The Jets announced Tuesday that they’ve placed winger Nikolaj Ehlers on injured reserve retroactive to Nov. 29 with his lower-body injury. His roster spot is going to forward prospect Brad Lambert, who was recalled from AHL Manitoba in a corresponding move.
Ehlers has already missed one game with the issue. The IR placement rules him out for the next two games, but he’s eligible to return Saturday against the Blackhawks. He remains day-to-day and hasn’t been ruled out past the minimum requirements for injured reserve.
It puts a damper on what’s been an electric start to the season for the pending unrestricted free agent. Ehlers is third on the jets in scoring with 25 points (9 G, 16 A) in 24 games and is on pace to crack the point-per-game mark for the first time in his career after narrowly failing to do so in 2020-21.
The 28-year-old Dane is doing so despite averaging only 15:33 per game, a story similar to those of years past. He’s tied with the Stars’ Mason Marchment for most points per game (1.04) among skaters averaging fewer than 16 minutes per night.
Nonetheless, the 2014 first-rounder remains without an extension in the final year of his seven-year, $42MM deal signed back in 2017. Ehlers is seventh in Jets/Thrashers franchise history with 629 games played, sixth with 210 goals, sixth with 482 points, and first with a +97 rating.
He’s been skating on Winnipeg’s second line with Vladislav Namestnikov and Cole Perfetti, and Lambert may fill his top-six role tonight against the Blues. The 20-year-old, who the Jets selected 30th overall in 2022, is second on Manitoba in scoring with three goals and eight assists for 11 points in 16 games.
Lambert, the nephew of former Islanders head coach and current Leafs assistant Lane Lambert, recorded an assist in his NHL debut last season against the Canucks. Otherwise, he has 69 points in 94 games for Manitoba since Winnipeg brought him to North America in 2022.