Ehlers likely to miss first round of playoffs

Scott Arniel wasn’t sounding the alarm, he was simply speaking matter-of-factly.

As the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets took a brief pause from his stance that virtually all banged up players would be classified as day-to-day for the remainder of this season in his session with reporters on Tuesday, Arniel announced that winger Nikolaj Ehlers has officially been placed in the week-to-week aisle.

Ehlers was involved in a collision with a linesman during the first period of Saturday’s game with the Chicago Blackhawks and aggravated an injury that sidelined him earlier this season.

Since the Jets are expected to open the Stanley Cup playoffs on either Saturday or Sunday, Ehlers figures to miss most — if not all — of the first round before he gets re-evaluated.

Injuries are part of the game and there’s no doubt this is a significant loss for the Jets.

Ehlers has been highly productive this season, producing 24 goals (including five game-winners) and 63 points in 69 games.

He’s played a valuable role on the Jets’ league-leading power play, shifting into the pop position in the high slot while delivering six goals and a career-high 22 points with the man-advantage.

Not having Ehlers available, at least at the outset, means that others will need to step up in his absence.

Fortunately for the Jets, they’ve got guys like Alex Iafallo, Nino Niederreiter and Brandon Tanev that can move up and down the lineup seamlessly.

“We’ve had to do it all year long. We’ve had a lot of injuries,” said Arniel, whose team will close out the regular season on Wednesday against the Anaheim Ducks (6 p.m., Sportsnet, Sportsnet 360).

“Guys have been stepping up and taking on bigger roles succeeding. There have been a lot of guys that I could look at that we’ve asked for a little bit more, because they’re taking on a bigger role, and they’ve responded tremendously. That’s just a real good sign of depth and the real good team structure that we have.”

Although Gabe Vilardi was back on the ice for the first time since suffering an upper-body injury in a game against the Buffalo Sabres on Mar. 23 and has been upgraded to day-to-day, his status for Game 1 remains up in the air.

Vilardi took part in a skate with Jets’ strength and conditioning coach Jake Wolff on Tuesday, so he’s likely going to need several days to get himself up to speed.

Opening the post-season potentially without two of their top-4 scorers on the team is suboptimal, but the Jets did have some good news on the injury front as defenceman Dylan Samberg was on the ice as a full-time participant on Tuesday.

“He’s nuts. He’s tough,” said Jets forward Cole Perfetti. “He’s a tough guy. That was a hard shot and it’s crazy that he was skating (Tuesday). I was scared for a couple of seconds there when he was lying down. Obviously, it’s great to see him in good spirits and feeling good and ready to go.”

Departing Sunday’s game after blocking a one-timer from Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid on the inside of the left knee, Samberg was more worried about the goal that was scored as he was laying on the ice in agony than any long-lasting effects to his body.

“Trust me, I was trying to get back up, but I had no feeling in that leg, so I couldn’t, couldn’t move it,” said Samberg. “Still hurt pretty bad. It’s part of the job blocking the shot, but sucks that they scored on it.

“I should have got up and given (Morgan Barron) my stick, because it was kind of like a five on two and a half there with Bears without a stick. But, things you think of after the fact.”

Earlier this season, Samberg fractured his left foot after blocking a one-timer from Nashville Predators forward Steven Stamkos.

The impact of McDavid’s shot left a mark, but it didn’t take Samberg long to realize the consequences wouldn’t be quite as severe this time around.

“No, I knew it wasn’t anything serious,” said Samberg. “It was just that my leg just went dead, and I couldn’t move it so it obviously hurt pretty bad, but I knew there wasn’t anything serious about the issue. But obviously you’re trying to get back up and trying to finish up the play at least, and as much as you can. But yeah, just part of the job.

“A lot of the time, you know that with shots like that, you’ve just got to get out and skate and then flush everything out of the system and you’ll be way better the next day.”

Some casual observers wonder if Samberg could have just avoided being in the shooting lane entirely, but he explained that’s not an option — even in what some folks viewed as a meaningless game after the Jets had previously nailed down first place in both the Central Division and Western Conference.

“It’s part of the job to block shots. But you have all this padding, and somehow it always seems to find that little spot that you don’t have (any) padding,” said Samberg. “But you’re just hoping for the best that it hits you in the right spot.”

Arniel wasn’t surprised to see Samberg sacrificing his body.

“Nothing changes. If you go out and try to play a different game it just gets you into bad habits or it might get you hurt,” said Arniel. “I know (Samberg) is not going to change his way of thinking and how he plays. He’s going to get in front of shots. He has a lot of pride in the penalty kill and what he needs to do and I wouldn’t expect any less.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld