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Winnipeg Jets Notes: Connor, Morrissey, Schenn, Fleury

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Although the Winnipeg Jets extended a few of their pending unrestricted free agents shortly before the end of the regular season, they still have a few to iron out. One of which is winger Kyle Connor, who’s eligible for an extension on July 1st.

According to Murat Ates of The Athletic, he’s fully expecting the Jets to make Connor’s extension a priority this summer. It would be the second contract extension that the University of Michigan alum has signed in Winnipeg, following the seven-year, $50 million deal that was signed in 2019.

Connor’s next deal is sure to include a substantial raise, considering his impressive average of over a point per game for the last seven years, along with multiple 30- and 40-goal seasons, and two campaigns with over 90 points. With the salary cap continually increasing, the Jets should face no financial issues. The only hiccup could be Connor’s desire to stay in Manitoba.

Other Jets notes:

  • In a report from TSN’s John Lu, defenseman Josh Morrissey won’t require surgery on his injured knee from Game 6 of Winnipeg’s Round Two series against the Dallas Stars. Still, it wouldn’t have mattered to the Jets’ Stanley Cup aspirations, as Morrissey shared he would have been done for the postseason regardless. He’ll be ready in time for training camp in September, at any rate.
  • Morrissey wasn’t the only injured player on Winnipeg’s blue line. According to Ken Wiebe of the Winnipeg Free Press, trade deadline acquisition Luke Schenn had been playing through the playoffs with a fractured rib. Schenn didn’t let the injury affect his physicality, as the veteran blue liner collected 47 hits in nine games after purportedly suffering the fracture.
  • Staying on the Jets’ blue line, team color analyst Mitchell Clinton shared that depth defender Haydn Fleury would love to stay in Winnipeg for the foreseeable future. Fleury, the pending unrestricted free agent, appeared in 37 games for Winnipeg this year, tallying seven assists while averaging 15:56 of ice time per game.

Jets’ Morrissey Injury “Not Good,” Says Coach Scott Arniel

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The Winnipeg Jets not only lost Game 6 against the Dallas Stars, ending their season, but they also lost key defender Josh Morrissey to a potentially significant injury, per a TSN report.

Morrissey was injured in the second period of Game 6 after getting tangled up with Stars forward Mikko Rantanen. His knee appeared to twist awkwardly, and after struggling to get to the bench, Morrissey was helped to the locker room and did not return. Following the game, head coach Scott Arniel said the injury is “not good,” but that the team would learn more upon returning to Canada. Arniel noted that Morrissey’s injury was among a series of obstacles the team had to face against the Stars.

“Again, losing Josh tonight was a big blow. Just a lot of circumstances that happened. Our leadership within our group kept grinding everybody and pushing everybody. It’s growth. It hurts a lot. But we lost to a great team,” Arniel said.

Morrissey enjoyed a fantastic regular season, recording his third consecutive campaign with over 60 points. Typically a model of durability — with at least 78 games played in each of the last four seasons — Morrissey wasn’t as fortunate in the playoffs, where he sustained two separate injuries that forced him to miss time. He was also injured in Game 7 of the first round against the St. Louis Blues after being hit by Oskar Sundqvist, which caused him to miss Game 1 against the Stars.

It remains unclear whether the injury Morrissey suffered against the Stars is related to his earlier ailment, and the full extent has yet to be revealed. If the injury proves to be serious, he’ll have the entire offseason to recover with the goal of being ready for the start of the 2025–26 campaign.

Winnipeg Jets Recall Parker Ford

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Needing additional depth due to the unknown status of a few key players, the Winnipeg Jets have made a small recall from their AHL affiliate. The Jets announced they’ve recalled forward Parker Ford from the Manitoba Moose for tonight’s contest against the Dallas Stars.

Earlier today, head coach Scott Arniel told reporters that forward Mark Scheifele, defensemen Josh Morrissey and Logan Stanley are game-time decisions for tonight’s contest. Scheifele has arguably been the most notable loss, missing Game 5 and Game 6 in the Jets’ opening-round matchup against the St. Louis Blues. He scored two goals and six points in the five games he played.

Ford won’t be tasked with replicating Scheifele’s offensive capabilities, but he’s an interesting plug-and-play option for Winnipeg. The Wakefield, RI native debuted in the NHL this past season in late January, scoring his first goal in his first NHL game.

Appearing in a postseason contest, on the fourth line or not, would be a big step for the former collegiate free agent out of Providence College. He’s only in his second full professional season and is on the heels of an 18-goal, 41-point campaign in 2023-24. Ford’s offensive output understandably decreased with fewer games played, as he scored 14 goals and 21 points in 41 contests for the Moose during the 2024-25 season.

