Player set to undergo surgery, is out for the season.

The Columbus Blue Jackets' suffered a huge loss today, as one of their top defensemen has been lost for the remainder of the season.

The team has announced, that defenseman Jack Johnson is set to undergo surgery on his injured shoulder. He will will miss the rest of the 2015-16 season as a result.

Johnson has been dealing with the injury for some time, and has not appeared in any games since Feb. 25. In choosing to undergo the procedure now as opposed to the summer, Johnson plans to be fully prepared for the start of next season.

"It’s been bugging me since about the middle of December," according to Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch. "I tried to play through it, but it got worse and worse. I tried to rehab it and no luck."

"On the bright side of it, I'm not going to lose my summer training, so I can come into camp next year 100 percent ready to go," Johnson said. "You got to find a silver lining in this. I anticipate I'll have a normal summer of training and working out."

The 29-year old recorded six goals and 14 points and led the Blue Jackets in average ice time before being taken out of the lineup.

He still has two years remaining on his deal at $4.5 million annual cap hit.

Young 21-year old Seth Jones has been seeing more ice time since Johnson's absence, and will continue to see an increased workload.

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Images Courtesy of Keystone Press