Winnipeg Jets Nikolaj Ehlers held out tonight vs Avs due to upper-body injury (will be reevaluated)

There was an expectation that the Jets would be resting guys in order to give them five or six days off from game action between the playoff clinching win in St. Paul, Minnesota on Tuesday and whenever game 1 of the playoffs gets underway for Winnipeg (either Monday or Tuesday).

They conclude their regular season tonight in Colorado in a meaningless game (for the Jets but not the Avs).

We learned from Ken Wiebe of Sportnet that Pierre-Luc Dubois, Nikolaj Ehlers, Josh Morrissey, Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Nate Schmidt all wouldn’t be playing tonight.

While some of the above are likely nursing bumps and bruises that accumulate during an 82 game schedule the clear concern was for Nikolaj Ehlers who took a vicious hit in the win over the Wild from Mike Hartman who was suspended one game. There was some thought that he was ok as he returned to the bench towards the end of the game and went on the ice to celebrate the win.

Following the skate today in Denver, Wieber reported:

Ehlers is not in concussion protocol, it’s an upper-body injury and he will be reevaluated tomorrow. Bowness said it was too early to tell if Ehlers’ status for Game 1 was in question.

Tough news for number 27. He’s been dynamic since his return from sports hernia surgery and is a critical piece for Winnipeg’s playoffs.