No Kupari, no deal

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This article was published 14/01/2024 (632 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

As they were putting the finishing touches on the Pierre-Luc Dubois blockbuster last summer, the Winnipeg Jets drew a firm line in the sand with the Los Angeles Kings: Rasmus Kupari had to be part of the return.

It came to be, with the 20th-overall pick from the 2018 draft joining Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and a 2024 second-rounder as the haul from Hollywood. While the consensus in the hockey world is that the Jets made out like bandits, a key part of this trade continues to be a mystery.

“We really don’t know what we have here yet,” said Jets coach Rick Bowness.

He was talking about Kupari, who started the season in a somewhat sheltered role, then suffered a serious shoulder injury after just 15 games. Now, two months after going down, he was back in the lineup Saturday night in a 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers that snapped Winnipeg’s franchise record-win streak (eight games) and point streak (14 games).

“I was finally starting to feel good, getting the system, getting to know the guys last couple of games before I got injured. So it wasn’t the right time to get injured, if it is at any time,” Kupari said.

It was a strange one, too, with Kupari crashing awkwardly into the boards during a bodycheck attempt while facing the New Jersey Devils at Canada Life Centre. He came up favouring his right shoulder, went straight off the ice and down the tunnel and was ruled out for the remainder after just 1:18 of ice time.

“My leg kind of got stuck or hit his foot and I just lost my balance,” said Kupari. “My first thought was just give him a good hit, then he kind of stopped and just I just caught his foot and went into the boards shoulder first. Pretty much right away I felt something was wrong. I felt a lot of pain in my shoulder. It wasn’t the best. But I’m back and I feel good.”

Kupari’s pedigree is intriguing. The 23-year-old can move like the wind despite being six-foot-two and just north of 200 pounds, and his first-round selection suggests all kinds of upside. There hasn’t been a ton of offence at the NHL level so far, with just 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) through his first 145 games. That includes just one assist with the Jets prior to getting hurt.

“He’s a big strong kid that can skate. We think there’s more,” said Bowness. “He hasn’t played a ton of in terms of minutes in a game, and important minutes. But there’s certainly a lot of good pieces to what he brings to the table. Now it’s up to us to continue to let him grow and figure out what we have and what he has.”

Kupari is up for the task, hoping to show the organization that clearly wanted him that he’s been worth the extra wait.

“I feel good and ready to rock again,” he said, noting Vilardi and Iafallo have both proven to be valuable additions to the Jets. “Obviously it might take some time to get used to new system, new team. But they both have shown they are really good players and the right guys to be on this team.”

Kupari returned home to his native Finland for about 10 days to spend time with family after getting hurt, then was back in Winnipeg to begin the rehabilitation process that, at times, could get very lonely. Fellow countryman Ville Heinola was in a similar camp after breaking his ankle in early October.

“That helped a little bit, too. Someone to talk to and hang out when the team was away,” said Kupari. “At least we got to stay with the team and hang around and skate for the (last) four weeks. In the end, there was a lot to learn from that time and I believe I’m tougher mentally now.”

Kupari was activated off the injured list earlier this week and initially assigned to the Manitoba Moose for what was expected to be a two-week conditioning assignment. That would allow him to continue receiving his NHL pay but not be exposed to the waiver wire.

His stint didn’t even last 48 hours. Kupari was recalled on Friday after Mark Scheifele got hurt in Thursday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks.

“Busy couple days. Quick in and out,” he said.

Kupari did suit up for the Moose on Wednesday in Belleville, went with the team by bus to Laval, but then had to bid them a hasty good-bye as he headed to Montreal to fly back to Winnipeg.

“I was a little rusty,” Kupari said of his Moose debut. “Especially the beginning, first 10 minutes or so but felt more comfortable as the game went on. In the third finally started to find my legs back again. Which is probably understandable after missing two months but it was definitely fun to play a real game for first time in a long time.”

Kupari began Saturday’s game centring the third line with Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton, then was moved down to the fourth line between Jonsson-Fjallby and Morgan Barron. He played 11:01, had two shot attempts that were blocked, blocked one shot himself and went 5-for-11 in the faceoff circle.

“Listen, that’s a tough team to come back against. We rushed him,” Bowness said of Kupari’s return.

“That’s why we sent him down to get him three games at least. To give him a chance to get his timing back. We just didn’t have the luxury of doing that with Mark’s injury. He had a really good shift there at the end, the last shift he played looked really good. I just talked to him about that now. Just have to build on that.”

Kupari said he leaned on his previous experience with a major injury, which happened at the 2020 World Juniors. He tore his ACL during the first game of the tournament, ending his year.

“That was probably the hardest time of my young career I’ve had so far. So I knew what it was going to be like being out from the team for a while,” said Kupari. “Obviously you don’t want to get hurt, but I’ve gone through long injuries in the past and knew what was going to be ahead of me the next couple months.”

Winnipeg’s depth has been on display time and time again this season, especially up front where players like Kupari, Vilardi, Kyle Connor, David Gustafsson and, most recently, Scheifele, have all gone down with injuries. That’s allowed others to step up, including Manitoba Moose call-ups Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and Dominic Toninato.

“You can tell guys are having a good time. They’re laughing, they feel good about themselves and their game is looking good,” Kupari said about what he’s observed about the squad since being sidelined.

“Scoring goals, defensive game is really on point and goalies are playing great. It’s been fun to watch these couple months I’ve been off. I’m just trying to help the team the best way. Bring my feet, my speed, just work hard every day here.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg