Jets claim local product Brooks off waivers

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/02/2022 (1346 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets have added some rare hometown flavour, grabbing forward Adam Brooks off the waiver wire Friday to boost their depleted lineup.

Brooks, 25, will help fill the void created by injuries this week to forwards Andrew Copp and Cole Perfetti. The West Kildonan product will become just the fifth local skater to suit up for the Jets since 2011, joining Eric Fehr, Cody Eakin, Derek Meech and Quinton Howden.

It’s been quite the whirlwind season for Brooks, a former scoring star with the Regina Pats who was drafted in the fourth round (92nd overall) by Toronto in 2016. He was put on waivers following training camp last October and immediately claimed by Montreal. The Habs tried to send him down to their farm team a month later, but he was scooped up by Vegas. They, in turn, put him on waivers on Wednesday, where he was re-claimed by Toronto. He went back on waivers Thursday, and Winnipeg came calling.

Overall, Brooks has two goals and one assist in 11 NHL games this year (with Montreal and Vegas) after scoring four goals and adding four assists in 18 games with Toronto the previous two seasons. He’s a bit undersized by big-league standards at 6-feet and 179 pounds but is a gifted playmaker with high-end speed

Brooks was a dominant force in the Western Hockey League, with 335 points (119 goals, 216 assists) in 317 games. He led the league in 2015-16 with 120 points (38 goals, 82 assists).

“You know, I’ve watched Adam since he was a Winnipeg Hawk that would have set scoring records that likely were never matched in bantam hockey. He took a while to find his way in the Western Hockey League. By the time he was done, he was one of the best players in junior hockey,” Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon told the Free Press last month.

Copp got hurt following a hit by Jordan Greenway in the third-period of Wednesday 6-3 win over Minnesota, missing Thursday’s game against Seattle. Perfetti got hurt in the third period of the 5-3 win over the Kraken after absorbing a body check from Jamie Oleksiak and did not return.

“Copp is upper-body and is day-to-day. Cole is also upper-body and will be maybe a little longer than day-to-day,” interim Jets coach Dave Lowry said Friday. Kristian Vesalainen, who had been a healthy scratch, took Copp’s place in the lineup. Evgeny Svechnikov would likely replace Perfetti, although Brooks will now be an option as well.

“All we’re looking for is, you know, I want consistency in play. Guys have to have an understanding that there are certain expectations,” Lowry said of Svechnikov. “I don’t expect him to go out and be an offensive catalyst and score a goal every shift. What I’m looking for is, I’m looking for him to be a reliable player, manage the puck, manage the game and complement the guys that he’s playing with.”

Winnipeg hosts Edmonton on Saturday afternoon to close out a four-game homestand.

Rookie forward Kristian Reichel moved up in Thursday’s game to take Perfetti’s spot on a line with Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois, and helped set up Josh Morrissey’s game-winner with just over six minutes left in regulation. He’ll likely remain there against the Oilers.

“I thought Reichs deserved that opportunity. He was skating, he was hard on the puck. He was the easiest guy to move up just simply on the way he played,” said Lowry.

In other injury-related news, the Jets sent centre David Gustafsson down to the Manitoba Moose on Friday as he works his way back from a lower-body ailment suffered Jan. 2 in Vegas, The reigning Moose MVP appeared in 23 AHL games earlier this season (seven goals, nine assists), before getting promoted to the Jets. He has no points in two NHL games this year.

“Gus hasn’t played for an extended period of time. Obviously with us having a heavy game schedule, we can get him into a couple practices with the Moose,” said Lowry. “The intent is he’s going to go down, he’s going to play some games. We’ll evaluate where we are and where he’s at.”

Nikolaj Ehlers, who suffered a serious knee injury on Jan. 18 in Washington, is slowly recovering but there remains no timetable for his return.

“He’s skating every other day right now. So he’s not ready to, or near close enough to ramp up and be part of the group,” said Lowry.

Injured forward C.J. Suess and defenceman Dylan Samberg, who are both mainly depth options at this point, are getting closer.

“Both of them are on the ice. Sammy, he’ll skate again in (Saturday) morning with our injured guys. He’s limited in what he can do. And Suesser is now starting to get more active. He will be close to joining the main group,” said Lowry.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg