while training this offseason
- GM Don Waddell says one test points to a November return, another to a much longer absence
- Read below for what it means for Columbus and Lundestrom’s contract year
The Blue Jackets could be down a center before the season even starts.
Isac Lundestrom suffered an Achilles injury while training this summer, and there’s a real chance it costs him a big piece of 2026-27.
General manager Don Waddell laid out the picture, and it isn’t a clean one. Waddell said one test result points to Lundestrom being back by November, while another points to a much longer absence. Aaron Portzline of The Athletic passed along the update:
Lundestrom didn’t sugarcoat it. He detailed the injury in an interview with Swedish outlet Norrbottens-Kuriren, with the quotes later relayed by The Hockey News.
“I immediately understood what had happened. I hardly know any other hockey player who has had this happen to them, and the odds of it happening twice are high. I’ve been both angry and sad.”
That second tear is what stings. Lundestrom tore an Achilles back in the summer of 2023 and missed nearly half that season. This one is a different Achilles, but the recovery math is just as ugly.
A torn Achilles can take the better part of a year to heal. If this lands on the worse end of Waddell’s two tests, Lundestrom is looking at most of the coming season on the shelf.
There’s a contract angle here too. Lundestrom is entering the final year of his deal at a $1.3 million cap hit, and losing most of a walk year makes next summer’s free agency a tougher sell.
Columbus signed Lundestrom last summer after Anaheim non-tendered him. He played 68 games in his first year with the Jackets, mostly in a fourth-line role.
The offense stayed quiet. He put up four goals and eight assists while averaging just over 12 minutes a night. Across eight NHL seasons, he owns 405 games, 39 goals and 57 assists.
Depth is the saving grace for Columbus. The Jackets have enough centers and forwards that this doesn’t force Waddell’s hand, especially after a summer spent shutting down Marchenko trade rumors and locking up his core.
This did happen early enough that Waddell could still bring in some depth if he wants insurance.
For a fourth-line center on an expiring deal, a second torn Achilles is about the last thing Lundestrom needed.
