Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers is out week-to-week with the foot injury he aggravated in a collision with an official against the Blackhawks on Saturday, head coach Scott Arniel said today (via Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press).
Ehlers’ status for the beginning of Winnipeg’s first-round series against the second wild card in the Western Conference is now highly doubtful. A week-to-week designation likely sidelines him for the first two games of the series at the very least, although that timeline this late in the regular season could keep him out for the entire first round – or even longer.
That’s a humongous blow to the President’s Trophy winners as they attempt to win their first playoff series since 2021. Ehlers, a perennial top-six producer despite receiving less-than-expected deployment, ranks third on the Jets in scoring with 24-39–63 in 69 games. He also missed a stretch of games earlier in the year with a lower-body injury. It’s the third time in four seasons Ehlers has missed at least 10 games due to injury.
Ehlers’ performance this season is the second-best of his career on a per-game basis, and it also comes in the final season of his seven-year, $42MM contract. Might the pending unrestricted free agent have played his final regular-season game in Winnipeg? He’ll look to at least get back to that production if the Jets can win enough playoff games without him to extend his season, building on what’s been an extremely underwhelming playoff reputation so far in his career. The 29-year-old has just four goals in 37 career postseason outings.
Luckily, the Jets may not be down a pair of top-six fixtures when their postseason begins. Arniel also said that top-line winger Gabriel Vilardi has been upgraded to day-to-day as he nears a return from the upper-body injury that’s kept him out since March 23. Like Ehlers, he’s a member of the 60-point club with a career-best 27-34–61 stat line in 71 showings. He spent the year stapled to Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele and will return to that role when he gets back in the lineup, whether that’s in their final regular-season game tomorrow against the Ducks, Game 1 of the playoffs, or later in their first-round series.
It’s still a big bite out of the league’s third-ranked offense and will mean one of Alex Iafallo or Nino Niederreiter remains elevated in a top-six role when the postseason begins, even if Vilardi is cleared to play. Ehlers also has the best possession impacts of any qualified Winnipeg forward, with a 53.3 CF% and +10.1 expected rating at even strength.