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.