The Winnipeg Jets have been without Adam Lowry for five games now, but have kept on clicking and won them all. It’s not easy for any team to be without their captain for weeks like the Jets will be, especially when that captain is a stalwart centre who does anything and everything it takes to win, from scoring goals, to dishing out hits, to blocking shots, to killing penalties, and much more.
Here, we’ll look at some players who have stepped up since Lowry went down with an upper-body injury Jan. 20 against the Utah Hockey Club, one that will keep him out until after the 4 Nations Face-Off break.
Rasmus Kupari
Kupari has served well as third-line centre in Lowry’s stead and established himself as an effective regular.
The speedy 24 year old doesn’t bring the the same rugged skillset as Lowry does between Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton, but he’s been effective nonetheless and shown capable of keeping a strong trio viable.
It’s in the faceoff dot where the Finn has excelled most. He’s won 43 of 72 draws since taking on his new role for a 59.77 per cent efficiency, which is a small sample size but even better than Lowry’s already-good 51.8 per cent clip.
Kupari’s contributions haven’t shown on the scoresheet too much, but it does go to show the increased trust head coach Scott Arniel has in him that he was out to protect a two-goal lead late in the third period against the Montreal Canadiens Jan. 28 and thus was able to bag an empty-net goal for his fourth of the season.
Kupari now being a lineup mainstay capable of playing 13-plus quality minutes per game is quite a difference from last season. His first campaign after being acquired from the Los Angeles Kings as part of a trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois the other way was a miserable one, as he had just one assist in 28 games, missed two months with an upper-body injury, and struggled to stay in the lineup down the stretch even when he got healthy.
David Gustafsson
When he was drafted in 2018, David Gustafsson drew some comparisons to Lowry’s. In the past few games, he’s played a bit like him. He has taken on the fourth-line centre role and is starting to see his hard work and patience pay off.
The “Gus Bus,” as he’s become known, is plus-5 with Lowry out and just had the first four-game point streak of his career, posting one goal and three assists. That included his first goal of the season against Utah on Jan. 24 that came via a fortuitous bounce off an end-boards stanchion.
A four-game point streak may not seem too impressive, but it is for someone like Gustafsson who had zero in his first 16 games and is on a line whose main priority is to shut down the opponents rather than push for goals. He certainly is capable of chipping in on the scoresheet, something he proved with the Manitoba Moose earlier in his career (59 points in 88-career American Hockey League games over parts of four seasons.)
Gustafsson, now 24 years old, has had a bit of a challenging career. Various injuries and often being the odd-man out in a roster numbers game has limited him to 134-career NHL games through parts of six seasons.
The Swede was a healthy scratch for most of this campaign’s first-third, including for a five-week stretch from late October through Dec. 1. On Dec. 10, in just his third game of the season, he suffered a concussion in a fight with the Boston Bruins’ Trent Frederic (his first-career tilt and a mismatch) and missed four more games.
He’s been a lineup regular since just before Christmas as the Jets dealt with injuries up front to Appleton, Vladislav Namestnikov, and now Lowry.
“He’s one of the guys that puts in the work, whether he’s playing or he’s not playing, whatever it may be. It’s great to see him get it. He definitely deserves it. He makes a lot of plays out there that people don’t recognize,” fellow fourth liner Morgan Barron said after Gustafsson’s goal.
“Defensively is what he’s depended on and it’s consistently for him, but he’s more than capable of chipping in offence. It’s great to see.” (from ‘Teammates happy Gustafsson’s hard work pays off with first goal of the season,’ Winnipeg Free Press, Jan. 25, 2025.)
Gabriel Vilardi
Gabriel Vilardi’s role hasn’t changed with Lowry out — he’s still the right winger on a dominant top line with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor — but he’s elevated his game as high as anyone.
Gabriel Vilardi picks his spot and makes it 3-1 heading into the third period! pic.twitter.com/uc08i5ENrc
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) January 27, 2025
The 25 year old’s breakout season has kicked into overdrive as he has three goals and five assists for eight points in the five games since Lowry went down and had a four-game point streak snapped in the 6-2 win against the Bruins Thursday night. His first point in that streak, a goal against the Colorado Avalanche Jan. 22 for his 42nd of the season, pushed him to a new career-high in points and his third-period tally against the Calgary Flames Jan. 26 (his second goal and final point in a four-point night) brought him within one of tying his career high of 23 goals.
When someone as good at five on five as Lowry is out, capitalizing on special teams is more important than ever. Vilardi has done his part on the power play from his net-front “office,” as three of his points have come on the man advantage. His ridiculous hands and awareness make him a menace for opponents and are big reasons the Jets continue to lead the NHL in power-play percentage.
Related: What’s Behind the Jets’ Lack of Power-Play Opportunities?
Vilardi, the key piece of the aforementioned trade with the Kings and in the final year of a two-year bridge deal, has already positioned himself for a big raise by putting up 49 points in 53 games and staying healthy. Negotiations could — and likely will — wait until the offseason, but it’s obvious now general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff needs to extend him to a long-term contract as soon as possible and make him a core player to build around.