Ehlers going under knife

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This article was published 19/11/2022 (1070 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The hits keep coming for the Winnipeg Jets. And forward Nikolaj Ehlers is the latest on a growing list to go under the knife.

“He will have a sports hernia surgery next week,” coach Rick Bowness announced Saturday prior to his club’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. “Details are still being finalized. We won’t know the length of time he will be out until they get in there and see what they’re dealing with. Those details, they will be finalized a little later.”

The average recovery time for such a procedure ranges anywhere from six to 12 weeks. That could mean a return as early as the beginning of January, or as late as mid-February.

Ehlers, 26, appeared in the first two games of the season, recording three assists, before he felt discomfort following a 4-1 loss in Dallas on Oct. 17. He was deemed a game-time decision two nights later in Denver but didn’t play. Then came word he could be out for about a week. But when he missed that timeline, concern began to grow.

“After 7-10 days, it felt like progress was being made. It was slower progress, no question, but we didn’t push it and we gave it a little extra time, hoping to try and avoid this,” said Bowness.

“We gave him as much time as we could and there comes a point where, ‘OK, there’s something a little more than we can find right now.’ So it came to this. We didn’t want to rush into it. We wanted to give it a chance to see if it would heal naturally.”

Ehlers returned to the ice last Wednesday, briefly skating on his own along with a team trainer. It obviously didn’t go well.

“No. He felt something. And so we were trying to get him to the point where when he went out he didn’t feel anything. We couldn’t get him to that point, so that brings us to that decision,” said Bowness.

Forward Morgan Barron had wrist surgery in early November, while forward Mason Appleton underwent the same procedure last week. Both are out for multiple months.

Add it up and that’s three of the team’s 12 forwards — 25 per cent — who skated on opening night. Barron and Appleton began the year on the third line with Adam Lowry, while Ehlers was on the top line with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor.

“Yes we can,” Bowness said when asked if his club can weather the injury storm.

“We’ve tightened it up defensively. And that’s going to keep us in the games. The guys that have stepped up and played those roles have done an exceptional job. We need that. They’re top-nine, they’re not easy to replace.”

Sam Gagner is now playing with Scheifele and Connor, after Appleton initially took Ehlers’ spot. And Lowry is between Saku Maenalanen and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby.

Jansen Harkins, Dominic Toninato and Mikey Eyssimont, who all began the year with the Manitoba Moose, are now up with the big club. Toninato and Eyssimont played Saturday, while Harkins was the lone healthy scratch.

“It changes all the formations of the lines and it changes roles. And sometimes when that happens, you’re putting a guy in a role that normally wouldn’t be in,” said Bowness.

“Give our forwards a lot of credit because of all the guys we’ve asked to adjust their roles, their minutes and even the guys that they’re playing with normally, they’ve all done a good job. It goes back to us having to play that team defence to keep us in the games which we we’ve cleaned up a lot over the past 10 games.”

Bowness was asked if he’d be pressuring general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff to get him some help, perhaps via a trade.

“We have conversations. That’s management’s call, not mine,” said Bowness. “I coach the players that are here. That’s my job.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg