Nikita Filatov is expected to arrive in Columbus on Sept. 10. The Blue Jackets prefer he do so in one piece.

As such, they have asked their first-round draft pick to stop playing exhibition games for the junior club of his former Russian hockey team, CSKA Moscow. It's believed he played in three games. Filatov has agreed to cool his jets, general manager Scott Howson said, but will continue to train with CSKA-2.

After losing Jared Boll to broken hand in a pick-up game, Howson doesn't want to take any chances with Filatov. Imagine if he had suffered an injury playing for the Russian team that has been asking $1.5 million for his rights to play in Columbus.

We'll have a short story in Monday's edition of the Dispatch.

-- Also, goaltending prospect Steve Mason has resumed skating. He suffered a knee injury in April.

-- Tom Reed treed@dispatch.com