Note: It was a mostly sleepy day for Jets news on Wednesday with the team taking the day off however late in the day Bob McKenize of TSN broke the news that Dustin Byfuglien had ankle surgery last week. Of course it was followed by rampant speculation online as to what it means regarding Byfuglien’s future in the NHL. The Jets will be practicing today in San Jose at 1 pm CDT as they get ready to face the Sharks tomorrow night in northern California. More pressing questions for Winnipeg right now is the health of Patrik Laine and whether they’ll need to recall a player from the Moose. Stick around for the Practice Report to find out the answers to some of these questions.
Note II: Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff addressed a couple of matters today in San Jose. He was asked about the Dustin Byfuglien situation and he also advised that the team was assigning Ville Heinola to the Moose of the AHL.
Note III: The Moose were also off on Wednesday as they try to right the ship as they deal with a six-game losing streak which has them 1-7-0-0 on the season. They’ll practice today in Winnipeg as they get ready for a pair of afternoon games this weekend against the Grand Rapids Griffins.
Jets news:
Winnipeg Free Press: Byfuglien has surgery on ankle. (Paywall). It is a strange situation without question but if we’ve learned anything about 33 since the Jets came back to Winnipeg it is that he isn’t a conventional person (or player).
Winnipeg Free Press: What you see is pretty much what you’ve got, Jets fans. (Paywall). Mike McIntyre breaks it all down so far this season including: 1) They can’t afford many duds from their goaltender. 2) The situation is clearly wearing on the captain. 3) The top line has to shine. 4) The salary-cap situation is affecting the lineup. 5) There will be a lot of one-game winning “streaks.”
Winnipeg Sun: Jets Snapshots. Ted looks at: 1) Hellebuyck’s solid numbers take big hit in loss to Ducks. 2) Coach wasn’t impressed with Kyle Connor. 3) Sbisa chips in. 4) Shaw in action. 5) Toothless Sharks.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence
Winnipeg Sun: After 13 games, it seems this is pretty much what Jets are going to look like all season. It all adds up to the Jets collectively need to have 33 back in the lineup or at least some sort of resolution on that front. It has hamstrung this team and you wonder how much longer they can go without it being resolved. Of course with all the injuries with their Central division rivals right now it may allow the Jets to keep pace.
Sportsnet: 31 Thoughts. Elliotte’s preamble talks about the Heritage Classic. Jets talk is contained in thoughts 21 (Laine), 22 (Byfuglien/Coach), 23 (Sbisa) and 24 (potential interest in a NCAA free-agent left shot Dman).
The Athletic Winnipeg: 3 changes that Jets coach Paul Maurice should consider. (Paywall). Ken begins his piece talking about Hellebuyck and then gets into this three suggestions which include: 1) Giving Nikolaj Ehlers a shot on PP1. 2) Give Tucker Poolman another chance on the top pair. 3) Find more work for David Gustafsson.
Jets video:
Sportsnet: Dustin Byfuglien had surgery on ankle last week. Dustin Byfuglien has undergone surgery on his ankle and will reportedly take a couple months to recover. Friedman speaks to the situation and the feelings between the two sides.
Jets audio:
During the third hour of yesterday’s show (starts after 19:20) they chatted with Murat Ates of The Athletic Winnipeg. They reflected on the loss to the Ducks, potentially splitting up Scheifele/Wheeler, whether Lowry playing with Wheeler intrigues him, on veteran players not wanting to be split up (i.e. 26/55), what he’s seen from Mark Scheifele’s game the last 10 games, on Morrissey, Pionk & Kulikov playing big minutes and how important Connor Hellebuyck will be for the Jets this season.
