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Jets Assign Two Players To AHL

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While Winnipeg’s season came to an end on Thursday, a pair of players that were up with the Jets will see their campaign continue a little while longer.  The team announced (Twitter link) that goaltenders Oskari Salminen and Arvid Holm were returned to Manitoba of the AHL.

Salminen is in the first year of an entry-level deal signed last May.  The 23-year-old was recalled to Winnipeg at the beginning of the playoffs but didn’t see any game action while up with the big club.  Salminen had a decent first season in North America, posting a 3.06 GAA along with a .896 SV% in 39 games, leading the Moose in appearances by a goaltender.

As for Holm, the pending RFA served as the backup for the Jets at the end of their series against Vegas after being brought up last weekend.  The 24-year-old was the better of the two netminders in the minors this season, posting a 2.67 GAA and a .911 SV% in 35 appearances, a strong improvement from his rookie campaign in 2021-22.

The assignments are a welcome one for Manitoba with their best-of-five second-round series getting underway yesterday.  Having their regular goalie tandem intact instead of emergency options can only help their chances of advancing this postseason.

Jets Injury Updates: Scheifele, Dubois, Ehlers

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Injuries to important players have piled up at an inopportune time for the Winnipeg Jets, and could lead to a quick playoff exit at the hands of the Vegas Golden Knights. Down 3-1 in the series, 40-goal scorer Mark Scheifele left Game 4 with a suspected shoulder injury and is not on the ice at practice today, says Sportsnet’s Ken Wiebe. He’s not expected to play in Game 5 tomorrow night.

Scheifele, despite managing just one goal in the series, is a cornerstone piece of the team’s forward corps. With a mixed bag of news today on some other Jets forwards, his absence still means they’ll need miracle performances from depth players such as Vladislav Namestnikov and Adam Lowry to pull off an improbable comeback in the series.

  • In even more concerning news, Wiebe also reports that Pierre-Luc Dubois was absent from practice today. The nature of his absence is unknown, as he recorded a goal in over 20 minutes of ice time in Game 4 and isn’t listed with any injuries. Still, if his absence from practice today is for any reason other than rest or maintenance, it could be a depth blow to the Jets, who utilized 23-year-old depth forward David Gustafsson in Dubois’ place on the first line in line rushes today.
  • The team could see Nikolaj Ehlers back for Game 5, though. Wiebe reports Ehlers was a full participant in practice today, skating on a line with deadline additions Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter. Ehlers hasn’t played since game 81 of the regular season on April 11 with an upper-body injury.

Scheifele Possible For Game Five

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In Game Four between the Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets, star center Mark Scheifele left the game early with an upper-body injury. Already missing Josh Morrissey and Nikolaj Ehlers, including Scheifele in that group moving forward might be the nail in the coffin for the Jets in their first-round matchup.

Thankfully for Jets fans, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet relays on a message from head coach Rick Bowness, showing optimism that Scheifele could return for Game Five. With the Golden Knights already leading the series three games to one, having Scheifele on the ice for Winnipeg would certainly increase their chances of extending the series.

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Jets Injury Notes: Ehlers, Reichel, Rittich

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The Winnipeg Jets need a strong effort at home tonight to avoid falling down 3-1 in their First Round series against the Vegas Golden Knights. Per The Athletic’s Murat Ates, they’ll again need to do it without forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who has still not been cleared to return to play by the team’s medical staff.

Ehlers hasn’t played in almost two weeks with an upper-body injury after registering 38 points in 45 regular season games. Depth pieces such as Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter, and Vladislav Namestnikov have stepped up in his absence against Vegas, but they haven’t gotten the most out of Mark Scheifele, who has just one goal in the series. They’ll need more strong performances from their secondary scorers in order to extend their season long enough for Ehlers to return.

  • While the Jets are in the thick of their playoff battle, the postseason for their AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, won’t start until next Friday. They’ll be playing without the services of forward Kristian Reichel, who the team confirmed today is out for the season after sustaining an upper-body injury on April 11. Reichel recorded 24 points in 61 games for the Moose this year and made two appearances for Winnipeg, registering an assist.
  • Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun confirms that David Rittich will be unavailable to back up tonight due to a lower-body injury, paving the way for Arvid Holm to sit on the bench. Holm was recalled earlier today on an emergency basis. Rittich has played just one game since March 14, with Connor Hellebuyck taking the majority of starts to keep the Jets in playoff position.

Nikolaj Ehlers Skating As He Waits For Medical Clearance

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TSN’s John Lu is reporting that winger Nikolaj Ehlers is skating with the Winnipeg Jets healthy scratches while he waits to see if he can get a medical clearance to return. The 27-year-old suffered an upper body injury in a game against the Minnesota Wild back on April 11th and hasn’t played since.

The Denmark native missed a great deal of the regular season with multiple injuries including a sports hernia that required surgery. He played the first two games of the regular season and then missed nearly three months before returning in January.

Ehlers was productive this season when healthy, he had 12 goals and 38 points in 45 games despite playing the lowest average ice time of his entire eight-year career. He’d been on a heater in the games leading up to his injury, having scored seven points in the five games prior to getting hurt.

Ehlers will be assessed on Monday while he waits to see if he can get that medical clearance to return to the Jets lineup. Winnipeg has battled hard in their series with the Vegas Golden Knights, including a massive comeback that resulted in an overtime loss in game three. They’ve already lost defenseman Josh Morrissey, and should Ehlers remain out, the underdog Jets will have an even bigger hill to climb if they want to survive the first round.

Winnipeg Jets Reassign Danny Zhilkin To AHL

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The Winnipeg Jets organization has announced that prospect forward Danny Zhilkin has been reassigned from the OHL’s Kitchener Rangers to the Jets’ AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. This reassignment comes after the Rangers fell in their second-round playoff series to the London Knights in five games.

The move allows Zhilkin, 19, to be with the Moose as they embark on what they hope will be a long Calder Cup playoff run. The Moose begin their first-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Admirals on Friday, and while it’s somewhat unlikely that Zhilkin actually sees the ice, he will get a firsthand experience to see what playoff hockey looks like at the professional level.

Zhilkin is a 2022 third-round pick who has not yet made his professional debut. He earned the right to be a 2022 top-80 selection off the back of a solid 2021-22 OHL season, where he scored 55 points in 66 games for the Guelph Storm, while also serving as an alternate captain. This season, he scored 26 points in 25 games for Guelph before being dealt to the Kitchener Rangers.

Zhilkin scored 17 goals and 30 points in 35 games in Kitchener and helped them achieve one of the most significant upsets in recent CHL history. Zhilkin and the Rangers swept the first-seeded Windsor Spitfires, who were led by 2022 fourth-overall pick Shane Wright.

While their run fizzled out after that victory, Zhilkin got his first real taste of being a difference-maker in playoff hockey. Now, he’ll take more of a backseat role watching Manitoba as the team attempts to defeat the Admirals and make it to the Central Division Finals.

Injury Notes: Morrissey, Hedman, Ehlers

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Winnipeg Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey left Game 3 against the Vegas Golden Knights after playing just over a minute and did not return. According to John Lu of TSN, the news went from bad to worse for the Jets as Head Coach Rick Bowness announced the star defender will be out for the remainder of the series. He appeared to be hit with a knee as he delivered a body check and then blocked a shot early in the first period before being ruled out with a lower-body injury.

This is a huge blow for the Jets. Morrissey’s name was in the Norris Trophy conversation in a season where he scored 16 goals and 76 points in 78 games. Morrissey led the Jets in average ice time per game this season and is the quarterback of their star-studded power play. The Jets played almost all of Game 3 without him, and it resulted in their five other defenders having to play against tougher competition than they are used to facing every night. Neal Pionk  played over 41 minutes in a game that Winnipeg eventually lost in double overtime.