Evening Notes: Utah, Samoskevich, Morrissey, Harley

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The 4-Nations Face-Off championship has full grip of the hockey world’s attention, but there’s still plenty of buzz circling the NHL. The updates start with the Utah Hockey Club, who will be somewhere between buyers and sellers at this year’s Trade Deadline per Cole Bagley of KSL Sports.  Armstrong added that the team would be interested in adding, but many of their weaknesses are addressed by recent additions like Mikhail Sergachev, John Marino, Kevin Stenlund, and Nick DeSimone. That certainly paints the picture of a team eyeing defensive depth, but the return of top-four defender Sean Durzi could mitigate any insecurities.

Durzi has been out of the lineup since October 14th with a shoulder injury that required surgery. He played four games in a top-pair role before falling to injury – recording two points, a plus-two, and over 21 minutes in average ice time. The 26-year-old emerged as a legit top defender in the Los Angeles Kings’ 2022-23 season. He scored 38 points in 72 games and averaged roughly 20 minutes that year – his second NHL season. Durzi continued to improve with the Arizona Coyotes last year, improving to 41 points in 76 games and over 22 minutes of ice time. This year seemed to be a chance to continue growing before it was derailed by injury. How he returns from the prolonged absence, and what impact it has on the Utah blue-line, could go a long way towards determining the Hockey Club’s deadline approach.

Across the NHL, Florida Panthers youngster Mackie Samoskevich has shared he’ll be clear to play when the team returns on Saturday, per NHL.com’s Jameson Olive. Samoskevich was injured on February 6th – his first game back from a three-game absence due to illness. He missed an additional two games with the injury, but found his way back to full health during the 4-Nations break. The 22-year-old Samoskevich has 17 points in 48 games this season – marking the first scoring of his NHL career.

In other news, Team Canada was forced to scratch Josh Morrissey in the 4-Nations championship due to illness. He was replaced by injury fill-in Thomas Harley, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Harley was eligible to play despite not being on the initial lineup as Morrissey’s illness, and Shea Theodore’s upper-body injury left the team without six healthy defenders. Harley scored his first point of the tournament in the finals after playing in both matchups against Team USA. Morrissey also didn’t post any scoring during three tournament games – though he does have an impressive 46 points in 56 NHL games this season.

Jets Activate Dylan Samberg From Injured Reserve

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Jan. 10: Samberg is indeed off IR and will play tonight against Los Angeles, the team said.

Jan. 9: Jets defenseman Dylan Samberg “should be in tomorrow” against the Kings after missing over six weeks with a foot fracture, head coach Scott Arniel told Murat Ates of The Athletic on Thursday. Star blue-liner Josh Morrissey is also expected to play after leaving Tuesday’s win over the Predators with a lower-body injury, said Arniel.

Samberg, 24, will need to come off injured reserve in order to play. Winnipeg has been rolling with an open spot on the active roster for a few days now, so that won’t be a complicated task.

A 2017 second-round pick, Samberg is in his third season as a full-timer on the Jets blue line. He’s seen an increased role compared to last season after Brenden Dillon signed with the Devils in free agency and Nate Schmidt’s contract was bought out, averaging 20:17 of ice time per game as opposed to 15:38 in 2023-24.

The 6’4″, 216-lb lefty has surpassed the departed Dillon and Dylan DeMelo as Winnipeg’s top penalty killer, averaging 2:32 per game while shorthanded. Samberg isn’t a complete non-factor offensively, either, posting three goals and three assists for six points in 21 appearances before his injury and 37 points through his first 177 NHL games with the Jets.

Samberg was stapled to Neal Pionk on Winnipeg’s second pairing before getting hurt, a role he’ll likely return to moving forward. The duo controlled 53.5% of expected goals and outscored opponents 8-4 when on the ice at 5-on-5 earlier this season, per MoneyPuck.

The Jets’ defense has been stretched thin in recent days, so the timing of Samberg’s return couldn’t be better. Haydn Fleury has been out with a lower-body injury for nearly two weeks, while Colin Miller will miss some time after sustaining a fractured larynx against the Red Wings last Saturday.

If Samberg picks up where he left off, he should be in line for a sharp raise this summer. He’s in the final season of a two-year, $2.8MM contract with a $1.4MM cap hit and will become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at season’s end.

Snapshots: Ullmark, Morrissey, LeBreton Flats

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According to the team’s general manager, Steve Staios, rumors of extension negotiations between Linus Ullmark and the Ottawa Senators may have been overblown. TSN’s Bruce Garrioch reported that Staios prefers Ullmark get comfortable with the organization before beginning any discussions.

