CALGARY, Alberta _ The initial plan was to rest, rehab and have Josh Anderson return this season for the Blue Jackets.
It would have been like adding a key piece at the trade deadline, only without giving up anything in return. When healthy, Anderson's combination of size, speed, skill and toughness is a rare find in the NHL and could have been a big boost for a lineup decimated by injuries.
Imagine, for instance, how nice it would be for coach John Tortorella to have Anderson available for a difficult matchup Wednesday night at the Calgary Flames. That's off the table now, because Plan A didn't pan out.
Rather than missing four to six weeks after suffering a torn labrum in his left shoulder in a fight Dec. 14 at Ottawa, Anderson missed almost three months before having season-ending surgery Monday in Vail, Colorado.
"When Josh suffered the injury, the options were to have it surgically repaired and miss the rest of the season or rest and rehabilitate with a chance to return to the lineup," general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said in a release.
"Unfortunately, the injury has not responded as any of us had hoped and the decision was made to have the surgery now so that Josh will be fully healthy and ready to go next season."
Next season.
Those are words the Blue Jackets didn't want to hear, because Anderson is such an uncommon player. Despite missing training camp and the preseason during a contentious contract negotiation two years ago, he has taken giant steps since then.
After agreeing to a contract, Anderson nearly reached 20 goals during the 2017-18 season. He finished with 19, along with 11 assists, and might have pushed for 25 had a knee injury in the final month not limited him to 63 games.
Last season, Anderson stayed healthy for all 82 games and set career highs with 27 goals and 20 assists. He had a rating of plus-25 and worked his way into regular roles on both special-team units.
His plight this season, however, began at the end of last season. Anderson finished the Jackets' 10-game playoff run with a goal and two assists, plus a different shoulder injury than the one that was just repaired. He hurt it in Game 2 of a second round series against the Boston Bruins and wasn't the same the rest of the series.
Anderson said on the first day of training camp this season that his right shoulder felt "really close" but not 100%. Then an undisclosed upper-body injury in the second game kept him out of six games, and his struggles started upon his return.
The day Anderson suffered his torn labrum fighting Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki, he had just one goal and three assists in 26 games. His shooting percentage was a frigid 1.6%, well below his career average of 10.5%.
Anderson became one of the first to form the Jackets' mountain of injuries since mid-December. Full recovery from the surgery is expected to take four to six months, and it's not a stretch to wonder what his future with the team will hold.
Anderson can become a restricted free agent July 1, this time with arbitration rights, and another tough negotiation may be ahead.
Rather than go through contentious talks again, would Kekalainen rather see what he can get for Anderson on the trade market? Would Anderson prefer that route? And how feasible is it to trade a player who could still have rehab time left?
These are the kinds of questions both sides will face this summer, and there are no easy answers.
