The surging Dallas Stars aren’t the only threat to the Winnipeg Jets’ quest to finish first in the West: injuries are too.
The Jets have been fairly healthy overall this season but have encountered a bunch of injury adversity over the past number of games that are adding another obstacle to their goals of staying first in the Western Conference to avoid facing the Colorado Avalanche in Round 1 and capturing their first Presidents’ Trophy.
Ehlers & Vilardi Among Jets’ Battered Forwards
The latest player to go down is Nikolaj Ehlers, who took an absolute beating in the 4-0 win over the Vegas Golden Knights Thursday. In the first period, he blocked a hard Nicolas Hague shot with his leg in the first that hobbled him significantly but didn’t force him out of the game and was also slashed in the hand. In the third, he took some friendly fire in the form of a Cole Perfetti shot off his right leg during a power play, couldn’t put any weight on his leg afterward, and did not return.
Head coach Scott Arniel said postgame they don’t know the severity of the injury but then joked “he keeps getting hit with pucks” before adding “I think he’ll be all right.”
One has to hope Arniel is correct because losing the speedy Dane, who has 63 points in 67 games and already missed nine contests with an injury earlier this season, for any significant amount of time would be another big blow to the forward core..
The core is already without top-line forward and power-play powerhouse Gabriel Vilardi, who left the March 23 game against the Buffalo Sabres with what Arniel described as a “freak” upper-body injury and has now missed five games and counting. Vilardi, who set career highs this season in goals (27) and points (61), has been described as “week to week” but Arniel has been vague on the exact nature of the injury, if he’ll return in the regular season, or even if he’ll be ready for the first round. The Jets’ power play has scuffled without his net-front prowess, going two for 11.
The last update on Vilardi came nearly a week ago when Arniel said “it’s not one of those (injuries) where it’s an automatic four-to-six. He’s a ways away. He’s a way from even trying to get into the weight room right now. He’s more (focused) on just getting better.”
Rasmus Kupari is also back in concussion protocol after suffering a “setback” and isn’t with the Jets on their current three-game road trip. Kupari initially suffered the suspected concussion in the third period of the March 6 game against the New York Islanders after taking a hard check from Hudson Fasching in the neutral zone and appearing to hit his head on the boards. He returned to the lineup for one game, on March 25 against the Washington Capitals, but only skated 5:44 so clearly he wasn’t feeling quite right.
Pionk Remains Out, Schenn Dealing With Issue
On the blue line, Neal Pionk remains out with a lower-body injury that required him to be shut down on March 14. The injury, which he had been playing through for a while, has caused him to miss the past 10 games. The organization hopes that by dealing with it now, he’ll be ready for the playoffs.
The 29-year-old has had something of a renaissance season in the last year of his four-year deal. Skating on the second pairing primarily with Dylan Samberg, he has recorded nine goals and 28 assists for 37 points and a plus-21 rating while averaging 22:09 in ice time in 66 games. Pionk being out leads to Logan Stanley being in, which leads to critical gaffes like this, so his absence has a double-whammy impact.
Pionk has been practicing this week on the road trip, but hasn’t taken part in line rushes yet.
Trade deadline acquisition Luke Schenn has also been dealing with some sort of issue that caused him to miss Tuesday’s game versus the Los Angeles Kings and be a game-time decision against the Golden Knights (he ended up playing against Vegas and logging 19:25 and an assist.) The only information we have is that the heavy veteran d-man “stiffened up” during the morning skate prior to the game against the Kings.
Related: Luke Schenn Immediately Having Big Impact on Jets’ Blue Line After Trade Deadline
Schenn has been a physical and fearsome force in his first 10 games with the Jets, recording two assists and racking up 52 hits and 22 blocked shots. He is also the only player on the roster to have won a Stanley Cup, so his presence is crucial.
Jets Need Depth to Keep Stepping Up
With the scorching-hot Stars just four points behind the Jets and winners of seven straight with a game in hand, it appears the Jets are going to have to keep winning and relying on their depth if they want to stay in the top spot. Those whose contributions will be more key than ever includes Alex Iafallo — who has been tasked with first-line minutes and increased power-play responsibilities since Vilardi went down — middle-six forwards with scoring upside such as Mason Appleton, Adam Lowry, and Nino Niederreiter, and defensemen who have been in and out of the lineup such as Haydn Fleury and Colin Miller.
It’s never ideal to be missing key personnel in the final few games of the regular season with playoff positioning at stake and no one will be crying for a Jets team that’s been among the league’s elite since the get go. Nonetheless, the Jets’ final six games will represent a good challenge: they will not only give them an early taste of playoff-style hockey, but also provide opportunities to learn to win by committee (just as teams that make deep runs do in the postseason.)
“Realistically, we’re worried about ourselves and we’re trying to be ready for Game 83,” Josh Morrissey said after the victory over the Golden Knights. “We’d love to win the Division, we’d love to win the Conference and we’d love to be the number-one seed in the NHL. All of those things are attainable right now. But that’s in the background of what we’re pushing for. More importantly, we’ve got (six more) games to prepare for the Stanley Cup playoffs and have our game where we want it to be. That’s the biggest focus right now.” (from ‘Jets snap losing streak against old foe, defeat Las Vegas 4-0,’ Winnipeg Free Press, April 3, 2025.)