Boone Jenner is unquestionably the most important player on the Columbus Blue Jackets' roster, and the team is facing a six-week absence without the captain after he broke his jaw on Friday night.

“The Blue Jackets have placed captain C Boone Jenner on Injured Reserve,” CBJ Public Relations confirmed on X. “He suffered a fractured jaw in last night’s 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues and is expected to be sidelined six weeks.”

If the diagnosis and timeframe are accurate, Jenner will likely return in mid-to-late January. It's a devastating blow for a Blue Jackets team that is already struggling mightily in 2023-24.

Columbus is dead last in the Metropolitan Division with a ghastly 9-15-5 record, and that doesn't figure to improve without the services of the best two-way forward on the roster.

Boone Jenner hit in face with puck

 

Jenner left Friday's win in the second period after an Ivan Provorov slap shot was deflected in front of the net and hit him directly in the face. He went down but immediately got back to his feet and went down the tunnel to the dressing room.

Jackets head coach Pascal Vincent indicated afterwards that the captain would miss some time, and that diagnosis was confirmed on Saturday morning.

Jenner's absence will be felt in various places, but maybe no more so than on the ice. The 30-year-old is the team's leading scorer, with 13 goals and 18 points through 29 games played.

He recently became Columbus' all-time games leader, passing franchise legend Rick Nash, per The Athletic's Aaron Portzline. Jenner was skating in his 686th as a member of the Blue Jackets on Friday.

“Coaches always stress a ‘next-man-up' approach when big injuries hit, but replacing Jenner will be difficult,” Portzline asserted. “He’s the Blue Jackets’ captain, their No. 1 center, their leading scorer, the top faceoff guy and a presence on the top power play and penalty-kill units. He was on pace for the second 30-goal season of his career.”

Without Boone Jenner, the Jackets figure to rely more on the youth, with Adam Fantilli and Dmitri Voronkov likely to see an uptick in playing time. Alexandre Texier filled Jenner's spot in the third period, and that could also be an option going forward.

The Blue Jackets will welcome the Florida Panthers to Nationwide Arena on Sunday afternoon.