It was a bit of a later start to the day with Jets not skating until 12:30 PM and the Moose off today.
We did learn prior to skate that somewhat unexpected leading points getter in the pre-season Parker Ford had been assigned to the Moose which reduced the Jets training camp roster to 27 players. The plucky forward made an impression in camp and his stock certainly rose from day 1 to day 17.
Once skate began it was clear that everything had been consolidated to one rink. No more IR skate as Kyle Capobianco, in a yellow, non-contact jersey along with Nate Schmidt/Declan Chisholm (in normal uniforms) were all part of the main group.
Noticeable by his absence was Nikolaj Ehlers who had been off the ice for a few days as he continues to recover from neck spasms that have plagued him since the start of camp.
Here are the lines and D pairs at skate:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Iafallo-Perfetti-Niederreiter
Barron-Lowry-Appleton
Gustafsson-Kupari-Namestnikov
Extra: Jonsson-Fjallby
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Dillon-Schmidt
Extras: Stanley-Chisholm-Capobianco
The big question mark was going to be the health status of Ville Heinola, who suffered a clearly devastating injury in the first period of the game last night against the Senators in Winnipeg. Even last night it was apparent the outlook wasn’t great with head coach Rick Bowness saying that “It’s not good. It’s not going to be a short term injury” shortly after the game ended.
The news wasn’t any better this afternoon when he spoke as he confirmed that Heinola had suffered a fractured ankle and would be out anywhere from 8-12 weeks depending on the means of recovery. He confirmed the team would send Ville home initially to be with his family as he recovered from this catastrophic injury just as the 2019 1st rounder looked like he had cemented his spot on the NHL club ahead of the regular season.
There was a question about roster configuration ahead of the Monday deadline for Winnipeg to submit their opening 23-man roster to the NHL. Given the injury to Heinola, the likelihood they waive third goalie Collin Delia and could have Kyle Capobianco on IR it would only necessitate one more move which would likely be Axel Jonsson-Fjallby being placed on waivers if they don’t want to risk losing Declan Chisholm or Logan Stanley. Of course uncertainty surrounding Nikolaj Ehlers also impacts this decision.
With the Jets spending the next two days off the ice and team bonding we likely won’t hear any more until Monday.
There was a signing to announce as 2023 5th rounder Thomas Milic, who was at training camp without a contract, now has his first pro deal as he signed a one-year AHL deal with the Moose. Provided Delia goes down to the Moose the WHL goalie of the Year in Milic will likely get his pro career started in Norfolk with the Admirals who are the Jets/Moose new ECHL affiliate.
