The Jets hit the ice today for morning skate and for the first time in some time we saw Vlad Namestnikov and Nino Niederrieter on the ice in yellow, non-contact uniforms with their teammates as Winnipeg gets set to face Vegas this evening.
The last health update came two weeks ago where the above duo had finally taken to the ice for the first time as they IR skated.
Namestnikov has been out since February 27th when he slid into Adam Lowry in a game against the Ducks in Anaheim. He was labelled as week-to-week by Jets head coach Scott Arniel the next day.
A few days prior to that Niederreiter was also listed as week-to-week after coming back from the Olympics and something not feeling quite right. We would learn on March 1st that he had surgery although the bench boss of Winnipeg wasn’t prepared to say he was done for the season. Instead he gave a 4-6 week timelime.
Following morning skate Arniel was asked for an update on the pair:
“That’s the first time I saw them so I just introduced myself this morning. I don’t even know where it’s at. They’re in conditioning now. Obviously, to have them out there is great. I have no idea if that’s a week, two weeks or where we’re at.”
Also asked about Colin Miller who had suffered a setback in early March and hasn’t been on the ice with the team.
“Yeah Colin’s still rehabbing. He had a setback so he’s not on the ice.”
Which means the Jets will continue to have 12 forwards for the next little while unless they make a recall which isn’t expected unless injury necessitates it or they are eliminated and then make a recall or two to get some prospects some games.
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