Columbus Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner has plenty of promise, but the 20-year-old is still going through some growing pains.
He entered the season on the top line with with Brandon Dubinsky and Marian Gaborik, but that didn’t last long and with Jared Boll set to return tonight from a lower-body injury, Jenner will be the odd man out.
To his credit, he seems to be taking the news very well.
“I think I played hard in both games and it was good to get the feet wet in the regular season,” Jenner told the Columbus Dispatch. “It was a good experience. But I’ll look forward to watching the team tonight (from the press box) and cheering them on.”
Jenner is trying to make the difficult transition from major junior hockey to the NHL with very little AHL seasoning in between. He was able to impress Blue Jackets coach Todd Richards during the preseason, which led him to get a brief shot on the first line in the first place, but by Jenner’s own admission, there’s a difference between exhibition games and the regular season.
Columbus is scheduled to play against the Buffalo Sabres at 7:00 p.m. ET.