Who is Alexandre Texier? Meet the Blue Jackets center who took a year away for personal reasons

Alexandre Texier is a French center for the Columbus Blue Jackets. He is set to make his return to the NHL after taking a year off for personal reasons.

Texier had a difficult 2021-22 season, which led to him taking a leave of absence in March 2022. He cited personal issues and expressed a need to be close to his family during this time.

To stay involved in hockey, Texier signed with Zurich of the Swiss NLA, where he recorded 35 points and a +16 plus/minus rating in 46 games. However, to sign with Zurich while still under contract with the Blue Jackets, the team had to technically put him under suspension. Texier will now return to complete his NHL contract in Columbus.

He was an important player for the Blue Jackets before taking his leave of absence. In the 2021-22 season, he registered 20 points in 36 games. At just 23 years old, he has a promising NHL career ahead of him.

The Blue Jackets general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen, expressed excitement about Texier's return to the team, stating that his well-being has been the sole priority. Texier will be a welcome addition to the Blue Jackets roster.

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A look at Alexandre Texier's NHL career

Alexandre Texier's journey to the NHL began in Grenoble, France, where he grew up playing for the Brûleurs de Loups, the same club his father once played for. As a rookie in the Ligue Magnus in 2016-17, he impressed enough to earn the Jean-Pierre Graff Trophy as the best first-year player.

Ranked the 16th-best European skater in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Alexandre Texier was selected by the Columbus Blue Jackets in the second round. He became the first player to be drafted directly out of France. He then spent the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons playing in Finland's Liiga with KalPa, where he scored a combined total of 26 goals and 47 points in 90 games.

After impressing in the AHL with the Cleveland Monsters, Alexandre Texier made his NHL debut on April 5, 2019, against the New York Rangers. He scored his first NHL goal the following game against the Ottawa Senators. He scored his first playoff goal against the Tampa Bay Lightning in game four of the Blue Jackets' first-round playoff series.

Alexandre Texier's first full season in the NHL was cut short by a lumbar stress fracture that limited him to only 36 games in the 2019-20 season. He subsequently finished with six goals and seven assists. He returned to the Blue Jackets for the NHL's return-to-play and playoffs, registering four assists in 10 postseason games.