The Winnipeg Jets were forced to play all of October without three of their core players in Adam Lowry, Cole Perfetti, and Dylan Samberg due to injuries.
However, all three returned to action in the first two weeks of November. It’s time to check in how they’re performing.
Lowry Getting Comfortable In Return to Third Line
Lowry returned to the lineup Nov. 4 after missing the first 12 games of the season while rehabbing and recovering from a hip surgery he had in May to repair a worsening, nagging issue. The captain called himself “the weak link” on the third line he’s centreing with Nino Niederreiter and Alex Iafallo through his first few games back.
Getting back up to game speed after a long layoff is not easy and the time it takes to fully readjust varies from player to player. No practice or scrimmage can replicate the pace and intensity of a real game, and Lowry recently said it took three games to feel comfortable. He praised his veteran linemates for carrying the weight.
“A big part of that is the reads that I’m making are so much better. In the first three games, I was slow,” Lowry said ahead of the final game of the recent six-game road trip. “I was maybe a little tentative, maybe getting used to contact, the chaos. You can only do so much of that in practice or when you’re skating by yourself. Nino and Al, they’re such consistent performers. They’re so steady, you know what you’re going to get from them every night,” he continued. (From ‘Weak link or menace? Lowry finding his game after lengthy absence to start season,’ Winnipeg Free Press, Nov. 17, 2025.)
Lowry likened returning after a five-month absence to being a “bicycle in a NASCAR race,” but is now playing the hard and heavy game he’s so well known for more noticeably and confidently.
Related: Jets Sign Lowry to 5-Year Contract Extension with $5 Million AAV
In seven games, he has one goal (scored in Tuesday’s 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets), two assists, 16 hits, and nine blocked shots. His faceoffs are still a work in progress — he has won 46.5 per cent, nearly five points below his career average — and is averaging 14:22 of ice time, a minute lower than last season.
Perfetti Rejoins New-Look Second Line, Power Play
Perfetti returned to the lineup Nov. 9 after missing the first 14 games of the season with a high-ankle sprain he sustained during the Oct. 3 preseason game while throwing a check on Calgary Flames’ defenseman Kevin Bahl.
Perfetti, who had a career-high 50 points last season and will be depended on for the rest of this campaign to replace some of Nikolaj Ehlers’ production, jumped right into the second-line right-wing and first-unit power play roles he was slated for before the injury. In five games, the 23 year old has one goal and one assist in 16:57 of average ice time while playing alongside veterans Jonathan Toews and Vladislav Namestnikov. However, he is a minus-3, unusual as he came into the season a career plus-35.
Head coach Scott Arniel said Monday that while Perfetti has chemistry with Namestnikov, it’s a little different because Namestnikov is on the wing now instead of at centre and that Perfetti and his new centre Toews are still feeling each other out.
“He’s had a lot of chances. Cole’s had a lot of really good looks,” Arniel said Monday, noting Perfetti got “the first one” out of the way and can hopefully relax now. “For me it’s just repetition, getting all these games he missed early on in the year, it’s just getting his timing, his pace to the game,” Arniel continued.
Perfetti will be highly motivated to produce at a similar rate to last season as he is in the last season of two-year bridge deal.
Samberg Strides Back to Second Paring Alongside Pionk
Samberg returned to the lineup Nov. 14 after missing the first 16 games of the season with a broken wrist he sustained during the Sept. 27 preseason game versus the Flames when he was hit into the boards near the stanchion by Ryan Lomberg.
The defenseman was able to skate frequently and early into his recovery process; he just couldn’t handle a stick or shoot. That made his return to the second pairing, where he excelled last season and posted a career-high 20 points, easier.
“Especially that first period, you’re just trying to get the timing back of things,” Samberg said. “Guys have had a month on you playing games. So, just trying to find the timing of things again. But then, everything else kind of falls back into place once you get that.” (From ‘Samberg’s return seamless,’ Winnipeg Free Press, Nov. 17, 2025.)
It appears as Samberg never left. While he is still searching for his first point, the 26-year-old has played excellent shutdown defense alongside Neal Pionk, helped kill penalties, and has shouldered 21:57 in average ice time through three games.
Samberg’s presence deepens the defensive core and leads to less pressure on the Josh Morrissey/Dylan DeMelo top pairing, Arniel said Monday, and also allows Pionk to play a more offensively-charged game. Pionk was scuffling on the scoresheet without his regular partner with just three assists through 16 games, but already has a goal and two assists since Samberg returned.
The Jets are back in action Friday in the second game of their three-game homestand when they host the Carolina Hurricanes in what will be Ehlers’ first game in Winnipeg as a member of the opposition. The Jets, 12-7-0 and fully healthy for now, will attempt to leave their recent 2-4-0 road trip farther in the rearview by winning their third-consecutive game.
