West Notes: Jets, Backlund, Bedard
A year after the Jets won the Presidents’ Trophy with a 116-point regular season, they enter play today in the exact opposite situation, sitting dead last in the NHL standings. While the team hasn’t ruled out a second-half playoff push, Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press argues that one of Winnipeg GM Kevin Cheveldayoff’s priorities should be to open up a spot on the roster for prospect Elias Salomonsson. The 21-year-old is in his second season in North America and got his first taste of NHL action in late November with a four-game recall. However, an extended look down the stretch if the team is out of contention would give the Jets a chance to assess his overall readiness for 2026-27. That said, Winnipeg has eight blueliners on its active roster at the moment so some moves would need to be made first. Luke Schenn, Colin Miller, and Logan Stanley are all on expiring deals; two of those would probably need to move before Salomonsson could get another recall.
More from out West:
- Flames center Mikael Backlund was a surprise omission from Sweden’s Olympic team which was revealed on Friday. However, he confirmed to Aftonbladet’s Per Bjurman that he is on their shortlist of potential injury replacements although he was passed over when William Karlsson was ruled out for the event. Backlund is having a nice bounce-back season offensively, notching 10 goals and 25 assists in 40 games, putting him on pace to reach the 50-point mark for just the second time in the last nine seasons. However, that resurgence wasn’t enough to secure him a spot on Sweden’s group.
- Blackhawks center Connor Bedard has taken the next step in recovery from a shoulder injury as Mark Lazerus of The Athletic relays (Twitter link) that he has resumed doing shooting drills. The 20-year-old was injured taking a faceoff around three weeks ago and remains out indefinitely. Before the injury, Bedard had gotten off to a very strong start to his season with 15 goals and 29 assists in just 31 games, setting himself up nicely with his contract expiring at the end of June.
Jets Reassign Elias Salomonsson
The Jets announced that defenseman Elias Salomonsson has been reassigned to AHL Manitoba. His first stint in the big leagues ends at the two-week mark.
It’s the expected and best resolution for Salmonsson’s development. The 21-year-old is widely viewed as Winnipeg’s top defense prospect after being drafted 55th overall in 2022. He started the year in Manitoba and was summoned near the end of November when Neal Pionk exited the lineup with a lower-body injury. Pionk’s been back for several days now, though, meaning Salomonsson has been scratched in three of the Jets’ last five games.
Saying Salomonsson looked overmatched in his first taste of the NHL would be a fair statement. He got top-four deployment with Dylan Samberg in his first two appearances and it didn’t go well, posting a -5 rating and controlling just 11.8% of expected goals together. When he re-entered the lineup for a pair of games earlier this month, his ice time was reduced and his two-way play improved against easier competition.
He still ends his first call-up without a point and with a -4 rating in four appearances, averaging 14:44 of ice time per game. When Salmonsson was on the ice at 5-on-5, the Jets were outshot 38-16 and outchanced 32-18.
That’s not exactly what Winnipeg wanted to see out of the smooth-skating 21-year-old, but it’s a small sample size – and still far earlier than anyone expected him to make a full-time jump to the NHL. He now heads back to the farm, where he has six assists and an even rating in 17 games this season.
Jets Recall Elias Salomonsson
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.
Jets Recall Five Black Aces
With their AHL affiliate’s season over, the Jets announced they’ve recalled five players from the Manitoba Moose to serve as extras for the remainder of their playoff run. Forwards Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Mason Shaw, and defensemen Dylan Coghlan, Isaak Phillips, and Elias Salomonsson will travel with the Jets and practice with the club while technically being available for game action if necessary.
Jonsson-Fjallby did not appear for Winnipeg in the regular season, his first campaign without an NHL appearance since 2020-21. The 27-year-old Swede was on a one-way deal this year so he still received his league-minimum $775K salary, but the pending unrestricted free agent seems unlikely to remain with the Jets beyond this playoff run as a result. The fifth-round pick of the Capitals back in 2016 struggled to produce with Manitoba this year as well, limited to 12-15–27 in 65 games after posting 30 points in only 41 AHL contests last year. He last saw NHL ice for Winnipeg in the 2024 postseason and has 23 points in 99 career NHL games across three seasons.
