It seems to be one step forward, two steps back for the Winnipeg Jets of late. Currently trailing their best of seven series with the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1, Winnipeg received a mixed bag of news over the weekend on the injury front.
Forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who sustained an upper body injury on April 11th, skated with the team’s healthy scratches on Sunday. While the plan is to reassess where he’s at on Monday afternoon, the progress is positive news for the 27 year old.
Hampered by a series of injuries throughout the year, the Danish sniper posted 38pts (12G, 26A) across 45 contests in 2022-23. And in a series that’s been as physical as their current first round matchup, the club wants to make sure Ehlers is at full health before returning him to the lineup.
While Ehlers’ progress can largely be viewed as a positive, the same can’t be said regarding the status of star defenseman Josh Morrisey.
The 28 year old blue liner has been ruled out for the remainder of the series with a lower body injury. Morrissey was injured after a knee-on-knee hit with Vegas defenseman Zach Whitecloud early in the first period of Game 3.
While the team is taking the tight-lipped approach to his injury, rumours have been swirling that Morrissey’s availability should the Jets move on is also in doubt. The latest whispers out of Winnipeg indicate that if this were the regular season, the former 1st round selection would at a minimum be placed on the injured reserve, with surgery also a possibility.
Replacing the 6’, 195lbs blue liner’s production won’t be easy for the Jets. Morrissey shattered all of his previous career highs with 76pts (16G, 60A) this season, while averaging 24:14 of ice time per contest.
His 76pts set a franchise record for points by a defenseman, and placed him in second place amongst all NHL blue liners, trailing only San Jose’s Erik Karlsson.
“…like I said, it will be a next-man-up mentality. We’ll have to take a little bit more from everybody because I don’t think one guy can fill those shoes. He’s been our best player all year, so we’ll have to pick up that slack,” said fellow defender Neal Pionk, who logged a team high 41:08 of ice time in Saturday’s 5-4 double OT matchup.
Head Coach Rick Bowness hasn’t tipped his hand as to who might step into the lineup to help reinforce the team’s back end. Ville Heinola’s name has made the rounds as a possible replacement, as has Logan Stanley and Kyle Capobianco as well.
Unfortunately for the Jets, time isn’t on their side at the moment as Game 4 takes place Monday evening in Winnipeg.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: Rkehler3. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.