Nathan Horton has surreptitiously become the face of the various and sundry injuries the Columbus Blue Jackets have suffered this season - his surprising and debilitating degenerative back issue is an almost perfect parallel to the myriad of losses the unsuspecting Jackets have been forced to endure.
"I can't stand up like a normal person; I can't bend over," Horton said recently, according to Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch, in his first public comments about his condition. "I can't run. I can't play with my kids. To get in and out of the car, I'm like a 75-year-old man ... so slow and stiff. I can't sleep at night. I try to lay down and my back seizes up and I can't move, so sleeping is out. I'm like a zombie in the daytime."
Horton, who signed a seven-year, $37.1 million contract with the Blue Jackets in July 2013, had no prior history of back issues. But a flare up while rehabbing an injured shoulder last fall would turn out to be the precursor to an agonizingly constant state of discomfort that has placed his career prospects squarely in jeopardy. He can wait and hope the pain and the injury subside, which will allow him to continue his career via careful management of the issue, or he can have spinal fusion surgery that would alleviate the pain, but bring his career to a close.
"I wouldn't wish this on anyone," Horton said.
Now, as Horton wiles away the hours, a self-proclaimed "zombie" stuck in a living hell, unwilling or, as of yet, unable to make a definitive decision about his future, the Blue Jackets must begin to think about life without him, and perhaps without several of their other core pieces.
"Given the injury situation in Columbus, some are wondering if GM Jarmo Kekalainen should accept the club's fate and start moving assets for next year," wrote Bruce Garrioch of The Ottawa Sun. "If they can't re-sign winger Nick Foligno, then he could bring back assets in a deal. Making $3.1 million this season, Foligno could be a nice fit for a team trying to bulk up. The Jackets are beaten up and in a deep hole. Take a one-year hiatus and try to build up for next year but that would be a tough pill to swallow after the run the club had last spring."
The Blue Jackets, now 4-10-1, and stuck in the basement of the Metropolitan division, are teetering precariously on the edge of a lost season - injury woes and poor play derailed a once-promising campaign before it ever truly began.
Selling off pieces now so that next year's club will be stronger is a difficult decision, but much like Horton, one that must eventually be made - standing pat is not an option.
Nathan Horton may need a miracle to cure his back - the Jackets need one, or two or three, to save their season.
