Jets centres fail to finish

Forget the final result for a minute — a hard-fought 3-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild.

The biggest takeaway from Tuesday’s pre-season tilt in St. Paul was that the Jets’ top two centres who were dressed for the contest — Jonathan Toews and Vladislav Namestnikov — didn’t make it to the final buzzer.

That’s especially concerning given shutdown centre Adam Lowry (offseason hip surgery) and shutdown defenceman Dylan Samberg (broken wrist) are already sidelined.

Toews, playing his third tune-up of the fall as he returns to the NHL after a two-year health-related hiatus, lasted only until the midway mark of the second period. He logged 10:02 of ice time and won six of 10 faceoffs before exiting. There was no obvious incident leading up to his departure.

“He just tweaked something,” coach Scott Arniel told the team’s radio broadcaster, CJOB, following the game. “We’ll just wait until we get home and get it looked at and go from there.”

Namestnikov’s issue was far less mysterious. Late in the third, Wild forward Yakov Trenin drilled him from behind, sending him headfirst into the boards. Namestnikov, slated to start the year as the third-line centre in Lowry’s absence, got up slowly and made his way off the ice but did not return.

That was the (concussion) spotter. The spotter took him out,” said Arniel.

“He’s fine. He said he’s fine. There’s nothing you can do about that. It was more I’m going to say upper body, not his head though, but he was fine. The spotter said he had to come out.”

Trenin was assessed only a two-minute boarding penalty on the play, which will no doubt be reviewed by the NHL’s Department of Player Safety.

The Jets had another scare in the dying minutes when Wild defenceman David Jiricek hit Parker Ford from behind, again resulting in a boarding minor.

At that point, the Jets were eager to see the clock run out.

Namestnikov scored one of Winnipeg’s two goals on the night, with energy forward Cole Koepke scoring the other.

“I thought it was a real good effort,” Arniel said of a game in which the Jets had a much less experienced roster than the Wild. “There was no quit, we had some great looks at the end. Their goaltender make some key stops.”

Winnipeg is now 1-3-1 in the pre-season.

Hellebuyck debut

The stat line won’t jump off the page, but Connor Hellebuyck’s long-awaited pre-season debut was steady.

The reigning Vezina and Hart Trophy winner stopped 16 of 19 shots, including a highlight-reel glove save on Marco Rossi in the third to keep Winnipeg within one.

Hellebuyck caused some concern when he missed Monday’s practice after reportedly “not feeling right,” but those fears were eased when he fully participated in Tuesday’s morning skate.

He’s expected to go the distance again Friday in Calgary as the Jets wrap up their exhibition schedule before opening night next Thursday.

Blue-line battle

With Samberg sidelined, attention turned Tuesday to four defencemen fighting for jobs: Haydn Fleury, Logan Stanley, Colin Miller and Ville Heinola.

All four could crack the opening-night roster alongside Josh Morrissey, Neal Pionk, Dylan DeMelo and Luke Schenn. The pecking order — including who might step into Samberg’s spot next to Pionk on the second pair — remains unsettled.

Stanley, paired with Pionk, had an up-and-down night. He was caught pinching in the first, springing Matt Boldy on a breakaway for Minnesota’s opening goal. He later earned an assist when his point shot missed the net and Alex Iafallo corralled the puck to set up Namestnikov.

Boldy burned the Jets again in the second, slipping around Miller for another clear look, but Hellebuyck made the stop. Heinola took a first-period high-sticking penalty, while Fleury — who spent time with Pionk last year when Samberg broke his foot — had a relatively quiet night alongside DeMelo. Which, for a defensive defenceman, is just fine.

Forward focus

There’s not as much mystery up front, with likely just one final roster spot up for grabs at this point. The five main contenders — David Gustafsson, Nikita Chibrikov, Brad Lambert, Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Parker Ford — were all in the lineup Tuesday.

Each had flashes. This was Gustafsson’s best game of the fall, and he was a perfect five-for-five in the faceoff circle. Ford, a winger who has been given a shot at centre, was excellent as well, going six-for-seven. Lambert, on the other hand, is a centre who has been mostly playing wing this fall but was moved back up the middle for one night. He went one-for-11 in the dot.

“Some guys really stepped up and did a good job of taking advantage of the opportunities that were thrown at them,” said Arniel.

136-million dollar man

Kirill Kaprizov had himself a day.

The 28-year-old star signed an eight-year extension with the Wild on Tuesday morning worth an average annual value of US$17 million, instantly becoming the highest-paid player in the NHL by a wide margin. The contract — heavy on massive signing bonuses — is viewed as a potential game-changer across the league.

You have to wonder how this will affect the Jets’ ongoing talks with Kyle Connor, who is entering the final year of his deal. Elite forwards like Jack Eichel (Vegas), Adrian Kempe (Los Angeles) and Artemi Panarin (New York Rangers) are also in line for new contracts and will no doubt take notice.

All of them stand to benefit from a rising salary cap, which jumped to US$95.5 million this season and is projected to hit US$113.5 million by 2027-28 — with the potential for even bigger spikes beyond that.

Kaprizov celebrated his windfall by reminding everyone why he’s worth it. He set up Boldy’s opening goal with a slick pass to spring him on a breakaway, then scored one himself in the second period by tipping home a point shot from rookie defenceman Zeev Buium.

Extra, extra

The Jets went 0-for-4 on the power play, though it’s worth noting top weapons Connor, Mark Scheifele and Morrissey didn’t dress. Winnipeg killed off one of two penalties.

While the night ended with a couple of questionable hits, this might have been the least physical game in Jets-Wild history. The teams combined for just 31 hits — 19 by Winnipeg.

Minnesota goaltender Jesper Wallstedt stopped 26 of 28 shots he faced.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg