The Jets announced they’ve recalled defense prospect Elias Salomonsson from AHL Manitoba. Connor Hellebuyck is headed to injured reserve in the corresponding move. The placement is retroactive to Nov. 19, his last appearance before undergoing an arthroscopic knee procedure that has him out for another month-plus.
Salomonsson, 21, is coming off an All-Star Game nod in his rookie season with the Moose last year. The smooth-skating righty may be in his second professional season stateside, but he racked up parts of four seasons in Sweden’s top league with Skellefteå before landing in Manitoba. He’s never put up particularly gaudy point totals. However, he’s never been in a position to, logging top-four minutes in a notoriously offense-suffocating SHL before playing top-pairing minutes on a Moose team that scored just 2.35 goals per game last season. Over the past two seasons, he’s posted a 5-28–33 scoring line with a -7 rating in 70 games for Manitoba.
It’s been more of the same from the 6’2″ Salomonsson to begin this year. He’s yet to score a goal through 17 AHL contests, but has six assists – a number that’s tied for the team lead amid another disastrous offensive campaign from the Moose. His even rating has him tied for fourth on the team among skaters with at least 10 appearances this season.
Salomonsson’s skating, stick skills, and vision are what made him the No. 12-ranked European skater by NHL Central Scouting in the 2022 draft. He went to the Jets midway through the second round at No. 55 overall and signed his entry-level contract a few weeks later, although they loaned him to Skellefteå in back-to-back campaigns before the deal went into effect for 2024-25. In those two seasons, Salomonsson advanced with Skellefteå to the Swedish Hockey League championship series both times, winning the crown in 2024. He also earned a silver medal with the Swedes at that year’s World Junior Championship.
Salmonsson ranked inside the league’s top 100 prospects on offseason lists from Elite Prospects (No. 94) and Scott Wheeler of The Athletic (No. 76). He’s universally lauded as Winnipeg’s top defense prospect and is a consensus top-three prospect in their pool.
His ceiling will likely be directly related to his point production at the NHL level. He has enough of a well-rounded skillset to virtually guarantee him a job as Winnipeg’s No. 3 right-shot defender with penalty kill deployment next season after Colin Miller becomes an unrestricted free agent. How his ability to read plays adjusts to the top level will determine whether he can challenge Dylan DeMelo or Neal Pionk for a top-four job and steal some power-play work, too.
In the short term, he’s ticketed to make his NHL debut tomorrow against the Capitals in second-pairing duties alongside Dylan Samberg in place of Pionk, who left Sunday’s game against the Wild in the first period with a lower-body injury. He’s listed as day-to-day and was back on the ice before today’s practice, Kelly Moore of 680 CJOB Winnipeg reports, so he isn’t expected to miss significant time.
With Samberg missing a good chunk of the campaign so far due to wrist surgery, Pionk has struggled. The 30-year-old righty scored 39 points and had a +21 rating in 69 appearances last season, practically a career year, that landed him a six-year, $42MM extension. This season, he’s been limited to a goal and four assists in 21 appearances despite an uptick in power-play deployment. His two-way play has taken a step back, too. After controlling 56.7% of expected goals with Samberg last season, he controlled just 42.5% when Logan Stanley was elevated to his left side in Samberg’s absence to begin this season. Since Samberg’s return, though, his and Pionk’s xGF% is back over 54.
Salmonsson likely won’t stick with the big club once Pionk is healthy, barring a particularly impressive performance alongside Samberg in his debut. He’s still got another year left on his entry-level deal and remains waiver-exempt through that time.
Image courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.