One would surmise that Staios means more comfortability with on-ice and locker-room culture as Ullmark has already proven himself comfortable with the city by purchasing a home near the arena. Ullmark is in the last year of a four-year, $20MM contract signed with the Boston Bruins in 2021 and is transitioning to an organization that doesn’t have a similar recent track record of success.

The Senators are hoping to avoid a contract similar to that of Joonas Korpisalo whom the team signed to a five-year agreement last offseason after one solid year split between the Columbus Blue Jackets and Los Angeles Kings. Ullmark has certainly generated more credibility than Korpisalo but the Senators would still do well by taking their time. The 2022-23 Vezina Trophy winner has all season to determine if he is willing to commit to the Senators organization long-term in what might be his last big payday.

Other happenings around the league:

  • Shawn P. Roarke argued the 2024-25 Norris Trophy winner to be Winnipeg Jets’ defenseman Josh Morrissey in a recent debate on NHL.com. It’s taken nearly seven years for Morrissey to reach his potential but it’s now tough to argue he isn’t one of the league’s top blue-liners. He’s scored 26 goals and 145 points in his last 159 games in Winnipeg including finishing in the top-10 in Norris voting each season. Morrissey has averaged a 91.2 on-ice save percentage in all situations despite his offensive output and has proven exceptional on both sides of the puck.
  • Garrioch reported in a recent article that talks are heating up between the Senators organization and the National Capital Commission for an arena deal at the LeBreton Flats location. Chief executive officer and team president Cyril Leeder recently spoke to season ticket holders saying, “We did meet with the NCC this week and we made a little bit of progress so we’ll see. We’re still talking. As I said last week, we’re hopeful we’ll find common ground, but we’ve got less than three weeks now to get there“. The Senators are certain to be more aggressive leading up to the arbitrary September 20th deadline as they look to build an arena for the first time since 1996.

2024 King Clancy Trophy Nominees Announced

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Today, the NHL announced the 32 nominees for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy, annually presented to “the player who best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community.”

Each team submitted their nominee; they are as follows:

Anaheim Ducks: Cam Fowler
Arizona Coyotes: Nick Bjugstad
Boston Bruins: Linus Ullmark
Buffalo Sabres: Alex Tuch
Calgary Flames: Andrew Mangiapane
Carolina Hurricanes: Jaccob Slavin
Chicago Blackhawks: Connor Murphy
Colorado Avalanche: Cale Makar
Columbus Blue Jackets: Zach Werenski
Dallas Stars: Jake Oettinger
Detroit Red Wings: Dylan Larkin
Edmonton Oilers: Darnell Nurse
Florida Panthers: Aleksander Barkov
Los Angeles Kings: Kevin Fiala
Minnesota Wild: Marc-Andre Fleury
Montreal Canadiens: Nick Suzuki
Nashville Predators: Roman Josi
New Jersey Devils: Jack Hughes
New York Islanders: Anders Lee
New York Rangers: Jacob Trouba
Ottawa Senators: Brady Tkachuk
Philadelphia Flyers: Scott Laughton
Pittsburgh Penguins: Bryan Rust
San Jose Sharks: Luke Kunin
Seattle Kraken: Jaden Schwartz
St. Louis Blues: Brayden Schenn
Tampa Bay Lightning: Nick Paul
Toronto Maple Leafs: Auston Matthews
Vancouver Canucks: Quinn Hughes
Vegas Golden Knights: Jack Eichel
Washington Capitals: Tom Wilson
Winnipeg Jets: Josh Morrissey

Unlike most awards which are voted on by the players or media, the winner of this award is selected by a committee consisting of Commissioner Gary Bettman and former winners of the King Clancy Memorial Trophy and the NHL Foundation Player Award, one that was awarded from 1997-98 through 2016-17.

Last year’s winner was Calgary’s Mikael Backlund.  The winner for this season will be revealed in late June.

Pacific Notes: Bellemare, Danault, Turcotte, Pospisil

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Close to reaching a milestone of playing in 700 regular season games at the NHL level, it appears that Seattle Kraken forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare does not want to stop there. In an article from Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times, Bellemare indicated that even if he is unable to reach 700 this season with the Kraken, he would be content with reaching it next year.

In the article, Bellemare was quoted as saying, “So, I feel like it’s more the people that know me and maybe have an idea about my path and the work and everything. But at the end of the day, I’m not planning on retiring, so if it doesn’t happen this year, it will be at another point. And if it takes me 80 more games to pick up whatever’s left it will be what it is“.

