Jones out 4-6 weeks for Blue Jackets with knee sprain

Seth Jones is out 4-6 weeks for the Columbus Blue Jackets with a sprained knee.

The defenseman was injured during the second period of a 4-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres in the Kraft Hockeyville USA game at Clinton Arena in Clinton, New York, on Tuesday. An MRI on Wednesday revealed a second-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament.
"You feel bad for Seth," Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said Wednesday. "He's a great player, a great leader for us, who's really coming into his own. It's an unfortunate injury but we know how hard he'll work to make it back as soon as possible."
Columbus opens its season Oct. 4 at the Detroit Red Wings.
"If there's a positive to when it happened, he'll have a week's recovery before the season starts and we have a fairly light schedule the first month (11 games in October)," Kekalainen said.

Defenseman Zach Werenski (shoulder) is on schedule to play his first preseason game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday. There was no update on when Murray (groin) will return.
Forwards Cam Atkinson (foot), Brandon Dubinsky (orbital), Alex Wennberg (back) and defenseman Ryan Murray (upper body) were out at the same time last January.
"Every team goes through times with injuries," Kekalainen said. "Last year we had four key players and we got through it and made the playoffs. This is a great opportunity for some of our players to step up."
Jones had 57 points (16 goals, 41 assists) and was plus-10 last season, each an NHL career high. His 16 goals tied a Blue Jackets record for most in a season by a defenseman (Zach Werenski also scored 16 last season).
Acquired in a trade with the Nashville Predators for center Ryan Johansen on Jan. 6, 2016, the 23-year-old has 119 points (30 goals, 89 assists) in 194 games with the Blue Jackets, and 182 points (45 goals, 137 assists) in 393 NHL games. The No. 4 pick in the 2013 NHL Draft is a two-time NHL all-star but missed the game last season with an illness.
"This is an opportunity for a Scott Harrington, a Dean Kukan and a guy we signed over the summer, Adam Clendening, who has some NHL experience, to step up and play a bigger role," Kekalainen said. "Gabriel Carlsson is still in our camp. We believe we have players with us who are ready to show they can be full-time NHL players while Seth is out."
NHL.com correspondent Craig Merz contributed to this report