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David Gustafsson

Jets Activate David Gustafsson From Injured Reserve

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The Jets announced that they have activated center David Gustafsson from injured reserve. They had a pair of open roster spots after assigning Nikita Chibrikov and Dylan Coghlan to AHL Manitoba on Thursday.

Gustafsson, 24, had missed the last four games while in concussion protocol. The 2018 second-round pick left his last appearance, a Dec. 10 trouncing of the Bruins, after fighting Boston forward Trent Frederic. It was his second appearance since Oct. 20 after sitting out most of the season as a healthy scratch.

Last year, he stuck primarily on the NHL roster for the second season in a row aside from a brief conditioning assignment in February. He scored three goals, his first since notching his first NHL marker in 2019-20, and added four assists for seven points with a +1 rating in 39 games. He averaged 9:16 per game and won a career-best 54.6% of his faceoffs, often skating down the middle of Winnipeg’s fourth line when in the lineup.

Gustafsson has now appeared in parts of six NHL seasons, skating in a top-level contest in every season since arriving in North America in 2019. He’s played sparingly in all of them, though, averaging 19 appearances per season and just 8:44 per game. The 6’2″ pivot has been a relative non-factor offensively, averaging only 10 points per 82 games. The Jets have also rarely controlled the puck in Gustafsson’s even strength minutes, posting a 45.9% shot-attempt share and 41.9% expected goals share throughout his career.

With a fully healthy forward lineup tonight against the Wild, Gustafsson will return to his usual seat in the press box, the team said. He’s the 13th forward on the active roster and will be the first player to enter the lineup if an injury strikes, however.

Jets Activate Nikolaj Ehlers, Waive Dylan Coghlan

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Dec. 19: The Jets announced that Coghlan cleared waivers and was subsequently assigned to AHL Manitoba along with the waiver-exempt Chibrikov.

Dec. 18: The Jets have placed defenseman Dylan Coghlan on waivers ahead of the upcoming roster freeze, reports Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. In a related but not quite corresponding move, winger Nikolaj Ehlers has been activated from injured reserve ahead of tonight’s matchup with the Ducks, per the league’s media site. Center David Gustafsson, who’s been in concussion protocol since fighting Bruins forward Trent Frederic on Dec. 10, was placed on injured reserve to keep the Jets’ active roster at the maximum 23 until Coghlan can be removed tomorrow.

Ehlers had missed the last nine games with a lower-body injury that he sustained against the Golden Knights on Nov. 29. The Jets managed to go 5-3-1 in his absence and haven’t lost in regulation over their last four outings. The injury interrupted a resurgent season for the pending unrestricted free agent, who still ranks fifth on the team in scoring with 25 points (9 G, 16 A) in 24 games. If his pace holds, the Danish winger will crack the point-per-game threshold for the first time in his 10-year career. If he plays tonight, he’ll likely resume his place on the second line alongside Vladislav Namestnikov and Cole Perfetti while rookie Nikita Chibrikov, who has two goals and an assist in four showings this season, heads to the press box.

Coghlan, 26, signed a two-way deal with the Jets in the offseason after they acquired his signing rights from the Hurricanes. He made the team’s opening night roster but has been stuck in the press box, playing just once this year despite not carrying an injury designation. Winnipeg has had eight defensemen on the active roster nearly all season but hasn’t had the impetus to make many lineup changes. Their relatively healthy blue line has helped power a 23-9-1 record.

His lone appearance came against Vegas, his former team, in the game Ehlers got hurt. He posted a -1 rating in 14:38 of ice time with two shots on goal. Winnipeg out-attempted opponents 15-8 with Coghlan on the ice at even strength despite two-thirds of his zone starts coming in the defensive end.

Thirty-one other teams will now have the chance to claim Coghlan, who only costs the league minimum of $775K against the cap when in the NHL and has 107 games of experience to his name over the last five years. If there are no takers, it’s back to the AHL for him, this time with the Manitoba Moose. The British Columbia native played in 61 games for the Springfield Thunderbirds last season while under contract with Carolina, leading their defenders with 41 points (16 G, 25 A).

