- Isac Lundestrom had successful surgery on his ruptured right Achilles tendon
- The Blue Jackets center is targeting an early November return, though one test points longer-term
- Read below for the full timeline and why this is his second Achilles tear in three years
Isac Lundestrom is on the mend.
The Blue Jackets center underwent successful surgery on his right Achilles tendon, the team confirmed, after he ruptured it during offseason training earlier this summer. Columbus is aiming for an early November return.
That target comes with a real asterisk. GM Don Waddell laid out a split picture when the injury first surfaced. One test result had Lundestrom back around November. The other pointed to something much longer.
Aaron Portzline of The Athletic passed along Waddell’s read on the situation:
This is the second time an Achilles has cost Lundestrom a big chunk of a season. He tore his left one during summer training back in 2023, when he was with Anaheim, and missed close to half that year before getting back on the ice.
A torn Achilles can eat up the better part of a year. Best case, Columbus loses him for the first month-plus. Worst case, he misses the bulk of 2026-27.
Lundestrom signed a two-year, $2.6 million deal with Columbus last summer and put up four goals and 12 points in 68 games in his first season there. The Jackets first flagged the injury in early July, and now they know they are patching a bottom-six center spot without him.
Columbus opens camp in September down a body up the middle, and Lundestrom’s return is measured in months now, not weeks.
