The Columbus Blue Jackets are firmly in the Connor Bedard sweepstakes with the league's worst teams. They will be sellers at the NHL trade deadline. However, they received terrible news regarding Gustav Nyquist, one of their biggest trade chips.

Nyquist will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury, the Blue Jackets announced on Wednesday. Columbus noted in their announcement that Nyquist will not require surgery.

The injury should affect his trade value a bit, but not entirely. NHL insider Chris Johnston reports there is a “fairly good chance” the Blue Jackets forward returns to the ice in time for the playoffs.

Any acquiring team will not see the veteran forward take the ice for them during the regular season. However, given those teams are likely contenders, they are thinking about his playoff impact. This should keep Nyquist in play as a trade acquisition prior to the NHL trade deadline.

Nyquist himself shared his hope for being back by the end of the season. He spoke about his injury with The Athletic after the Blue Jackets made their announcement.

“It’s weeks, not months, and it doesn’t require surgery,” Nyquist said. “My hope, honestly, is to be ready before the end of the regular season. My goal is to be back before the regular season is over. I’m hoping this heals fairly quickly.”

The Blue Jackets enter Wednesday dead last in the Eastern Conference. Columbus is 10 points behind the Montreal Canadiens for second to last in the East, and 16 points behind the East's third-worst team, the Detroit Red Wings.