Conor Garland sick, game-time call for Blue Jackets

Columbus hosts Florida tonight, and the lineup news out of the morning skate came with a big if attached.

Aaron Portzline

@Aportzline

#CBJ Conor Garland is under the weather and did not skate this morning. If he’s unable to dress tonight vs. #FlaPanthers, Luca Del Bel Belluz will make his season debut in Garland’s second-line spot. G Cam Talbot starts in nets.

Rick Bowness already has the plan. If Garland sits, Del Bel Belluz slides in at left wing on the second line with Sean Monahan and Valeri Nichushkin. Garland just has to be healthy enough to dress. If he is, Del Bel Belluz is out of the lineup, because Bowness isn't going to bury the kid on the fourth line.

Brian Hedger

@BrianHedger

Sounds like Del Bel Belluz won’t play if Garland’s good to go vs Panthers. Bowness doesn’t want to play him in a fourth line role, since he’s a top six type player. #CBJ

That tells you how Columbus sees Del Bel Belluz. He's a top-6 guy or he's in the press box, and the Jackets would rather keep him there than burn him on 8 minutes of energy shifts. If Garland's illness does keep him out, the kid gets an actual audition next to 2 legit NHL forwards. Not bad for a season debut.

Garland could honestly use the night off. He's 30, he's got no points through 4 games, and per CBS Sports he has 1 shot on net in roughly 12:25 a night. Columbus got him from Vancouver at the March deadline for a 2026 3rd-rounder and a 2028 2nd, and he showed up already locked into the 6-year, $6 million-a-year extension the Canucks gave him, which runs through 2031-32. He had also gone 23 straight games without a goal in Vancouver before the deal. That's a lot of money for a guy who hasn't shown up on the scoresheet yet.

There's a change in goal too. Cam Talbot gets the start, and Bowness made a point of saying Jet Greaves isn't the problem.

Brian Hedger

@BrianHedger

Also in #CBJ news, Cam Talbot gets the start in net tonight vs Panthers. Bowness said he’s more concerned about the way the Blue Jackets have played in front of Jet Greaves than he is about Greaves’ play to start the season.

Translation: the coach thinks the skaters have hung his young goalie out to dry, and he's saying it in public 4 games into the year. Talbot gets the net, and the guys in front of him get told to do their jobs. Florida is a pretty rough opponent for a team trying to clean up its defensive play.

Watch warmups. If Garland is out there, nothing changes. If he isn't, Del Bel Belluz plays with Monahan and Nichushkin and gets a real shot at keeping the spot. And if Garland does miss tonight, he has until Saturday's game against the Rangers to get healthy.