Columbus Blue Jackets Continue to Ship Joonas Korpisalo to Cleveland
The Columbus Blue Jackets look set to continue to ride Sergei Bobrovsky.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that they will send Joonas Korpisalo down to the AHL. The Cleveland Monsters will once again have the services of the young Finn goalie.
January lines up interestingly scheduling wise for the Columbus Blue Jackets. With only 10 games throughout the month there is plenty of time for rest for Bobrovsky. This doesn’t give Joonas enough opportunities to stay sharp especially considering how much Torts likes to ride Bob.
He continued to reiterate that he doesn’t believe the back-to-backs are a problem after the Toronto game. In his defense, Bob did play very well in the back end of the two games earlier this week.
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Joonas will draw in as the starter tonight as the Monsters are in Milwaukee to take on the Nashville Predators AHL team. The Monsters are 3-16 in their last 19 games. The Monsters are loosing despite good play by Korpi. He has a .927 save percentage. There just isn’t enough scoring on the team for the Monsters.
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Too much of the youth that would be on an AHL roster is in Columbus because of the onslaught of injuries the team is experiencing. Jordan Schroeder, Markus Hännikäinen, and Tyler Motte would all be in Cleveland helping the 2016 Calder Cup Champions. Instead, the Monsters are worst in the AHL with a .394 winning percentage and are effectively eliminated from the playoffs.
Keeping Korpi Sharp
I would expect this shuffle for Korpi to continue over January. The Jackets will need him sharp and availble for an insane February. The Jackets will play 13 games in 24 days with 10 games against the Metropolitan Division. Korpi should play in Cleveland over the break next week and the All-Star weekend.
While Korpi is down with the Monsters, Matiss Kivlenieks gets to enjoy the NHL life and an NHL salary, if only for a few days. The 21-year-old Latvian is transitioning from just one season in the USHL to the AHL. The former USHL MVP has a bright future in the organization.