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Kyle Connor

Jets Notes: Perfetti, Penalty Kill, Ehlers

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TSN’s John Lu is reporting that recently re-signed forward Cole Perfetti will start the season playing wing on the Winnipeg Jets second line. Perfetti has played center in the past but will get an opportunity to try out the wing which could open him up to more opportunities to use his playmaking. Perfetti isn’t the quickest skater, which is something that could hold him back from being a top-six center in the NHL this season, along with his inconsistency thus far in the NHL.

A top-six opportunity on the wing could be exactly what the 22-year-old Perfetti needs as his versatility can be put on full display. Perfetti’s playmaking and hockey sense are both high end and if he can mesh with his second-line teammates, he will most certainly top the career-high 38 points he had last season.

In other Jets notes:

  • Scott Billick of The Winnipeg Sun is reporting that Jets center Mark Scheifele and winger Kyle Connor will be seeing time this season on the Jets penalty kill. Scott Arniel told the media that the two players are excited about the additional work which could open them up to an opportunity to use their strong hockey sense when shorthanded. The Jets are hardly the first team to use this strategy as the Edmonton Oilers used Connor McDavid on the penalty kill during the 2022-23 season with strong results. Winnipeg has used Connor on the PK in the past during the 2021-22 season with good numbers and Scheifele was also a regular contributor up until 2019.
  • Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers is reportedly learning a new role on Winnipeg’s power play (as per Scott Billick of The Winnipeg Sun). Ehlers has been working in the high slot in practice and has been studying Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho as well as the now-retired Patrice Bergeron. This season is a big one for the 28-year-old as he is in the final year of his seven-year $42MM contract and will be an unrestricted free agent next July. His name has popped up in trade rumors for several years now, but it appears he is embracing the summer changes in Winnipeg as he gets set for his 10th season with the Jets.

List Of Players Getting Trade Protection On July 1st

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In the current Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NHL and NHLPA, the league players can procure three types of No-Move Clauses in their contracts. The only stipulations to these clauses are that the player in question must be 27 years of age or older and must have accrued seven years of service time at the NHL level. The three types of No-Move Clauses are as follows: No Movement Clause (NMC), No Trade Clause (NTC), and Modified NMC or NTC.

Per the current CBA, an NMC means that a player cannot be waived, assigned to minors, or traded without their consent, and they also must be protected in the event of an Expansion Draft. An NTC is straightforward — giving the player protection from being traded without their approval. Lastly, a modified NMC or NTC sets an arbitrary number of teams and a time frame when a player can use this protection. In just over a week, an assortment of players will receive trade protection on their current contracts, and CapFriendly has broken it down.

 

No Movement Clauses
D Charlie McAvoy (Boston)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina)
D Devon Toews (Colorado)
F Roope Hintz (Dallas)
D Gustav Forsling (Florida)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota)
F Joel Eriksson Ek (Minnesota)
F Jesper Bratt (New Jersey)
F Timo Meier (New Jersey)
G Ilya Sorokin (NY Islanders)
F Pierre-Luc Dubois (Washington)

No Trade Clauses
F Ross Colton (Colorado)
D Nick Seeler (Philadelphia)
D Vince Dunn (Seattle)
F Clayton Keller (Utah)
D Erik Cernak (Tampa Bay)
D Mikhail Sergachev (Tampa Bay)

Modified No Trade Clauses
F Jordan Greenway (Buffalo) – eight-team no-trade list
F Tage Thompson (Buffal0) – five-team no-trade list
D Rasmus Andersson (Calgary) – six-team no-trade list
D Samuel Girard (Colorado) – nine-team no-trade list
F Miles Wood (Colorado) – six-team no-trade list
F Alex DeBrincat (Detroit) – 16-team no-trade list
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles) – 10-team no-trade list
F Nico Hischier (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
D John Marino (New Jersey) – eight-team no-trade list
D Jonas Siegenthaler (New Jersey) – 10-team no-trade list
F Mathew Barzal (NY Islanders) – 22-team no-trade list
D Thomas Chabot (Ottawa) – 10-team no-trade list
F Tanner Jeannot (Tampa Bay) – 16-team no-trade list
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg) – 10-team no-trade list

Winnipeg Jets Activate Kyle Connor, Place Mark Scheifele On IR

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Before their game tonight against the New York Islanders, the Winnipeg Jets are trading in one star forward for another. Per a team announcement, the team has activated forward Kyle Connor off of injured reserve, and subsequently placed Mark Scheifele on the injured reserve, retroactive to January 12th.

