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Kyle Connor

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.

Kyle Connor, Nate Schmidt Clear COVID Protocol

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April 4: Both Connor and Schmidt have cleared the protocol and re-joined the Jets at practice today, after missing three games. Unfortunately, the team lost two of those and now sits six points behind the Vegas Golden Knights for the final wild card position.

March 30: The Winnipeg Jets will not have Kyle Connor or Nate Schmidt in the lineup for the next few games, as they have both tested positive for coronavirus and have entered the league’s COVID-19 protocol. Not only will they miss tonight’s match against the Buffalo Sabres, but Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press reports that they will also have to remain in the U.S. for the next five days, while the Jets head to Toronto and then back to Winnipeg.

It’s brutal timing for the Jets, who have won seven of their past ten games and are just three points behind the Dallas Stars for the final wild card spot. They have played 67 games, meaning every single one is extremely important from here on out, and losing Connor is a huge blow. The 25-year-old forward has scored 41 goals and 82 points in 67 games, setting new career highs in both categories. That includes 18 points in that recent ten-game stretch, carrying the offensive load for the Jets in recent weeks.

While losing Connor is probably the worst thing that could happen, losing Schmidt is also a substantial blow to the Jets. The 30-year-old leads all Winnipeg defensemen with 31 points in 66 games, and is still averaging more than 20 minutes a night (though that number has dropped recently). Losing both could very well be a death sentence for the Jets’ season, if other players aren’t able to step up and secure some points in the next three games.

Interestingly enough, even though they sold Andrew Copp at the deadline, the Jets have actually brought in some forward depth of late. Mason Appleton, Morgan Barron, and Zach Sanford were all acquired, giving them some more options that will hopefully emerge over the next few games.

NHL Announces Player Assignments For Skills Competition

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The NHL All-Star Skills competition will take place tomorrow night in Las Vegas, and the league has announced ahead of time which players will participate in which events. The player assignments for the seven events are as follows:

Fastest Skater

Chris Kreider, NYR
Adrian Kempe, LAK
Kyle Connor, WPG
Evgeny Kuznetsov, WSH
Jordan Kyrou, STL
Dylan Larkin, DET
Cale Makar, COL
Connor McDavid, EDM           

Save Streak

Jack Campbell, TOR
Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL
Frederik Andersen, CAR
Tristan Jarry, PIT
Cam Talbot, MIN
Juuse Saros, NSH
Thatcher Demko, VAN
John Gibson, ANA

Fountain Face-Off

Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA
Claude Giroux, PHI
Jordan Eberle, SEA
Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson
Roman Josi, NSH
Nick Suzuki, MTL
Zach Werenski, CBJ
Mark Stone, VGK

Hardest Shot

Adam Pelech, NYI
Timo Meier, SJS
Victor Hedman, TBL
Tom Wilson, WSH

Breakaway Challenge

Goalies: Manon Rhéaume & Wyatt Russell

Kirill Kaprizov, MIN
Trevor Zegras, ANA
Jack Hughes, NJD
Alex DeBrincat, CHI
Alex Pietrangelo, VGK

Las Vegas NHL 21 in ’22

Nazem Kadri, COL
Auston Matthews, TOR
Joe Pavelski, DAL
Steven Stamkos, TBL
Brady Tkachuk, OTT

Accuracy Shooting

Leon Draisaitl, EDM
Clayton Keller, ARI
Rasmus Dahlin, BUF
Sebastian Aho, CAR
Jake Guentzel, PIT
Troy Terry, ANA
Johnny Gaudreau, CGY
Patrice Bergeron, BOS
Jonathan Marchessault, VGK

Two new events, the Fountain Face-Off and 21 in ’22 will be held outside in the Bellagio fountain and Las Vegas strip respectively. Individual winners of each event will earn $30,000.

2022 NHL All-Star Game Rosters Revealed

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Jan 26: After Batherson was injured last night, the league has announced that Brady Tkachuk will replace him and be the Senators’ representative.

