Blue Jackets Activate Ivan Provorov From Injured Reserve

The Columbus Blue Jackets activated defenseman Ivan Provorov from injured reserve Saturday after a lower-body injury kept him out of the opening portion of the season. RotoWire reported the transaction ahead of Columbus’s game against the Dallas Stars, following the defenseman’s absence at the start of the 2026–27 campaign.

Provorov finished last season with nine goals and 22 assists for 31 points in 82 games. His season totals also included 32 penalty minutes and a plus-14 rating, according to the statistical record maintained by Elite Prospects. He completed the full regular-season schedule for Columbus.

He had also played all 82 games in 2024–25, recording seven goals and 26 assists for 33 points. The Blue Jackets’ official historical game notes list 127 blocked shots and an average of 23:21 on the ice that season, both measures of his substantial role on the defense.

His 2023–24 Columbus season produced five goals and 27 assists in 82 games.

Columbus acquired Provorov on June 6, 2023, in a three-team trade involving Philadelphia and Los Angeles. The deal sent a first-round selection in the 2023 draft and a conditional second-round pick out of Columbus. Provorov had served as an alternate captain with the Flyers from 2020 through 2023.

His highest-scoring NHL season came with Philadelphia in 2017–18, when he had 17 goals and 24 assists for 41 points across 82 games. In his final Flyers season, 2022–23, he led the club with 162 blocked shots and averaged 23:01 of ice time, according to those official notes.

The 29-year-old left-shot defenseman was born in Yaroslavl, Russia, and was selected seventh overall in the 2015 draft. The NHL Players’ Association lists him at 6-foot-1 and 224 pounds. His return restores a defense option for Columbus, with his actual game appearance and deployment separate from Saturday’s roster transaction.