Shaw also did not make an NHL appearance in 2024-25. It was his first professional season outside the Wild organization, which drafted him in the fourth round in 2017 but did not tender him a qualifying offer last summer after he recovered from his fourth ACL surgery (twice in each knee). After landing a two-way deal with Winnipeg a few days later, Shaw cleared waivers at the beginning of the season and reported to Manitoba. The 26-year-old posted a 17-20–37 scoring line with 114 PIMs and a -21 rating in his first non-injury plagued season since 2021-22. Winnipeg can retain the 26-year-old’s signing rights with a qualifying offer this summer, but he’s eligible for salary arbitration.
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Coghlan is the only member of the group to appear in a regular-season game for the Jets this year. He skated in six games in December and January after spending the first two months of the season as a healthy scratch. After clearing waivers, he was assigned to Manitoba for the rest of the season in mid-January. While he went without a point in his six big-league games, the two-way righty lit up the minors with a 12-16–28 scoring line in just 36 appearances for the Moose. He’s one year removed from leading the AHL in goals by a defenseman but sits firmly in the No. 10 spot on Winnipeg’s defense depth chart behind names like Ville Heinola, Colin Miller, and Logan Stanley.
Phillips played early in the season with the Blackhawks but didn’t see a recall to the Jets’ roster after they acquired him via trade in January. The 2020 fifth-rounder has 2-10–12 with a -37 rating in 56 career appearances with Chicago over the past four years. A pending RFA with arbitration rights, the young shutdown blueliner had 3-5–8 with a -11 rating in 39 appearances for Manitoba after the trade.
Salomonsson has yet to make his NHL debut but is likely Winnipeg’s top prospect at this point. The 20-year-old rearguard adjusted well in his first season in North America in 2024-25, logging heavy minutes for Manitoba and finishing second among their defensemen in scoring behind Coghlan with 5-22–27 in 53 games. The smooth-skating 6’2″, 185-lb righty is a long shot to make next season’s opening night roster but is likely to at least make his big-league debut within the next 12 months.
World Juniors Notes: Salomonsson, Jiříček, Wolf
Jets prospect and Team Sweden defenseman Elias Salomonsson has been suspended for one round-robin game at the ongoing 2024 World Junior Championship for checking Latvian forward Emīls Veckaktiņš during yesterday’s contest, the IIHF announced.
The incident occurred seconds into the game, meaning Salomonsson took just one shift in his tournament debut. He racked up as many penalty minutes on the play (25) as he did seconds logged in the contest. The IIHF ruled that Salomonsson “recklessly endangered the safety” of Veckaktiņš, resulting in a de facto two-game absence for one of Sweden’s top defenders.
Winnipeg’s 55th overall pick in the 2022 draft is playing in his first and final World Junior tournament, as he’ll age out of eligibility before the 2025 edition. A smooth-skating two-way defender with size, Salomonsson is under contract with Winnipeg but is on loan to Skellefteå AIK of the Swedish Hockey League. He has four assists and a +1 rating in 15 games this season while factoring in on the team’s second and third pairing. He’s been impressive on the pro international stage against other opponents from across Europe, notching a goal and three assists in eight Champions Hockey League games.
Other notes from the ongoing 2024 WJC this morning:
- Team Czechia defenseman Adam Jiříček will reportedly miss the remainder of the tournament with a knee injury sustained in yesterday’s round-robin opening loss against Slovakia. It’s a tough break for the 2024-draft-eligible defender, who is widely viewed as a likely top-15 pick. The 17-year-old younger brother of Blue Jackets standout prospect David Jiříček is also a right-shot defender and, at 16 years old last season, led all defensemen in goals with 12 in the Czech U20 league. Playing with HC Plzeň in the top Czech men’s league this year, the Tipsport Extraliga, he has one assist and a -10 rating in 19 games. Czechia has replaced him on the roster with Tomáš Galvas, another 2024-draft-eligible defenseman, although he’s not projected as a first-round caliber prospect.
- The injury bug has also hit Team Germany, who will be without projected starting goaltender Simon Wolf for the entire tournament, per Rinkside.de’s Chapin Landvogt. Wolf has returned to Germany from Gothenburg with an undisclosed ailment. The 19-year-old has put up good numbers in the Austrian circuit this season, posting a .916 SV% and 2.52 GAA in 13 games with EC Salzburg’s junior club in the second-tier AlpsHL and a .933 SV% in two appearances with the main club in the top-tier ICEHL. 19-year-old Philipp Dietl, who plays for EV Landshut in the second tier of German pro hockey, started today’s tournament opener against Finland.