Jets’ Matthias needs shoulder surgery, finished for the season

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This article was published 18/03/2017 (3160 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Winnipeg Jets forward Shawn Matthias will have shoulder surgery and is out for the rest of the NHL season.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound native of Mississauga will go under the knife to repair a labral tear that will require months of recovery and rehabilitation time, said Jets head coach Paul Maurice following the club’s practice Saturday morning.

Maurice said defenceman Paul Postma is dealing with a lower-body injury and won’t play Sunday when the Jets host the Minnesota Wild at 4 p.m. at MTS Centre.

Blue-liner Brian Strait has been recalled from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League and will be in the lineup against Minnesota.

Strait, 29, has played 50 games with the Moose this season, tallying a pair of goals and 12 points.

Matthias, 29, is in his first season with the Jets after signing a two-year, $4.25 million contract last summer. He has eight goals and four assists in 45 games for the Jets, and missed 25 games earlier this season with a lower-body injury.

Matthias has played the bulk of the season on a line with centre Adam Lowry and right-winger Joel Armia.

“We’d like to have seen him play in the first couple of months a little bit more,” said Maurice, noting the time Matthias missed from Nov, 1 to Dec. 22. “He came back and had some strong play and is now gonna miss the last 12.

“(He is a) big strong guy. When that line was on their game, they were really good. He is playing with two young guys with Armia and Lowry and I think he helped them in a lot of ways, trying to define that game, that offensive zone pressure game, the physical game.”

Andrew Copp joined that forward unit Thursday in Brooklyn in Winnipeg’s 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell