Elias Salomonsson tracking toward return around Winnipeg Jets training camp or start of season

When the Winnipeg Jets announced on April 30th that Elias Salomonsson had undergone shoulder surgery, the organization estimated his rehabilitation would take five to six months.

Less than four months later, a source with knowledge of Salomonsson’s recovery indicated that the 21-year-old defenceman is tracking toward being ready around training camp or the beginning of the regular season.

If Salomonsson is ready for training camp, it would put him slightly ahead of the Jets’ original recovery timeline. A return around the beginning of the regular season would place him closer to the early end of the five-to-six-month estimate.

Despite the injuries that disrupted the end of his season, Salomonsson enjoyed a successful first NHL campaign. He made his debut on November 26th, 2025 and played 32 games with Winnipeg during the 2025-26 campaign. He took on a larger role during his second stint with the Jets, averaging nearly four minutes more per game than he did during his initial recall.

His NHL season ended on April 2nd when a concussion sustained following a reverse hit from Jason Robertson in Dallas kept him out of the Jets’ final seven regular-season games. After being cleared, Salomonsson joined the Manitoba Moose for their opening-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Admirals and appeared in two games. Late in the series-clinching victory, he initiated a seemingly innocuous neutral-zone hit but took the worst of the collision, sliding hard into the boards and suffering the shoulder injury that ended his season.

Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff indicated ahead of the NHL Draft in late June that Salomonsson’s recovery was progressing as expected and that he could continue with lower-body training.

While an exact return date has not been established, Salomonsson’s potential availability around training camp or the beginning of the regular season could allow him to compete for a role on the right side of Winnipeg’s defence instead of attempting to work his way into the lineup after the season is already underway.