Blue Jackets winger David Clarkson has played just three games for Columbus since being acquired in a blockbuster trade with Toronto for Nathan Horton, but he likely won't play again this season after suffering a torn oblique muscle that will sideline him for the next 4-to-6 weeks.

The Hockey News

Only three games into his career as a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, hard-luck left winger David Clarkson was sidelined 4-to-6 weeks – in other words, more than likely the rest of the regular season – with a torn oblique muscle.

Acquired Feb. 26 from Toronto for severely injured winger Nathan Horton, the 30-year-old Clarkson suffered the injury during his debut game with Columbus two days later and had been playing through the injury until he couldn't continue during the Jackets' 5-3 loss to the Capitals Tuesday.

"He’s still going to get the fresh start he needs and wants," Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen told the Columbus Dispatch in regard to Clarkson, who hasn't yet registered a point and has just two shots on net in his initial time with Columbus. "I saw a lot of good things in the three games he played, and in two of them he was injured."

With a salary cap hit of $5.25 million and just 10 goals and 15 points before the trade, Clarkson's 58 games with Toronto this season didn't go as planned. And being dealt another cruel blow just one week into his time with his new organization proves a nightmare season doesn't necessarily end for a player simply because they switch teams.