Blue Jackets’ Brendan Smith to miss three to four months after meniscus surgery
The Columbus Blue Jackets will be without defenseman Brendan Smith for the foreseeable future.
On Thursday, the hockey club announced that the 36-year-old had undergone successful surgery on Jan. 6 to repair a torn meniscus, which will keep him out of the lineup for three to four months, before he is expected to make a full recovery, according to Blue Jackets’ President of Hockey Operations and General Manager, Don Waddell.
The blueliner suffered the injury on Dec. 29 as the Blue Jackets picked up a 4-1 win over the Ottawa Senators and has missed four games already.
A native of Mimico, Ontario, Smith has two assists and 11 penalty minutes in 15 games with the Blue Jackets in 2025-26, averaging 11:05 of ice time across those contests. He joined the NHL team midway through the season, inking a one-year two-way contract in November, having started the season with 11 games with Columbus’ AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters.
Initially the 27th overall pick in the first round of the 2007 NHL Draft, Smith has suited up for the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Carolina Hurricanes, New Jersey Devils, and Dallas Stars before his latest NHL stint with the Blue Jackets.
Through over 15 seasons in the league, he has 39 goals and 107 assists for 146 points, along with 798 penalty minutes across 741 games. Meanwhile, he has also played 174 AHL games with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Hartford Wolf Pack, and the Cleveland Monsters.
While he may not be a top-end piece for the Blue Jackets this season, the veteran blueliner’s absence is another hit to the team’s depth as they look to climb back into the Eastern Conference Stanley Cup Playoff race, sitting last in the Metropolitan Division after 42 games.
Without Smith in the lineup, the Blue Jackets return to action on Thursday as they visit the Vegas Golden Knights in the second outing of a four-game road swing, before returning to Columbus on Jan. 13 to meet the Calgary Flames.