Alexandre Texier told the
Blue Jackets in early March that he was ready to return to the
NHL. But it wasn’t Texier’s words that drove the point home to Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen.
“The smile on his face … He’s a different guy now,” Kekalainen said. “I already saw that smile when I went to meet with him (in Switzerland during the season), that he’s in a much better place (emotionally) now and he’s enjoying hockey again.
“When we had dinner, he was the old ‘Tex’ that we knew. He was smiling and joking and enjoying life, and I was really happy to see that.”
Texier was loaned to a club in Zurich, Switzerland, for this season, so that he could remain closer to his family in France following a series of family tragedies. He has declined to discuss them publicly.
“I’m feeling good right now, ready to take the next step,” Texier said in a video call from Nationwide Arena. “I don’t want to look back. I just want to look forward.
“I think it’s going to be a huge summer for me, and then just get ready for training camp. It’s going to be all new for me. I have to prove myself. I’m excited about this.”
Texier, 23 is returning to France with an offseason plan as written by Collins and his staff. He’ll play for France in next month’s IIHF World Championships, take off two weeks to recuperate and then start training for his return to the NHL.
“There’s still improvement in my game that I can work on, especially the physical part,” Texier said. “That’s what I’m focusing on this summer. It’s gonna be huge for me. You can always improve and always get better. I’m excited. I can’t wait for training camp in September.”
The last time Texier wore a Blue Jackets sweater was on Jan. 26, 2022. He suffered a broken finger that night in a game against
Calgary and was knocked out of the lineup for four to six weeks. That March, however, the club announced that Texier was granted a leave of absence so that he could remain close to family. He missed the rest of the season.
Then, last August, a few weeks before training camp, it became known that Texier wasn’t ready to return to the NHL just yet. Essentially, the leave of absence was extended for the season. Zurich and Grenoble, Texier’s hometown, are only a four-hour drive apart. They’re in the same time zone.
In 46 games with Zurich SC, Texier had 13-22-35, a plus-16 rating and 30 penalty minutes. He played left wing exclusively, he said.
“I’m pretty thankful for that,” Texier said. “The Blue Jackets helped me since Day 1 and they’re still helping me now. They believed in me. Now I have to prove I can be a top player and help the team. That’s what I’m working on this summer, to get ready.
“Now I don’t really want to talk about the last year. It’s the past. Now I’m focused on this year. I’m feeling great. My body feels great, my head feels great. … I’m just excited for the new opportunity here in Columbus and that’s about it. It’s going to be fun.”