- As expected, Arvid Holm has been returned to the minor leagues by the Winnipeg Jets, meaning Connor Hellebuyck has recovered enough from his illness to return to action. In his absence, David Rittich stopped 35 of 36 shots in a win over the Ottawa Senators, raising his save percentage to .909 on the year – his highest since 2018-19.
Jets Rumors
Blake Wheeler Placed On Injured Reserve; Arvid Holm Recalled
11:30am: Breathe, Jets fans. Hellebuyck is just dealing with a non-COVID illness and though he is not playing tonight, is expected to travel with Winnipeg to Boston and Washington.
9:15am: The Winnipeg Jets have moved Blake Wheeler to injured reserve following his groin surgery and recalled Arvid Holm under emergency conditions. That would suggest that one of the team’s regular goaltenders is injured (or at least unavailable), though no details have emerged yet.
Wheeler is expected to miss at least a month, hitting pause on a season that was going rather well for the former Jets captain. The 36-year-old winger had 26 points in his first 29 games, including nine goals. It took Wheeler 47 games to hit the nine-goal mark last season.
Holm, 24, has been excellent for the Manitoba Moose this season, posting a .923 save percentage in 12 appearances. No matter his success, though, Jets fans will be holding their breath until they find out if Connor Hellebuyck is okay. The veteran goaltender has been outstanding this year, and leads the league in games played, shots against, saves, and shutouts.
His .928 save percentage not only has him in the running for the Vezina but also the Hart, if the season ended today.
Hellebuyck played on Saturday and stopped 22 of 23 shots, while David Rittich started on Sunday and lost after giving up three goals on 34 shots.
Jets Issue Injury Updates On Blake Wheeler And Nate Schmidt
The Jets are off to a strong start to their season, entering tonight’s game in Vancouver with a 19-9-1 record despite missing several regulars due to injuries. That list has now grown as head coach Rick Bowness told reporters, including Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press (Twitter link) that winger Blake Wheeler will miss at least a month after undergoing groin surgery. Meanwhile, defenseman Nate Schmidt, who went on injured reserve yesterday, will be out for four to six weeks.
Wheeler had an interesting start to his season as the captaincy was taken away from him while getting off to a bit of a quiet start. However, the 36-year-old has been quite productive over the last four weeks, notching 16 points in his last 13 games, bringing him up to a tie for fourth in team scoring.
All of a sudden, the Jets find themselves without their top three right wingers. Nikolaj Ehlers has missed all of two games this season, Mason Appleton has been out since mid-November, and now Wheeler will be out for a little while. None of these injuries are season-ending so they can’t create any LTIR space for themselves and their cap space is starting to dwindle as a result of their injury-associated recalls so GM Kevin Cheveldayoff will be in tough to try to shore things up in the short-term.
As for Schmidt, he has cleared concussion protocol and is believed to be dealing with a shoulder issue. The 31-year-old has six points in 29 games so far this season while he’s averaging just shy of 20 minutes a night. He joins Logan Stanley as blueliners that are banged up while Ville Heinola has missed four straight games due to illness.
Nate Schmidt Placed On Injured Reserve
The Winnipeg Jets have quickly moved Nate Schmidt to injured reserve after he suffered an upper-body injury last night. After the game, head coach Rick Bowness confirmed to Murat Ates of The Athletic that Schmidt had been placed in the concussion protocol. In his place, the team has recalled Ville Heinola under emergency conditions.
Schmidt took a huge hit from Tanner Jeannot and stayed down, while the Nashville Predators forward did not receive a penalty on the play. With him exiting after just 5:30, the Jets leaned heavily on the trio of Josh Morrissey, Neal Pionk, and Brenden Dillon, with the latter even getting some unexpected powerplay time. Morrissey played more than 27 minutes in the overtime win.
It’s a good opportunity for Heinola, even if it does through an injury. The 21-year-old defenseman has been something of a squeaky wheel this season, with his agent publicly acknowledging frustration about how the Jets have used him. The 20th overall pick from 2019 can’t seem to secure any consistent NHL playing time, and has just 27 appearances over parts of four seasons.
Schmidt, meanwhile, had played in 29 games this season, averaging just over 20 minutes a night before exiting last night early.
Nate Schmidt Leaves Game Due To Upper-Body Injury
- The Winnipeg Jets announced tonight that defenseman Nate Schmidt has suffered an upper-body injury, and will not return to their game against the Nashville Predators. Schmidt appeared to suffer the injury after a high hit from Predators forward Tanner Jeannot. The loss of Schmidt costs the Jets one of their top-four defensemen, as he has skated in over 20 minutes per night, including time on the second units of both special teams phases.
