‘Next man up’ mentality for battle-tested Moose

The road to a Calder Cup championship just got a lot bumpier for the Manitoba Moose.

Top defenceman Elias Salomonsson will miss the remainder of the playoffs after suffering a serious shoulder injury last weekend. The 21-year-old underwent surgery on Thursday.

“That’s a big loss. A big loss,” said teammate Tyrel Bauer. “You know what Sal brings to us. We saw what he brought at the next level. He’s a great player and a great human being that helps us win a lot of hockey games.”

Salomonsson’s recovery time is estimated at five to six months, meaning he might not be ready at the start of the 2026-27 season for the Winnipeg Jets. The smooth-skating Swede had carved out a role with the NHL club over the past few months and is expected to get an even bigger opportunity next season.

Salomonsson, a second-round pick from 2022, was a big reason the Moose are still playing hockey. He missed Game 1 against the Milwaukee Admirals as he worked his way back from a concussion suffered with the Jets. Manitoba lost that contest 4-1, but then rallied for two straight 2-1 elimination game victories with Salomonsson back on the blue-line.

He was hurt late in Game 3 after crashing awkwardly into the boards.

Manitoba is now set to face powerhouse Grand Rapids in a best-of-five series starting Saturday afternoon at Canada Life Centre. The first two games will take place in Winnipeg, then shift to Michigan for the duration.

“It’s next man up,” said Bauer. “Collectively as a group we’re going to battle, we’re going to play the same way. We have our game plan, and we have a lot of depth in that room and are really happy with where we’re at right now.”

The first player to get the chance to fill Salomonsson’s skates is another top Jets prospect, Garrett Brown, who is expected to make his professional debut. Brown, who was taken in the fourth round of the 2022 draft, just wrapped up his college career by winning a national championship with the University of Denver.

“We’re trying to do some five-on-five work out there to get an idea of how he plays,” Moose head coach Mark Morrison said of how the club has used multiple days of practice this week.

“He looks like he moves the puck pretty well under pressure, which is nice. And he looks pretty poised for stepping into pro hockey like that.”

“That’s a big loss. A big loss.”

While you’d expect there could be some nerves for Brown — the son of former NHLer Curtis Brown — it’s important to remember he’s fresh off playing some high-stakes hockey himself during the Frozen Four.

Salomonsson isn’t the only body blow for the Moose. Forward Nikita Chibrikov will not be joining the AHL team due to an injury he suffered in the final game of the regular season for the Jets. The feisty 23-year-old forward has undergone core muscle surgery with an expected recovery time of six to eight weeks.

Beating Grand Rapids was always going to be a tough enough task with a full, healthy roster. Now, without the services of two key players, it becomes even more daunting.

The Griffins, who are the farm team of the Detroit Red Wings, went an incredible 51-16-4-1 during the AHL regular season to finish second-overall in the league. The Moose were 29 points back at 35-29-5-3. Manitoba went 2-6 this season against Grand Rapids and were outscored 32-16 in those eight games.

“Their D are solid. They’re mobile and they have some guys that can make plays back there. A lot of guys with NHL experience. And then their top line is obviously very skilled. They have some highly-skilled players that score goals and make plays,” said veteran Manitoba forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan.

“They all just play extremely hard. Their puck battles are good, their systems are good. You can tell they’re well-coached. They’re where they were in the standings for a reason and it’s going to be a good challenge for us to see how we match up.”

The playoffs are a different animal, of course. And both clubs will begin play with identical 0-0 records. Manitoba is hoping to carry some momentum from two big triumphs over the Admirals to keep their season alive.

“A lot of excitement. You have the high of winning a playoff series, and then you have to kind of reset and get back to work,” said Anderson-Dolan.

“He looks like he moves the puck pretty well under pressure, which is nice. ”

“We know GR is a good team and we have to be at our best every game to beat them. We have strong belief in the dressing room.”

If there’s one potential advantage for the Moose — besides the fact the series is starting in their own backyard — it’s the fact the Griffins will be coming off a two-week hockey hiatus.

Manitoba, meanwhile, has already been in the heat of battle on three occasions.

“We’ve been in a position before where we’ve had a long wait. You try all different things, but nothing really simulates a game of hockey. So that’s tough,” said Morrison.

“So being in our rink and them laid off for a little bit, we want to go right after them.”

Brown for Salomonsson looks to be the only change in personnel for the Moose based on line rushes and defence pairs at practice.

Goaltender Domenic DiVincentiis, who stopped 50 of 52 shots over the final two games, is likely to be back in net instead of Thomas Milic, who was the Game 1 starter.

While Grand Rapids doesn’t have a ton of trouble filling the net — they had five players score at least 20 goals this season — the same can’t be said for Manitoba, whose leading scorer (Samuel Fagemo) had 19. Morrison said this just underscores the importance of solid defensive structure and discipline.

“We’re going to have to defend better than we’ve ever defended,” he said. “We haven’t exactly filled the net this year, so we know what our game plan is there.”

Should the situation require it, Manitoba still has plenty of healthy depth options available including drafted and developing players such as forwards Fabian Wagner, Jacob Julien and Kevin He — who just finished up his Ontario Hockey League season and has yet to make his pro debut. On the back end, prospect Alfons Freij waits for a potential opportunity.

“This time of year, playoff hockey, it’s usually who’s going to make the least amount of mistakes and keep their poise when they face adversity,” said Anderson-Dolan. “No doubt the physicality is going to be there. It’s just managing mistakes and staying even-keeled.”

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