Injuries shake up Jets’ lines

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This article was published 24/03/2025 (199 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Winnipeg Jets’ top line is getting an unexpected and forced makeover.

Jets head coach Scott Arniel told reporters on Monday that winger Gabe Vilardi will be sidelined with an upper-body injury.

Officially, Arniel said Vilardi was week-to-week, though it’s too early to have more of a definitive timeline for his prospective return.

Vilardi sustained the injury during Sunday’s 5-3 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, but it wasn’t the result of taking a puck to the ear after a clearing attempt from defenceman Bowen Byram during the first period.

Arniel got the news of Vilardi’s injury on Sunday night and was devastated for him.

“It’s really disappointing. We were so upset about (it) when we found out,” said Arniel. “He’s just done such a fantastic job of his summer training to do some specific things, so that he can hope to have an 82 game season.

“His training, his in season training, kind of looking after himself, doing all of the right things to get him here. Kind of what happened… it was a little bit of a freak situation. It is what it is, but it’s really disappointing that he (is injured) because he really felt this was a year that he might be able to get 82 in.”

On Vilardi’s final shift, he took a hard hit along the boards from Sabres defenceman Mattias Samuelsson and eventually made his way to the front of the net as he looked for the equalizer.

But just before the empty-net goal was scored by Ryan McLeod, Vilardi fell awkwardly to the ice as he was dumped by Sabres forward Alex Tuch.

Vilardi is having a spectacular season, producing career-bests of 27 goals, 34 assists and 61 points in 71 games (which is also a career-high), spending the bulk of his time skating alongside Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor.

Vilardi is also a key cog on the league’s best power play, so his absence will certainly be felt.

The Jets will miss Vilardi’s puck-possession prowess, his ability to win board battles and his silky smooth hands around the net.

Versatile winger Alex Iafallo will get the first chance on the top line on Tuesday when the Jets host the Washington Capitals in a battle between the top team in the Eastern Conference and the top club in the West.

“Those guys had such chemistry and that’s probably why I’m kind of looking at Al, who’s sort of a meat-and-potato guy — good in the corners, good at the net front,” said Arniel, who wouldn’t speculate if Vilardi would be ready for the opening game of the Stanley Cup playoffs. “So hopefully, (Iafallo) jumps in there and can help just pick that up a little bit.”

Iafallo has some familiarity in the role, as he spent ample time last season playing with Scheifele and Connor when Vilardi missed action due to injury.

“Al’s been there before,” said Arniel. “We’ll start that way and kind of move forward. We’ll go game-to-game.”

Other options for Arniel to eventually consider include promoting Nikolaj Ehlers or Cole Perfetti, both of whom have been playing well.

The Jets also unveiled a minor tweak to each of the other three lines during Monday’s workout.

Captain Adam Lowry was skating between Ehlers and Mason Appleton, Vladislav Namestnikov was skating with Perfetti and Nino Niederreiter, and Rasmus Kupari was in the middle with Morgan Barron and Brandon Tanev.

Based on Monday’s workout, the Jets don’t figure to be making any changes on defence after Logan Stanley chipped in a pair of assists on the third pairing.

NIEDERREITER DODGES BULLET

Jets winger Niederreiter found himself pulled from Sunday’s game for several minutes after he was on the receiving end of a jarring check in the neutral zone from Sabres defenceman Connor Clifton.

Niederreiter skated past the red line before dumping the puck in to avoid an icing call, but was rocked into the boards from a distance, slamming both his back and head on the play.

He was a bit wobbly making his way to the bench, so he made his way to the dressing room for further evaluation.

“Got hit pretty hard, and then went into boards and tried to get off the ice as quick as possible,” said Niederreiter, noting that it felt like he got hit by a bus. “Obviously (you) start seeing the stars for a minute (or) two, and then, you’ve got to go back to (do) the whole concussion protocol and obviously pass it and had a chance to come back.”

Jets defenceman Colin Miller said after Sunday’s game that he didn’t particularly care for the hit Clifton delivered and Niederreiter agrees with him.

“I don’t think it was a good hit, you should never hit a player in a vulnerable position, especially that far away from the boards,” said Niederreiter. “I think it is not a hit you should take during a game.”

After returning to action, Niederreiter was able to snap a 15-game goalless drought as his jam play around the crease during a Jets’ power play created a rebound that went in off the skate of Sabres forward Beck Malenstyn.

“I am glad it went in but at the same time my main focus was to get back out there and start feeling good and making sure everything was alright,” said Niederreiter, who is up to 15 goals on the season. “Obviously, I was glad to get rewarded with the goal.”

Despite the dry spell, Niederreiter remains tied for fifth in goals with Perfetti and has points in consecutive games after setting up Josh Morrissey’s marker against the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday.

PIONK NOT SKATING YET

The other player on the Jets that is on the shelf with an injury is defenceman Neal Pionk and while not much of an update on his status was provided on Monday, it’s safe to say his return is not imminent.

Arniel said that Pionk, who has missed the past five games with a lower-body issue, hasn’t resumed skating yet.

The initial timeline was that the Jets were hopeful Pionk would return before the end of the regular season.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

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