The Jets are hoping to have center Paul Stastny back in the lineup on Friday against Minnesota, relays Postmedia’s Scott Billeck. The veteran has been out for a little more than two weeks due to a lower-body injury which put a strong start to his season on hold; Stastny has four goals and four assists in 11 games in the early going while logging over 18 minutes a game. Winnipeg is set to begin a road back-to-back set so it’s possible that Stastny only suits up for one of those contests if they want to ere on the side of caution.
Other injury news from around the NHL:
- The COVID situation for the Islanders is bad enough at the moment but they got some bad news on the injury front as well as blueliner Noah Dobson is dealing with a lower-body injury, mentions Mollie Walker of the New York Post. It has been a disappointing start for the 21-year-old who has been quiet offensively with just four assists in 14 games while being on the fringes of the top four on their back end. Dobson is a pending restricted free agent and any extended absence – there’s no timeline for a return just yet – would certainly hurt his chances of a long-term deal this summer.
- The Panthers will be without top center Aleksander Barkov for at least another two weeks, notes David Wilson of the Miami Herald. Barkov was able to avoid needing surgery following an injury on a collision with Scott Mayfield last week and at the time, interim head coach Andrew Brunette was only able to provide a week-to-week timeline.
- Coyotes center Jay Beagle has been ruled out for the rest of the week at a minimum due to a lower-body injury, per Craig Morgan of PHNX Sports (Twitter link). The team is awaiting further test results to know how long he’ll be out for. The 36-year-old has played in 19 games so far this season and hasn’t recorded a point yet but has won nearly 60% of his faceoffs.