Photo Credit: Colby Spence
The Jets have a laundry list of wounded players who are currently on the shelf. Some players the timeline is established while others there is a greater level of ambiguity as to when they might return. Here is the latest information.
Mathieu Perreault
The Jets were in a tight contest against the Flyers on December 15th when Philadelphia rookie Joel Farabee crunched an unsuspecting Perreault to the ice. Farabee would be given the gate and subsequently handed a three-game suspension from Player Safety for the hit which knocked Perreault from the game. On December 16th coach Maurice was asked about the status of Perreault and the veteran coach indicated that he is in concussion protocol even though he wouldn’t state that Perreault was suffering from a concussion. No timeline on his return at this time although of the five players listed he is likely the first one to be back in the lineup.
Andrew Copp
Last played on December 17th when the Jets took on the Hurricanes here in Winnipeg. He collided with Carolina’s Jordan Staal in the 2nd period and left the game and did not return. He was labelled as week-to-week by Jets bench boss Paul Maurice who subsequently updated this to “it’s going to be four (weeks) before we’re looking at him”.
Dmitry Kulikov
He last played on November 29th in Anaheim when he took a big hit in the 1st period which knocked him from the game. He was ruled out of the lineup until around the All-Star break (end of January) and on December 18th coach Maurice indicated “He feels he’s healing really quickly but there’s windows on these that from a medical point of view we won’t say ‘hey ya you feel good but were going to chop two weeks off what we think you should take to heal’ so he’s still on the same timeline.”
Bryan Little
The veteran centre has had a tough 2019-20 as he missed a number of games to start the season due to a concussion and then after getting into just seven games he suffered that back on November 5th when the Devils were in Winnipeg and he took a shot to the ear in the 3rd period which perforated his eardrum and left him dealing with vertigo. The last update on Little came on December 12th when the Jets were in Detroit although the more informative (regarding a timeline) may have come nine days earlier (December 3rd) after an optional morning skate when the Jets bench boss was asked a question about Wheeler staying at centre even after Little’s return and he answered “That option is definitely open yes. But that’s two months away or whatever, I don’t know. We’ll see when we get there.”.
Dustin Byfuglien
Back on October 30th, 2019 hockey insider Bob McKenzie reported that the Jets big man on the backend had underwent ankle surgery. It came out later that the surgery had happened in Minnesota the week prior to the report surfacing. At the time Darren Dreger of TSN said recovery could take approximately four months (end of February) while Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said around the New Year (two months from time of his report). It had been relatively quiet on the Byfuglien front until December 17th when Mike McIntyre and Jason Bell of the Winnipeg Free Press indicated that “Byfuglien has started a post-surgery rehabilitation program in consultation with the Jets”. Still no real sense right now as to a timeline for 33.
Moose aren’t loose either
We should have a better idea this weekend but as far as we know the following players are or were dealing with some type of injury;
Sami Niku
Last played November 27th. Sustained an upper-body injury in a game in Milwaukee. Coach Vincent advised on December 6th that the mobile Dman would be out two to four weeks.
Peter Stoykewych
The Moose captain was injured on the road in Toronto back on November 24th. When I last spoke to the Moose bench boss about the Winnipegger on December 6th he indicated “Stoyo. It’s a daily process. We evaluate him and monitor him on a daily basis. He’s just not feeling right. So we’re gonna see where it’s going to go but right now he’s just not feeling right.”
Luke Green
Injury troubles limited the Jets D prospect to just 11 games this season and all was looking up as he had already played 13 in 2019-20 but he hasn’t played since a game against the IceHogs in Rockford back on December 3rd. No word as to what type of injury he has sustained.
Jonathan Kovacevic
The first-year D prospect took a hard hit in the 2nd period of a game against the Wolves back on December 8th. It appeared that his head hit the glass after the hit and he was clearly a bit stunned. He skated back to the bench but spoke to the trainer and left for the room. He hasn’t played since.
Ryan White
The Brandonite went for a big hit in a game against Grand Rapids back on November 2nd. He left the game. While he hasn’t played since he did make the most recent road trip with the Moose and practiced in a non-contact jersey.