Connor’s return will come after missing just over a month of action for the Jets, after suffering a knee injury in the team’s December 10th game against the Anaheim Ducks. However, even without their top scorer in the lineup, Winnipeg has amassed an impressive 12-2-2 record since Connor’s original injury took place and have vaulted themselves into first place in the hotly contested Central Division.

Before Connor’s placement on the injured reserve, he was on pace for a personal best in goal-scoring to date, putting up 17 goals in 26 games. Incredibly, with only three of those goals coming on the Jets’ powerplay, Connor still sits tied for 16th in the NHL in even-strength goals, which puts him on par with the likes of Travis Konecny, Connor Bedard, and Robert Thomas with about half as many games played.

Nevertheless, the news of Connor’s return also bears some negative aspects, as Scheifele will now find himself on the injured reserve. Thankfully, since the placement is retroactive to January 12th, Scheifele may only miss one game for Winnipeg, and be eligible to return against the Ottawa Senators this Saturday.

By all accounts, it does not appear that Scheifele’s injury is serious, as it’s only been reported he is dealing with a lower-body injury from the team’s game last week against the Chicago Blackhawks. In the last 15 games that Connor has missed, Scheifele has picked up a lot of the offensive slack, scoring five goals and 13 points in that stretch of games.

Central Notes: Connor, Girard, Lehkonen, Reichel

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Winnipeg Jets’ leading goal-scorer Kyle Connor is making progress in his return from a knee injury, returning to the Jets’ practices in a no-contact jersey. The winger has been out for 20 days but still leads Winnipeg with 17 goals scored across 26 games, a mark tied for 11th in the NHL – despite Connor playing in at least five games fewer than any other player in the top 20. Winnipeg has leaned even heavier into Mark Scheifele in Connor’s absence, with the recently-extended centerman scoring eight points in the seven games that Connor has missed. The Jets have proven surprisingly successful for a team missing their top goal-scorer, setting a 4-1-2 record without Connor. And while that’s a great sign for optimism, the Jets were on a four-game winning streak leading up to Connor’s injury, and had a five-game winning streak just a few games prior. They will look to get back on that winning run as Connor continues to progress back to play.

Other notes from around the Central Division:

  • Samuel Girard is set to return to the Colorado Avalanche lineup on Sunday, after missing the team’s last 20 games for personal reasons. It was known that Girard would return soon, as the Avalanche anticipate the return of an option that averages over 20 minutes a night for the team. Girard has scored four goals in 15 games this season.
  • Artturi Lehkonen has begun taking full practices with the Avalanche, after working independently for much of the week. Lehkonen is working back from a scary-looking neck injury that’s held him out since late-November. Lehkonen has scored eight points in 12 games this season. And while Lehkonen returned, Ross Colton did not skate on Saturday.
  • Lukas Reichel could be set to lose a significant amount of money on his first NHL contract after his entry-level deal, per The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus, who shares that the promising 21-year-old was set for a comfy pay raise from his entry-level contract prior to the season, but now may only receive a cheap qualifying offer as a restricted-free agent after a season of struggles. Reichel has managed just eight points through 34 games this season and currently sits with a -19. And while Reichel continues to struggle, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson and head coach Luke Richardson both told Lazerus that Reichel has proven he’s an NHL talent, and that a move to the AHL isn’t in the cards yet.

Jets Place Kyle Connor On IR, Recall Dominic Toninato

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The Winnipeg Jets have placed top-scoring forward Kyle Connor on injured reserve with a knee injury. It was recently reported that Connor would be out for six to eight weeks, with the winger slated to undergo an MRI to discover the extent of his injury. Winnipeg has used an emergency recall to bring Dominic Toninato up to the NHL roster in light of Connor’s move to IR.

Connor has been a major focal piece of Winnipeg’s early season, with the winger tied for fourth in goals with 17 in 26 games. He’s also managed 11 assists, bringing him up to a team-high 28 points. With the 27-year-old out for an extended period, the Jets will need to look towards players like Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers to carry additional weight. The team has also benefited from NHL sophomore Cole Perfetti, who currently has nine goals and 19 points in 27 games.

Toninato will serve as additional forward depth for the club, after scoring six points through his first nine AHL games this season. The 29-year-old centerman is in his fourth season with the Jets organization, serving as a go-to extra forward for the team. He appeared in one full season with the Jets in 2021-22, recording 14 points and 22 penalty minutes in 77 games. It was the first full season of Toninato’s career, after making his debut in the 2017-18 season. He’s also appeared in 64 games with Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moose, scoring 24 goals and 45 points with the club. Toninato was originally drafted in the fifth round of the 2012 NHL Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs and is appearing with his third NHL franchise in Winnipeg.