Central Notes: Manson, Gustafsson, Ehlers, Utah

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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Josh Manson could return to the lineup during the team’s current three-game road trip (as per Avalanche play-by-play man Conor McGahey). Manson has been dealing with an upper-body issue and won’t suit up tonight when Colorado takes on the Vancouver Canucks. However, he could dress on Thursday or Friday when Colorado plays back-to-back against Anaheim and San Jose. Manson is currently on the injured reserve, meaning that the Avalanche will need to make a roster move before activating the 33-year-old.

Manson hasn’t played since leaving a game on November 29th against Dallas and has played 24 games on the season, posting one goal and five assists. He had one of his better offensive seasons last year, tallying 25 points in 76 games, but he has struggled this year with turnovers, giving the puck away 42 times already, which is one off from his total for all of last season.

In other Central Division notes:

  • Winnipeg Jets colour analyst Mitchell Clinton tweeted that Jets head coach Scott Arniel told the media that injured forwards David Gustafsson and Nikolaj Ehlers both skated today in what is the next step towards a return to action. The 24-year-old Gustafsson skated in a non-contact jersey, his first time back on the ice since he suffered a concussion in a fight on December 10th. Ehlers was in a regular jersey as he tried to get back in the lineup after missing eight games. The 28-year-old hasn’t played since November 29th and is likely day by day at this point.
  • Utah Hockey Club goaltender Connor Ingram and defenseman Robert Bortuzzo are not close to returning to action (according to Belle Fraser of the Salt Lake Tribune). Ingram did not practice today after he spent some time skating over the weekend and will be off the ice for the next little bit. The 35-year-old Bortuzzo didn’t have much better news as he remains sidelined with a lower-body injury that he suffered on December 10th against the Minnesota Wild.  Utah remains without several key defensemen, including Bortuzzo, John Marino and Sean Durzi.

Central Notes: Stars, Dumba, Gustafsson, Martinez

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The long-term injury to Stars center Tyler Seguin has many believing that the Stars will be very aggressive on the trade market.  However, Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek wonders if they might wait until after the 4 Nations Face-Off in February to make any big splash on the trade front.  For starters, that would allow them to bank more in-season cap space but it would also allow them to hedge their bets in case goaltender Jake Oettinger was injured in the event.  Marek adds that among the areas that GM Jim Nill will be targeting between now and the March 7th deadline is getting tougher towards the bottom end of their forward group.

More from the Central Division:

  • Still with Dallas, defenseman Matt Dumba didn’t take part in practice today, per Brian Rea of Victory+ (Twitter link). Head coach Peter DeBoer indicated the blueliner will be re-assessed as a precautionary measure.  It hasn’t been a great year for the 30-year-old as he has been limited to just one assist in 19 games so far while logging 15:33 per game, his lowest ATOI since his first NHL action back in 2013-14.  That’s not a great return on a $3.75MM price tag that runs through next season.
  • Jets head coach Scott Arniel told reporters including Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press (Twitter link) that center David Gustafsson is in concussion protocol. The 24-year-old was injured in a fight against Boston on Tuesday.  Gustafsson has been limited to just three games this season where he has yet to record a point.  He’ll now be waiting at least a little while to add to that games played total.
  • After missing time with an upper-body injury earlier this season, Blackhawks defenseman Alec Martinez is dealing with a recurrence of that injury, causing him to leave practice early today, relays Mark Lazerus of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 37-year-old has been limited to just 15 games in his first season with Chicago and has four points while averaging a little over 20 minutes a night, an ATOI mark he last reached in 2020-21 with Vegas.

Snapshots: Knies, Brossoit, Barlow, Gustafsson

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While the Maple Leafs have been working on (and might be nearing) an extension with pending UFA defenseman Jake McCabe, meaningful talks haven’t started with another one of their 2025 free agents.  TSN’s Darren Dreger reports in their latest Insider Trading segment that there hasn’t been any meaningful dialogue regarding a new deal for winger Matthew Knies, who will be a restricted free agent next summer.  The 21-year-old had a solid rookie season in 2023-24, collecting 15 goals and 20 assists in 80 games and appears to be one of their younger building blocks up front.  That said, it wouldn’t be surprising if at least one of the two sides has indicated that they’d rather wait to see how things go this season to get a better sense of his value before kickstarting talks later on.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • While the Blackhawks won’t have their newest goaltender available for the start of the season, it appears he won’t be out for too long. Head coach Luke Richardson told reporters including Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times (Twitter link) that Laurent Brossoit is on track to return roughly midway through their season-opening four-game road trip to start the season, meaning he might only miss a couple of games.  The 31-year-old posted a 2.00 GAA with a .927 SV% in 23 games for Winnipeg last season, earning Brossoit a two-year, $6.6MM contract on the opening day of free agency this past summer.
  • After requesting a trade earlier in the week, Jets prospect Colby Barlow is indeed on the move. OHL Oshawa announced that they have acquired the 19-year-old forward from Owen Sound in exchange for two players and six draft picks.  Barlow was the 18th overall selection in 2023 following a 46-goal campaign with the Attack.  However, his offensive numbers dipped last season although he still managed 40 goals and 58 points in 50 games before getting into three AHL contests.  Barlow is too young to play there full-time this season but will be AHL-eligible next year, making this a pure one-year rental for the Generals.
  • Still with the Jets, Murat Ates of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that forward David Gustafsson is listed as day-to-day due to a lower-body injury sustained in Wednesday’s game against Calgary. The 24-year-old played in 39 games with Winnipeg last season, notching three goals and four assists.  He inked a two-year, $1.67MM one-way contract with the Jets back in July.

Jets Re-Sign Logan Stanley And David Gustafsson

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The Jets took care of a pair of their restricted free agents on Saturday, announcing the re-signings of defenseman Logan Stanley and center David Gustafsson to two-year contracts.  Stanley will carry a $1.25MM AAV while Gustafsson checks in at $835K.  Both players were eligible to file for salary arbitration but elected not to do so on Friday.

Stanley was a first-round pick by Winnipeg back in 2016, going 18th overall.  At the time, they were hoping that they’d secured a key cog of their future back end.  However, that has yet to become the case.

Playing time has been hard to come by for the 26-year-old in recent years.  He played in just 19 games in 2022-23, leading to an indication that he wouldn’t mind a change of scenery.  He wound up re-signing the following summer but the lack of playing time continued as Stanley got into just 25 games last season where he had one goal and one assist while logging less than 14 minutes a night.  He also saw action in three of their five playoff contests.

However, with Brenden Dillon departing in free agency, there could be an opportunity for Stanley to play more of a regular role next season although Ville Heinola (who is now waiver-eligible) is likely to be in the mix there as well.  This deal gives him a $250K raise while Winnipeg gets an extra year of club control to see if Stanley can become at least a regular part of their back end.

As for Gustafsson, the 24-year-old was a late second-round pick in 2018 (60th overall) and spent most of last year with Winnipeg, albeit in a limited role.  He suited up in 39 games last season, picking up three goals and four assists in just over nine minutes a night of action while winning more than 54% of his faceoffs.  He got into four postseason contests, scoring once.  Gustafsson also played in six regular season games with AHL Manitoba where he collected three assists.

Gustafsson won’t have the option of returning to the Moose next season without going through waivers first.  The likelier scenario is that he once again stays in the mix to anchor the fourth line or hold onto the 13th spot on Winnipeg’s forward group.  He will still have another year of RFA eligibility once this contract ends.

With these signings, the Jets are down to four remaining restricted free agents.  On the back end, Heinola, newly-acquired Dylan Coghlan, and Simon Lundmark need new deals while up front, Cole Perfetti still needs to be signed.  They have a little over $4.25MM in remaining cap space, per CapFriendly.

Western Notes: Scheifele, Vilardi, Dunn, Kovalenko

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The Winnipeg Jets could be getting major reinforcements back soon, with the team hopeful that Mark Scheifele will return to the lineup on Friday, per Scott Billeck with the Winnipeg Sun. Billeck also shared that Gabriel Vilardi will remain out on Friday. Vilardi has been out since February 29th with an upper-body injury, missing the team’s last seven games. The extended absence has continued a season of injuries for Vilardi, who has now missed 27 games on the season.

Scheifele missed Winnipeg’s Wednesday night game with illness. He continues to lead the Jets in scoring, with 19 goals and 57 points in 58 games. The Jets simply haven’t been the same team without Scheifele, averaging a measly 1.57 goals-per-game in his absence compared to 3.22 goals-per-game with him in the lineup – leading Winnipeg to a 2-5-0 record without their top forward.

Scheifele’s importance to the Winnipeg roster can’t be understated, placing plenty of weight on his game-time decision ahead of Friday’s matchup. If he can’t go, the Jets will need to rely on one of David Gustafsson or Rasmus Kupari. Gustafsson has been Winnipeg’s de facto fill-in this year, with four points in 31 games, though Kupari’s role as a natural center could earn him a leg-up, even despite his sole assist through 27 games this season.

Other notes from around the league:

  • The Seattle Kraken will be without defenseman Vince Dunn for the fourth straight game, per Scott Malone with Root Sports. Dunn has been Seattle’s top defender this year, averaging over 23 minutes of ice time for the second-straight season. Dunn has managed 11 goals and 45 points in 57 games on the season, scoring at nearly the exact same pace as he did last season, when he posted a career-high 14 goals and 64 points in 71 games. Without Dunn, Seattle has promoted top young defender Ryker Evans back into an NHL role. Evans has five assists in 19 games this season – the first games of his NHL career – though he’s still searching for his first career goal. Evans has also managed two goals and 15 points in 25 AHL games this year.
  • The Colorado Avalanche could be adding a major boost even after the Trade Deadline, with Russian forward Nikolai Kovalenko reportedly headed to America soon, per Evan Rawal of Colorado Hockey Now, as well as a social media post from Kovalenko’s barber. The Avalanche drafted Kovalenko in the sixth-round of the 2018 NHL Draft, with the winger since emerging as a strong option for the KHL’s Nizhny Novgorod Torpedo. The 24-year-old scored 11 goals and 35 points in 42 KHL games this season, after posting a career-high 21 goals and 54 points in 56 games last season. He will look to carry that same scoring energy onto the high-offense Colorado lineup.

Central Notes: MacKinnon, Bedard, Gustafsson, Plandowski

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Colorado Avalanche announcer Conor McGahey tweeted that Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon is okay after hitting his face on the ice on Saturday night in a game against the Florida Panthers. The 28-year-old superstar didn’t practice today due to a different minor tweak, but the team is hopeful that he’ll be able to play tomorrow night against the Washington Capitals.

MacKinnon is currently second in NHL scoring with 32 goals and 53 assists in 53 games but has been held pointless in three straight games.

In other Central Division notes:

  • Chicago Sun-Times reporter Ben Pope tweeted that the Chicago Blackhawks expect to get rookie phenom Connor Bedard back into the lineup next week. Bedard has a final imaging appointment a week from today and if the appointment goes well Bedard could be back into action by the middle of next week. Bedard’s return will be a welcome development for himself and the Blackhawks as the 18-year-old hasn’t played since January 5th and has 15 goals and 18 assists in 39 games this season.
  • The Winnipeg Jets have activated forward David Gustafsson off the injured reserve and loaned him to their AHL affiliate the Manitoba Moose for conditioning purposes. The 23-year-old has missed the previous 18 games with a lower-body injury and hasn’t dressed since December 22nd. He has just two assists in his last 21 games and hasn’t scored a goal since October 30th. In 27 games this season the native of Tingsryd, Sweden has just two goals and two assists.
  • The Arizona Coyotes have extended the contract of Director of Amateur Scouting Darryl Plandowski. No terms of the deal were released, but the extension will keep Plandowski with the Coyotes for the foreseeable future. Plandowski was a big part of the Tampa Bay Lightning as he spent 12 years with the organization and was part of the club during their two Stanley Cup championships. He worked his way through the Lightning organization into the role of Assistant Director of Amateur Scouting before eventually joining Arizona in 2020.

