The Columbus Blue Jackets have recalled left wing Jakob Lilja from the American Hockey League's Cleveland Monsters and assigned forward Liam Foudy to the Ontario Hockey League's London Knights, club General Manager Jarmo Kekalainen announced today.
Lilja, 26, made his NHL debut in the Blue Jackets' 2019-20 season opener on October 4 against Toronto and has recorded two goals and two assists for four points with two penalty minutes and a +4 plus/minus rating in 27 appearances with the club. The 6-1, 196-pound winger registered his first career NHL assist on October 16 vs. Dallas and his first career goal on December 27 at Washington.
The Malmo, Sweden native has added 5-8-13 and two penalty minutes in 22 games with the Monsters this season. The winger, who signed a one-year entry level contract with Columbus on June 15, 2019, notched 48-51-99 with 71 penalty minutes and a +14 plus/minus rating in 222 career Swedish Hockey League contests from 2012-19.
Foudy, 20, made his NHL debut on Monday vs. Tampa Bay and collected his first NHL point with an assist in his second contest last night at Buffalo. The 6-2, 182-pound forward had notched 20-24-44, 18 penalty minutes and is +28 in 33 games with London this season, serving as one of the club's co-captains. He is tied for the team lead in plus/minus and ranks second in points-per-game (1.33). In 218 career OHL games, he has racked up 89-78-167, 91 penalty minutes and a cumulative +66 plus/minus rating since 2016.
The Scarborough, Ontario native has represented Canada at several international competitions, including this year's IIHF World Junior Championship, where he picked up 3-1-4 in seven games and helped Canada capture the gold medal. He was selected by the Blue Jackets in the first round, 18th overall, at the 2018 NHL Draft.
Blue Jackets recall Lilja from Cleveland, assign Foudy to London
Foudy recorded first NHL point against Buffalo
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