Patrik Laine takes 'indefinite' leave of absence from his team.

The Columbus Blue Jackets will be without one of their top forwards for the foreseeable future.

In a stunning announcement on Sunday morning, the National Hockey League Players Association announced that Blue Jackets forward Patrik Laine would be taking an 'indefinite' leave of absence from the team while he enters the NHL and NHLPA's Players Assistance Program

Laine has seen very limited play time this season due in large part to injuries, including a fractured clavicle that he was currently nursing back to health, with the 25 year old appearing in just 17 games and collecting just 5 goals and 3 assists for a total of 8 points over that stretch.

The Blue Jackets announced over the weekend that Laine had suffered some kind of setback with his injury, although it seems he may now be out for a more extended period of time.

Laine, the 2nd overall pick at the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, has 479 NHL games under his belt with 203 goals and 184 assists for a total of 387 points to his name in his NHL career thus far.

I hope he makes a full and speedy recovery and quickly begins adding to those totals once again.