Kyle Connor Reportedly Out Long-Term

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After a knee-on-knee collision between Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets and Ryan Strome of the Anaheim Ducks, it was reported that Connor would get an MRI on his knee to view the extent of the injury. Although there is still some evaluation left to take place, Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press is reporting that an optimistic timeline for Connor will be around six to eight weeks.

During the play in question, Connor was coming into the slot early in the second period, attempting a backhand shot on Anaheim goaltender, John Gibson. After the shot was made, although both of his feet were planted, Strome’s right leg came into contact with Connor’s right leg, causing Connor to immediately drop to the ice in pain.

In a brief interaction with the media this morning, head coach of the Jets, Rick Bowness, relayed on the news that Connor would be returning to Winnipeg to be re-evaluated by team doctors at their facilities, and is guaranteed to be out of the lineup both today and tomorrow. At this point, the Jets have not given any official word about the severity of Connor’s injury, nor his eventual recovery timeline.

It is a tough blow for Winnipeg to lose their top goal-scorer for any length of the season, given that with 17 goals on the season already, Connor has accounted for 20% of all goals scored for the Jets this season. Over his last seven seasons, including this year, Connor has been one of if not the best offensive players for Winnipeg, scoring 224 goals and 447 points in 472 games.

Without any other player on the team reaching the double-digit goal total at this point in the season, the Jets will likely generate scoring by committee moving forward. However, although his goal-scoring is down this season, Mark Scheifele will be heavily relied upon in his absence to put the puck in the net.

If the timeline presented by McIntyre is accurate, Connor will miss between nine and 16 games, as the Jets will continue to battle for playoff positioning in the Central Division with the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars. Fortunately for Winnipeg, only six of those games will be against opponents currently within the playoff picture, as they will have two games against the Chicago Blackhawks as well as another two games against the San Jose Sharks during that stretch.

Nevertheless, heading into the trade season, the injury to Connor may give the Jets more motivation to acquire more goal-scoring to inject into their lineup. Even with the fourth-highest goal-scorer in the NHL this season, the Jets are a middle-of-the-pack team in terms of offense, currently sitting at 14th in the league in GF/G.

Snapshots: Kuzmenko, Strome, Connor, Pearson, Capitals Arena

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It has been a rough start to Andrei Kuzmenko’s sophomore season.  The 27-year-old had 39 goals last season but has been limited to just four in his first 25 games of the year.  He has been a healthy scratch at times and has lined up recently on the fourth line as well, fueling trade speculation.  Speaking with Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre, Canucks president Jim Rutherford indicated that they’re keeping an open mind with Kuzmenko and not locking themselves into just one answer when asked about their willingness to let the winger play his way out of his struggles.  Kuzmenko is in the first season of a two-year contract that carries a $5.5MM AAV; Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported over the weekend (video link) that teams had started calling Vancouver to gauge Kuzmenko’s availability.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • There will be no supplemental discipline coming to Ducks center Ryan Strome from his hit on Jets winger Kyle Connor, reports Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press (Twitter link). Strome received a major penalty on the play, one that was upheld after review.  Meanwhile, Connor was slated to undergo an MRI today to determine the extent of the injury.  Connor is off to a great start to his season with 17 goals and 11 assists in 26 games, leading Winnipeg in scoring while being tied for fourth in the NHL in goals.
  • Following their loss to Nashville last night, the Canadiens announced that winger Tanner Pearson will miss the next four to six weeks with an upper-body injury that was sustained on Saturday against Buffalo. The 31-year-old is in his first season with Montreal after missing almost of all 2022-23 with a hand injury that required several surgeries.  Pearson has four goals and four assists in 27 games so far this year.
  • A group of Virginia state lawmakers voted Monday for a deal that would bring the Capitals and NBA Wizards to a new arena in Northern Virginia, report Teo Armus, Laura Vozzella, Sam Fortier, and Gregory S. Schneider of the Washington Post. If the plan received approval from the General Assembly and other local officials, the two teams would play in an arena in Alexandria’s Potomac Yard neighborhood.  Monumental Sports and Entertainment, the group that owns the Caps and Wizards, would lease the new facility under this plan.  Capital One Arena, where the team plays now, is one of the older buildings in the NHL having been built back in 1997.

Morning Notes: Eklund, Connor, Hutton

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Top San Jose Sharks youngster William Eklund was held out of the team’s Sunday night shootout-loss versus the Vegas Golden Knights with a lower-body injury. No further update was provided about the 21-year-old’s injury.

