The team atop the Western Conference will have their depth tested down the middle for the next few weeks. According to Murat Ates of The Athletic, Winnipeg Jets forward Adam Lowry has been designated as week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
Lowry suffered the injury in the team’s most recent game against the Utah Hockey Club after leaving the game after only skating in 5:18 of the action. The Jets will likely move Rasmus Kupari to the third line role between Nino Niederreiter and Cole Perfetti but any center combination will have difficulty replicating what the Jets’ captain has done this season.
The St. Louis, MO native has always been a natural bottom-six center, totalling over 120 hits each season of his career and maintaining a 51.4% success rate in the faceoff dot. His scoring has come up the last few campaigns as evidenced by his 0.43 point-per-game average in 2022-23 and 2023-24, and he was on pace for another career-high this year with a 0.54 PPG pace.
Unless another player succombs to injury, the Jets won’t have to place Lowry on injured reserve to add another player to the roster. Winnipeg only has 22 players on the roster at the time being so young prospects such as Brad Lambert or Nikita Chibrikov could get another look at NHL action in Lowry’s absence.
How the team performs in Lowry’s absence should answer multiple questions about the Jets’ deadline approach. Although he’s performed admirably throughout the season, it’s difficult to imagine a Stanley Cup conteder with Vladislav Namestnikov as their second line center. Winnipeg’s center depth will be even more tested without Lowry.
So do they take a run at Toews or do they look to the trade market? They needed another 2C or 3C anyway.