Jets limping into regular season

The hits just keep coming for the Winnipeg Jets, who will open the new NHL season this week in a world of hurt.

Add winger Cole Perfetti to the growing list of wounded players. The young forward suffered a high-ankle sprain in last Friday’s preseason finale in Calgary and is officially listed as week-to-week.

“Not the best news we wanted to get,” coach Scott Arniel said following Sunday’s practice. “If it’s broken, you usually have a pretty good timeline. When it’s a high-ankle sprain, it’s a little trickier.”

Perfetti joins captain Adam Lowry (recovering from offseason hip surgery) and shutdown defenceman Dylan Samberg (broken wrist) on the shelf. Neither is expected back until some point in November, and it’s now possible Perfetti could extend beyond that.

Perfetti is coming off a career year, having played all 82 games for the first time while setting personal highs with 50 points. He was slated to start on the second line alongside free-agent additions Jonathan Toews and Gustav Nyquist, and was likely eyeing a big season with restricted free agency looming next summer.

“He’s upset about it, but he understands it’s early in the year here and we’ll get him back up and running,” said Arniel.

“But it’s frustrating, and then to see what actually happened. With five seconds left (in the second period Friday), just to go in and it was kind of a simple play and he just kind of got twisted. But at the end of the day, that’s where it’s at and he’s going to heal and he’ll be better for it.”

With adversity comes opportunity, and Nikita Chibrikov appears poised to get the first shot at replacing Perfetti. The 22-year-old Russian, who was on the roster bubble heading into camp, took line rushes Sunday with Nyquist and Toews, who was back on the ice after sitting out a few days nursing a lower-body ailment.

“For me it’s something special,” said Chibrikov, who scored two goals and added an assist in four games with the Jets last year before suffering a season-ending knee injury with the Manitoba Moose in January.

The promotion capped a celebratory weekend for Chibrikov, who signed a two-year contract extension with Winnipeg on Saturday worth US$875,000 per season.

“Big things are coming up. This is the first step,” said Chibrikov. “I hope to stay here for life and be a part of this team. I am thankful to my parents and all those who helped me (get) here this long way. It is awesome.”

Arniel cautioned that nothing is set in stone — admitting the opening-night lineup looks far different than the one he sketched out this summer — but said he wants to see how Chibrikov handles a top-six role.

“He’s a little bugger out there,” Arniel said with a grin.

“He gets under people’s skin and he’s not afraid to go into the corners first. He’s got a good skillset. He’s real quick. He darts, he gets in and out of holes, and he has the ability when he gets into a hole to shoot the puck as well.”

One thing is clear: The Jets are more than ready to close the book on a bruising pre-season that took a heavy toll.

“You want to try and get through the pre-season healthy and ready to go. But obviously injuries happen, and it’s part of the game,” said defenceman Josh Morrissey, whose blue-line partner Dylan DeMelo left Friday’s game in Calgary after taking a stick to the throat.

Fortunately, DeMelo was back at practice Sunday — though unable to speak above a whisper due to swelling in his voice box.

“I guess next year we only have four (pre-season) games, so maybe that decreases the odds (of injuries). Hopefully, knock on wood,” said Morrissey.

“It’s just what happens in hockey. And obviously, we’ve got lots of depth here, and guys that are gonna have to step up in some big absences to start the year.”

All 32 NHL clubs must submit their opening-night rosters by Monday afternoon, with a maximum of 23 healthy skaters and a salary cap of US$95.5 million (including players on injured reserve).

The Jets — who open Thursday at home against the Dallas Stars — made a pair of roster moves Sunday, placing Ville Heinola and Walker Duehr on waivers with the intent to assign them to the Moose if they clear.

Duehr, a depth signing last summer, is no surprise. But Heinola, the 20th-overall pick in 2019, certainly is. The oft-injured Finn has never quite found his footing with the Jets, appearing in just 53 NHL games.

Waiving Heinola appears to be as much about giving him a fresh start as anything else. If there are no waiver takers, he’ll at least have the opportunity to log heavy minutes with the Moose and stay sharp in case the Jets come calling. Parking the 24-year-old in the press box for extended stretches as a healthy scratch simply isn’t an option.

The moves leave Winnipeg with 24 healthy skaters plus the injured trio of Perfetti, Lowry, and Samberg. Heinola’s demotion suggests the Jets plan to carry seven defencemen: Morrissey, DeMelo, Neal Pionk, Haydn Fleury, Luke Schenn, Logan Stanley, and Colin Miller.

That means the final cut will likely come up front. David Gustafsson, Parker Ford, and Brad Lambert skated Sunday on a fifth line. Gustafsson would require waivers to be sent down, so it appears one of Ford or Lambert — who are waiver-exempt — could be the odd man out.

It’s also possible the Jets trim both and start the season with 22 healthy skaters.

“Real tough,” is how Arniel described these final decisions. “We’ve had these injuries here just in the last few days here that really kind of changed things.”

Perfetti’s absence also opens a hole on the top power play unit, where he was expected to join Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Gabe Vilardi, and Morrissey.

Could Toews slide into that role?

“We’re still talking about that one. We’re having a little bit of a chit-chat about that one and where we’re going,” said Arniel.

“I want it to be so that when Cole does come back he can slide in to what it looks like. We’ll kind of just see over the next couple days, you’ll see Tuesday, Wednesday and kind of get a feel for how it will go Thursday.”

The Jets are spending Monday away from the rink for some team bonding before returning to the ice to get ready for the Stars.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg