A Couple of Injury Updates

Two players who were chronically injured last year, Columbus' Fredrik Modin and Vancouver's Kevin Bieksa, are fully recovered and should be ready to start the season, according to Rotowire. Modin played only 23 games last season due to a variety of injuries, depriving the Blue Jackets of a solid left wing who has five 20 goal seasons in his career. If Modin remains healthy, he would be a huge boost to the Blue Jackets' offense, which was the worst in the NHL last year.

As for Bieksa, he struggled after suffering a lacerated calf against Nashville on November 1. He only played 34 games last season and was clearly bothered by the injury as his production slipped when he did play. If Bieksa proves that he has fully recovered from this injury, he would help out the Canucks a lot, either by contributing on defense or as a trade chip that Vancouver could use to bring in more scoring.