Eklund narrowly avoids the ‘rookie’ title this season, as playing more than six games in each of the last two seasons removes his eligibility. Regardless, he’s performed well for the Sharks this season, netting six goals and 13 points in 27 games. Four of these points have come in just his last two games – both overtime wins. The 21-year-old has managed this production while serving in a second-line role on the resurging Sharks. Eklund would be tied for seventh in rookie scoring with Philadelphia’s Bobby Brink, if he were eligible.

Eklund has totaled 44 career NHL games since making his debut in 2021-22. He’s managed eight goals, 20 points, and 20 penalty minutes in that span, also recording a career -16. The Sharks drafted Eklund seventh overall in the 2021 NHL Draft,

 

Other notes from around the league:

Kyle Connor Wins 2022 Lady Byng Trophy

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Winnipeg Jets winger Kyle Connor is the recipient of the 2022 Lady Byng Trophy, given “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.” The other finalists were Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes (who was last year’s winner) and Jared Spurgeon of the Minnesota Wild, who was a finalist last season as well.

Connor, who had just 12 penalty minutes last season, registered only four this year, an incredible number when one considers the fact that Connor played in 79 games and averaged nearly 22 minutes of ice time per game. Picking up a few minor penalties over the course of a season thanks to an errant stick or a lapse of judgment on a clearance that leads to a puck over the glass is something that should be expected of any player. So the fact that Connor only registered four minutes in the box despite playing as much hockey as he did is extremely impressive. Connor received 122 first-place votes, dwarfing Slavin’s second-place mark of 31 and Spurgeon’s six first-place votes, an indication of just how widespread the appreciation for Connor’s game was.

Beyond just on-ice character, the Lady Byng is about combining sportsmanship with high-end play. Connor did just that, smashing his career highs in goals and points to post 47 goals and 93 points, which led the Jets in each category. It can sometimes be a challenge for voters to balance how to value a player’s sportsmanship with their on-ice play, but in the case of Connor there could not have been such difficulty, as he was indisputably brilliant in both respects.

After Connor, Spurgeon, and Slavin, the top-five vote-getters were rounded out by Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner, who got two first-place votes, and New York Rangers center Mika Zibanejad, who did not get a first-place vote but got 17 second-place votes. Also of note is Devils star Jack Hughes, who actually placed fourth in terms of first-place voting, landing five such nods despite missing a bulk of the season. Hughes did not register a penalty minute this season, and a Lady Byng win could definitely come his way in the future.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

2022 Lady Byng Finalists Announced

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The NHL continues its daily revealing of award finalists and today’s is the Lady Byng Memorial Trophy.  The award is voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association and is given “to the player adjudged to have exhibited the best type of sportsmanship and gentlemanly conduct combined with a high standard of playing ability.”

This year’s finalists are Kyle Connor of the Winnipeg Jets, Jared Spurgeon of the Minnesota Wild, and Jaccob Slavin of the Carolina Hurricanes.

Connor, a finalist for the first time, put together an incredible season even as the Jets struggled to take off. The 25-year-old sniper potted 47 goals and 93 points in 79 games, and, perhaps most impressively, recorded just four minutes in penalties. Two minutes in November for slashing, and two minutes in March for hooking were the only times Connor was forced to spend in the sin bin, an eye-popping feat given he played nearly 22 minutes a night for Winnipeg.

If the Winnipeg forward wants to win, though, he’ll have to go through a pair of defensemen that are certainly not new to the award.

Spurgeon, last year’s runner-up, put together another season that seems to boggle the mind, recording just ten penalty minutes despite playing more than 21 minutes a night on defense. In 772 NHL games, Spurgeon has amassed just 130 penalty minutes, and has been nominated for the Byng on eight different occasions. Add in his ten-goal, 40-point campaign, and you certainly have a player who combined gentlemanly conduct and a high standard of play during the regular season. Remember, those who want to point out his playoff cross-check, that this voting is done before the postseason commences.

Slavin, last year’s winner after taking just two minutes in penalties all season, decided to goon-it-up this year with a total of ten in 79 games. The Hurricanes defenseman is the perfect blend of mobility, positioning, and stick checking ability, ending countless plays without ever losing ground. He reached a new high in points with 42, while once again logging more than 23 minutes a night for Carolina. Nominated for the Lady Byng in each of the last five seasons, he could become the first player to win the award in consecutive years since Martin St. Louis.

Who should win the 2022 Lady Byng?
Kyle Connor 51.36% (265 votes)
Jared Spurgeon 25.58% (132 votes)
Jaccob Slavin 23.06% (119 votes)
Total Votes: 516

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