Sergei Bobrovsky told to stay home for violating Blue Jackets' code

It won’t be a normal night off for Sergei Bobrovsky on Thursday with the Nashville Predators in town. Instead of a clipboard and seat at the end of the bench, it appears the Columbus Blue Jackets starter will stay home to think about what he’s done.

Whatever that is.

The Blue Jackets announced Thursday morning that Bobrovsky will not be with the team after an “incident” in which the goaltender failed to meet the “expectations and values” that uphold and “define” the team’s culture.

The team noted that it will not discuss the matter further at this time.

For all we know, the violation could be something as trivial as arriving late for a meeting, but with the relationship between Bobrovsky and the Blue Jackets at such a critical moment in time, it’s certainly a situation that bears watching.

The two-time Vezina Trophy winner will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and it doesn’t appear that the Blue Jackets have made any progress in their effort to renew their partnership with the top-class goaltender.

Is their relationship with Bob deteriorating? Does that change anything for the Blue Jackets, who have to weigh the risk of losing both the goaltender and fellow Russian star Artemi Panarin this summer against relying on both for a meaningful postseason run?

There’s a lot to consider for Blue Jackets management, but one thing is for certain: Bobrovsky does them zero good from home when failing to comply with the team’s code of conduct.

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