Jan 13: During a live reveal on ESPN’s SportsCenter program in the United States, the National Hockey League unveiled their four divisional rosters for the 2022 NHL All-Star Game in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Eight skaters and two goalies were announced for each team, leaving one skater spot open for each division. That last spot will once again be decided by a fan vote, who they can select by voting at NHL.com/LastMenIn.

The head coaches of each team were announced earlier, decided by the teams in first place (by points percentage) in their division on New Years Day. Florida’s Andrew Brunette heads the Atlantic Division, Carolina’s Rod Brind’Amour will coach the Metropolitan Division, Colorado’s Jared Bednar is the bench boss for the Central Division, and Vegas’ Peter DeBoer will serve as the Pacific Division’s coach.

Below are the full rosters for each division.

Atlantic Division

F Auston Matthews “C” (Toronto Maple Leafs)
F Drake Batherson (Ottawa Senators)
F Patrice Bergeron (Boston Bruins)
F Jonathan Huberdeau (Florida Panthers)
F Dylan Larkin (Detroit Red Wings)
F Nick Suzuki (Montreal Canadiens)
D Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres)
D Victor Hedman (Tampa Bay Lightning)
G Jack Campbell (Toronto Maple Leafs)
G Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Metropolitan Division

F Alex Ovechkin “C” (Washington Capitals)
F Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes)
F Claude Giroux (Philadelphia Flyers)
F Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils)
F Chris Kreider (New York Rangers)
D Adam Fox (New York Rangers)
D Adam Pelech (New York Islanders)
D Zach Werenski (Columbus Blue Jackets)
G Frederik Andersen (Carolina Hurricanes)
G Tristan Jarry (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Central Division

F Nathan MacKinnon “C” (Colorado Avalanche)
F Kyle Connor (Winnipeg Jets)
F Alex DeBrincat (Chicago Blackhawks)
F Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild)
F Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes)
F Jordan Kyrou (St. Louis Blues)
F Joe Pavelski (Dallas Stars)
D Cale Makar (Colorado Avalanche)
G Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators)
G Cam Talbot (Minnesota Wild)

Pacific Division

F Connor McDavid “C” (Edmonton Oilers)
F Leon Draisaitl (Edmonton Oilers)
F Jordan Eberle (Seattle Kraken)
F Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary Flames)
F Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles Kings)
F Timo Meier (San Jose Sharks)
F Mark Stone (Vegas Golden Knights)
D Alex Pietrangelo (Vegas Golden Knights)
G Thatcher Demko (Vancouver Canucks)
G John Gibson (Anaheim Ducks)

Snapshots: Wilson, Three Stars, Cash

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Last year, Colin Wilson opened up in a piece for The Players’ Tribune, explaining that he had been dealing with untreated obsessive-compulsive disorder throughout his career. He was trying to educate young players on the importance of mental health and the risks that a professional career brought him.

Today, Wilson released an addendum titled “Addiction” in which he fully admits his addiction to drugs, use of Ambien and cocaine, and hopes to spread increased awareness following the recent fentanyl-contributed death of former NHL forward Jimmy Hayes. Wilson’s new piece is a worthwhile–if difficult–read for all sports fans.

  • The league has announced the Three Stars for last week, with Kyle Connor taking home top spot after racking up five goals and eight points in three games. The point total was the same for Connor McDavid, who was the week’s second star, while Ilya Sorokin posted an outstanding .971 save percentage with two shutouts to earn third place. Sorokin was the first Islanders’ goaltender to post shutouts in consecutive days as he held the fort while Semyon Varlamov recovered from injury.
  • One of the greatest sled hockey players of all time has announced his retirement, as Steve Cash will end his playing days after 16 seasons in goal for the U.S. National Team. Cash has three Paralympic Winter Games gold medals (and a bronze), eight World Championship gold medals, and lost just 16 games in regulation during his more than 150 starts for Team USA.

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