Central Snapshots: Vilardi, Gustafsson, Dermott, Gurianov

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The Winnipeg Jets are expecting the return of forwards Gabriel Vilardi and David Gustafsson soon, per team reporter Mike McIntyre with The Free Press. Both players are out with lower-body injuries, with Vilardi missing the team’s last two games and optimistic he can return soon, while Gustafsson has been on injured reserve since December 30th.

Vilardi missed roughly a month-and-a-half earlier in the season with a sprained MCL. He made his return on November 30th and has since scored 11 goals and 19 points in 23 games, while averaging over 17 minutes of ice time each game. That’s a scoring pace of 67 points across 82 games, which would mark a new career high for Vilardi, topping the 23 goals and 41 points he scored in 63 games last season. Vilardi is in his first season with Winnipeg, with the 24-year-old forward serving as a focal piece of the trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings this summer.

Gustafsson has appeared in 27 games of his own this season, scoring four points while averaging roughly nine minutes of ice time. He appeared in his 100th NHL game on December 20th, recording one assist in the Jets’ 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

Other notes from the Western Conference:

  • The Arizona Coyotes have shared that defenseman Travis Dermott will miss the team’s Saturday night game with a lower-body injury. Dermott missed 12 games earlier in the season with a hand injury, making his return on December 7th. He has just two points in the 22 games he’s played since then, adding a -8 and eight penalty minutes.
  • Nashville Predators forward Denis Gurianov has lost his waiver exemption status, with Nashville’s Saturday afternoon game marking his 10th game since being recalled on January 6th. He’s scored two points in his stint with the Predators, who have become the third NHL club that Gurianov has played for across his seven-year NHL career. The 26-year-old has totaled 289 career games and 113 points, spending six years of his career with the Dallas Stars.

Morning Notes: Gustafsson, Viel, Emberson

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Carter Brooks of The Hockey News is reporting that Winnipeg Jets forward David Gustafsson will be out of the lineup for the next handful of games as the team has placed the 23-year-old on injured reserve. Gustafsson was a game-time decision on Wednesday night as the Jets came out of the break, but didn’t end up dressing against the Chicago Blackhawks

The native of Tingsryd, Sweden suffered a lower-body injury in a game against the Boston Bruins on December 22nd as he tried to end a 21-game goalless drought. He skated yesterday and Jets head coach Rick Bowness said he was feeling better, however, the team was not yet comfortable with letting him play. Gustafsson has two goals and two assists in 27 games this season.

In other morning notes:

  • With the injury to Gustafsson, the Winnipeg Jets recalled Jeffrey Viel from the Manitoba Moose of the AHL on an emergency loan (CapFriendly). Viel is in his first season with the Jets organization after spending the previous five years with the San Jose Sharks. The 26-year-old has yet to dress in an NHL game for Winnipeg but does have 49 career NHL games to his name with the Sharks. He’s posted three goals and two assists in his NHL career, all of which came in the 2021-22 season. Viel did not play against the Minnesota Wild last night and will likely serve as the Jets’ 13th forward during his recall.
  • The San Jose Sharks have activated Ty Emberson off the injured reserve as per Curtis Pashelka of The San Jose Mercury News. The rookie defenseman has been out with a lower-body injury since December 1st and will be able to dress today when the Sharks take on the Colorado Avalanche. The 23-year-old has dressed in 16 games this season and has a goal and three assists while averaging 17:51 of ice time per game. The Eau Claire, Wisconsin native was acquired by San Jose from the New York Rangers via waivers before the start of the season and should give the Sharks a physical presence on the back end as he has averaged over two hits a game thus far this season.

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