Breaking: Brandon Dubinsky suddenly and mysteriously leaves practice on Monday.

We have a very interesting development in Columbus. 

There have been rampant rumors around the Columbus Blue Jackets as of late regarding the future of arguably their two biggest stars. It now seems like a forgone conclusion that both forward Artemi Panarin and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky will be leaving the team ahead of the National Hockey League trade deadline but one has to wonder if there may not be some other Blue Jackets who could soon be headed out of town.

There has been a rather interesting report from Columbus Blue Jackets insider Aaron Portzline of the Athletic regarding the status of veteran forward Brandon Dubinsky and at this time no one seems to know what it means. According to Portzline Brandon Dubsinsky suddenly left practice and was spotted leaving down the tunnel, although the reason for his departure has not been revealed at this time.

Obviously given that we are only a few days away from the National Hockey League's trade deadline the very first thing that comes to mind is the fact that Dubsinky may have just been pulled off the ice for precautionary reasons. Of course a trade involving a player like Dubinsky at this stage of his career would be a stunning move indeed given that he has 2 more years left on his contract after this season and a very manageable cap hit of $5.85 million per season. Additionally there are complications in moving a player like him given that he has a modified no trade clause on his current deal. Dubinsky can submit a list of 10 teams that he does not wish to be traded to, and unless he were to agree to waive one of those teams the Blue Jackets will have their hands tied regarding that list of 10.

Additionally it's also possible that Dubinsky may merely have been hurt during the practice and may have been pulled off the ice for that reason. That would of course be catastrophic for the Blue Jackets who already starting to look like a team that has a real chance of missing the playoffs this season. The loss of one of their most experienced forwards would not help their cause in that regard one bit.

[pub]