The Columbus Blue Jackets will be without forward Kristian Huselius for the next four-to-six months.
According to the Columbus Dispatch, Huselius tore his pectoral muscle lifting weights last weekend in Sweden.
Blue Jackets general manager Scott Howson tweeted Wednesday night that Huselius will undergo surgery on Thursday.
"It's a tough, tough injury for Kristian," Howson told The Dispatch. "He was still rehabilitating the hip (surgery in April) but was going to ready to go for training camp. This is a pretty significant setback.
"We're looking at November at the earliest, and maybe January. It's a pretty serious injury with a long recovery."
Howson said the injury puts the Blue Jackets back into the free-agent market for a top-six forward.
"I'm sure I'll get some phone calls beginning (Thursday)," Howson said.
Huselius missed time last season because of lower body injury and played in a career-low 39 games, scoring 14 goals with nine assists.
The 32-year-old Huselius was drafted by the Florida Panthers in the second round (47th overall) of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft. After three seasons in the Sun Belt, the Panthers traded him to the Calgary Flames for Steve Montador and Dustin Johner. He signed with the Blue Jackets as an unrestricted free agent on July 2, 2008.
In 660 NHL games, the native of Osterhaninge, Sweden has 190 goals and 261 assists with a minus- 14 rating.
