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Blue Jackets GM keeping the faith despite series of unfortunate events

Jamie Sabau / National Hockey League / Getty

It's been a season to forget for the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Leading the league in man games lost due to injury (and by a fair margin at that), the club's fortunes in 2014-15 can be summed up by a recent trade that saw Nathan Horton - who may never play again due to a chronic back injury - sent to the Toronto Maple Leafs for David Clarkson, who's out for the season after suffering an injury in his first game.

Despite being well outside the playoff picture after making it in last season, general manager Jarmo Kekalainen remains high on the team moving forward.

"I’ve said it many times: I’d love to see our team healthy," Kekalainen said. "I think we have a good foundation in place, we have a lot of the key pieces locked down for many years and some of our core players we’re bringing on are going to be more experienced a year ahead next year, so I believe that we’ll have a good chance of doing some real damage next year with this group."

Kekalainen made a move for the future by adding William Karlsson and a second-round draft pick in exchange for James Wisniewski, and will continue to work toward retooling the club.

"I believe in our group right now," he said, "and we still have the offseason to make some improvements."

Next season can't come soon enough for Columbus.

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