Even if Bellemare does not hold the benchmark in high regard, it is quite a testament to his work ethic, as he originally came into the league during the 2014-15 season to the Philadelphia Flyers organization as a free agent. Throughout his 10 years in the league, Bellemare has suited up for the Flyers, Kraken, Colorado Avalanche, Vegas Golden Knights, and Tampa Bay Lightning, earning a total of $10.525MM up to this point in his career.

Other Pacific notes:

  • In an update from Eric Stephens of The Athletic, the Los Angeles Kings will be receiving center Phillip Danault back into the lineup this evening. Usually one of the more consistently healthy players in the league, Danault went down with an upper-body injury on March 28th and has missed the last four games for the Kings. Included in the report was an update on injured Los Angeles forward Alex Turcotte, who was spotted back at practice in a non-contact jersey this morning. Compared to Danault, Turcotte has been out much longer for the Kings, as he has not appeared in a contest since March 19th due to an upper-body injury.
  • In the Calgary Flames most recent matchup against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night, forward Martin Pospisil delivered a check to Jets’ defenseman Josh Morrissey, with Pospisil’s elbow appearing to make contact with Morrissey’s chin. Pospisil was ejected based on the play; however, it does not appear that the league will be giving him supplemental discipline (X Link). Earlier this year, Pospisil hit Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn from behind and was suspended for three games by the Department of Player Safety.

Snapshots: Kraken, Woll, Svechnikov, Morrissey

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Vince Dunn is slated to return to the Seattle Kraken lineup on Wednesday, while Matthew Beniers is expected to remain out, team radio host Mike Benton relays. Both players have missed the last four games, and their absences have been felt – with Seattle losing all four and getting outscored 15-5.

Dunn lost the team’s leading scorer title to Oliver Bjorkstrand during his absences, with Bjorkstrand’s 36 points in 46 games cresting Dunn’s 35 points in 42 games. The 27-year-old Dunn still ranks 11th among the league’s defenders in scoring, on pace for a career-high 65 points in 78 games if he maintains this pace through the rest of the season – a mark that would just beat out the 64 points in 81 games he scored last season.

Hakstol also shared that goaltender Philipp Grubauer’s availability would be gauged in Wednesday night’s warmups. Grubauer has been out since December 9th with a lower-body injury. He’s managed five wins and a .884 save percentage in the 17 games he’s managed to appear in this season.

Other notes from around the league:

  • Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe told reporters including David Alter of Sports Illustrated that goaltender Joseph Woll will rejoin the team’s practices when they return from the All-Star break. Woll has been out since December 7th with an ankle injury. He was wrapped up in a race for Toronto’s starting position prior to his injury, setting eight wins and a team-leading .916 save percentage through 15 games. Woll will continue to make his case as an everyday NHLer when he returns, after entering the season with just 11 career games.
  • Andrei Svechnikov will miss the Carolina Hurricanes’ Wednesday night game with an upper-body injury, per team reporter Walt Ruff. Svechnikov has only appeared in 29 of Carolina’s 45 games this season but he ranks third on the team in scoring with 30 points, including 16 points over his last 10 games.
  • Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey left tonight’s game with a lower-body injury and will not return, per a team announcement. While he hasn’t been able to score at the same level as a year ago when he had 76 points in 78 games to finish fifth in Norris Trophy voting, he entered tonight with 33 points in 45 contests to lead all Winnipeg blueliners in scoring by 15 points over teammate Neal Pionk.

Nikolaj Ehlers Skating As He Waits For Medical Clearance

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TSN’s John Lu is reporting that winger Nikolaj Ehlers is skating with the Winnipeg Jets healthy scratches while he waits to see if he can get a medical clearance to return. The 27-year-old suffered an upper body injury in a game against the Minnesota Wild back on April 11th and hasn’t played since.

The Denmark native missed a great deal of the regular season with multiple injuries including a sports hernia that required surgery. He played the first two games of the regular season and then missed nearly three months before returning in January.

Ehlers was productive this season when healthy, he had 12 goals and 38 points in 45 games despite playing the lowest average ice time of his entire eight-year career. He’d been on a heater in the games leading up to his injury, having scored seven points in the five games prior to getting hurt.

Ehlers will be assessed on Monday while he waits to see if he can get that medical clearance to return to the Jets lineup. Winnipeg has battled hard in their series with the Vegas Golden Knights, including a massive comeback that resulted in an overtime loss in game three. They’ve already lost defenseman Josh Morrissey, and should Ehlers remain out, the underdog Jets will have an even bigger hill to climb if they want to survive the first round.

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