The Jets now trail the series 2-1 and will look to even it up at home in Game 4 on Monday. It is going to be a tall task for the group of Jets healthy defenders to shut down the Golden Knights deep offensive lineup.

  • Another star defenseman who is dealing with injury is Victor Hedman. Fortunately, according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, the Tampa Bay Lightning defender returns to the lineup for Game 3. Hedman missed Game 2 and the team missed his presence as they fell 7-2 to the Toronto Maple Leafs to even the series at 1-1. Hedman played just 6:35 in Game 1 before leaving with injury at the start of the second period.
  • Jeff Hamilton of The Winnipeg News reports Nikolaj Ehlers of the Winnipeg Jets remains out of the lineup for Game 3. The 27-year-old winger scored 12 goals and 38 points in 45 games this season but battled a few injuries during the year. His most recent injury came when he was hit by Ryan Hartman of the Minnesota Wild late in the regular season on a play that was deemed interference since Ehlers had never touched the puck. The skilled winger is missed as the Jets try to upset the top-ranked Western Conference Vegas Golden Knights in a first round series.

Morrissey Will Not Return To Game Three

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As the Winnipeg Jets look to take back the lead in their first-round matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights, they will have to do it without Norris candidate Josh Morrissey. The team announced that Morrissey will not return to Game Three due to a lower-body injury.

On the heels of far and away the best season of his career, Morrissey will be a huge missing presence on the ice for the Jets. The team hasn’t made any mention of his status for Game Four in their series, as they will likely give updates after tonight’s game or tomorrow. In two games played so far for Morrissey in the playoffs, he has managed one assist, dishing the puck to teammate Kyle Connor for the opening goal in this series.

Although it will be near impossible to replicate the kind of offense that Morrissey is able to bring from the back end, the one player who could hold down the fort in the meantime is defenseman Neal Pionk. Pionk has been a steady presence on the blue line for the Jets over the last four seasons, hovering around 30 points every year, including a 45-point season in 2019-20.

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Jets Hopeful Nikolaj Ehlers Will Play In Game Three

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  • The Jets are hopeful that winger Nikolaj Ehlers will be available for today’s third game against Vegas, relays Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun. Ehlers, who last weekend declared that he expected to be ready to start the playoffs, hasn’t suited up in the first two games of the series.  He’d be a welcome addition to Winnipeg’s lineup as, when healthy, Ehlers was certainly productive this season, collecting 38 points in 45 games despite averaging a career-low 15:39 per contest.

Winnipeg Jets Extend Dominic Toninato

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The Winnipeg Jets signed forward Dominic Toninato to a two-year, two-way contract extension Wednesday, the team announced. The contract carries the league minimum cap hit of $775,000.

Toninato, 29, was a full-time fixture on Winnipeg’s fourth line in 2021-22. With younger talent forcing Winnipeg’s hand during training camp, though, Toninato has instead been relegated to an AHL role for the most part this season.

In his third year in the Jets organization, Toninato played 50 games in the minors after playing just five combined the previous two years. He’s done well enough with the AHL’s Manitoba Moose, notching 35 points in 50 games. He also appeared in five games with the Jets during the first part of the season before clearing waivers in December.

Initially a 2012 fifth-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs, it took Toninato another five years to land his first NHL contract – an entry-level commitment with the Colorado Avalanche after wrapping up four seasons at the University of Minnesota’s Duluth campus. After two seasons in the Avs’ system, Toninato, then a restricted free agent, was dealt to the Florida Panthers in exchange for depth defender Jacob MacDonald.

With Florida in 2020, Toninato would record 11 points in 46 games before making his playoff debut in the team’s Qualifying Round loss to the New York Islanders. Florida opted not to qualify Toninato at the end of the season, paving the way for him to sign as an unrestricted free agent with the Jets.

Now on his third contract with Winnipeg, Toninato is an experienced call-up option if needed in a pinch, with 175 regular-season and playoff games under his belt.

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