Nikolaj Ehlers Still 2-3 Weeks Away
- The Winnipeg Jets are in a similar situation with their forward group, which is scoring plenty without the services of Nikolaj Ehlers. The team has put up at least five goals in seven of their last ten games, with Mark Scheifele now up to 18 tallies on the year. Ehlers, who is working his way back from sports hernia surgery, was on the ice yesterday and could potentially return in two to three weeks, according to Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun. The 26-year-old forward had three points in his first two games of the season before going under the knife.
Winnipeg Jets Claim Karson Kuhlman
The Winnipeg Jets have claimed Karson Kuhlman off waivers from the Seattle Kraken. Kuhlman ended up on waivers after Seattle claimed Eeli Tolvanen yesterday.
The move to add the depth forward comes after Jets head coach Rick Bowness was very clear about his frustration with the bottom of his lineup. Speaking with Murat Ates of The Athletic, he explained:
I’m not happy with that fourth line at all. Last game they had two goals against and they’re not generating anything. We’re going to give it a different look tonight.
That different look is with the recalled Kevin Stenlund centering but soon could mean Kuhlman’s addition as well. The 27-year-old has played in 114 games at the NHL level – 14 of them with Seattle this season – and has 26 points. A player that brings a lot of energy, he also has connections to some other Jets from his time in college, where he played with Dylan Samberg, Neal Pionk, and Dominic Toninato.
With the claim, the Jets will take on Kuhlman’s $825K salary and fill up their roster to the maximum of 23 players. Seattle would have been able to bury his entire cap hit in the minors, but given the deal is one-way, would have been on the hook to pay him the full salary even if Kuhlman was assigned to the AHL.
Winnipeg Jets Make Several Roster Moves
Dec 13: After the Jets returned Stenlund to AHL Manitoba for a short time, he’s back up under a regular recall now. That means he can stay even when everyone is healthy.
Dec 11: Earlier today, we covered how Winnipeg Jets players Logan Stanley and Saku Maenalanen would not be playing in today’s game against the Washington Capitals. Now, we have some more detail on each player’s situation.
The Jets have announced that Stanley and Maenalanen will be placed on injured reserve, which makes them unavailable until next weekend at the earliest. In a corresponding move, forward Kevin Stenlund has been recalled on an emergency basis from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Manitoba Moore.
This IR placement means Stanley, 24, will spend even more time away from the ice. The 2016 18th overall pick has skated in just seven games so far this season. He was activated off of injured reserve just three days ago, and had been out with a fractured foot since late October. Now, he’ll head back to injured reserve.
Maenalanen, 28, has not faced as much injury trouble this season as Stanley has. In 25 games Maenalanen has four goals and six points and has even seen some time on the Jets’ penalty kill. Maenalanen is in the middle of his return season after spending the past three seasons playing in his native Finland.
To fill a roster spot, the Jets have called up Stenlund. The 26-year-old Swede has been an important contributor for the Moose this season, scoring 14 points in 19 games. The big six-foot-four forward has 71 career NHL games on his resume and has 11 career goals.
Logan Stanley, Saku Maenalanen Out Sunday
- The Winnipeg Jets will be without forward Saku Maenalanen and defenseman Logan Stanley when they take on the Capitals this evening says Scott Billeck of the Winnipeg Sun. No update beyond that was given by associate coach Scott Arniel. Billeck adds that the Jets are trying to get an additional player called up from the Manitoba Moose to join the Jets at home this evening. Billeck adds the Moose, who actually share an arena with the Jets, are on their way to Calgary, however getting a player back from Calgary to Winnipeg by tonight shouldn’t be an issue. As for the injured players, Maenalanen has impressed in a depth role for the Jets this year, recording six points in 25 games, averaging 11:30 a night, his first NHL action since a stint with the Carolina Hurricanes back in 2018-19. Unfortunately for Stanley, who missed a-month-and-a-half, was able to play just two games after coming back before being forced out of the lineup once again.
Update On Saku Maenalanen
- The Winnipeg Jets announced that forward Saku Maenalanen would not return to tonight’s contest against the St. Louis Blues. Maenalanen was driven into the boards taking a hit from Blues defenseman Niko Mikkola and immediately went to the locker room with a shoulder that appeared to be in discomfort. Maenalanen, 28, returned to the NHL with the Jets this season after a successful year in 2021-22 for Karpat in Liiga, and has six points in 24 games so far.