MORNING LINES
The Jets held their morning skate at the Hockey For All Centre. Here’s how they look to line up tonight:
FORWARDS
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Iafallo-Perfetti-Niederreiter
Barron-Lowry-Appleton
Gustafsson-Kupari-Namestnikov
DEFENCE
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Dillon-Heinola
GOAL
Hellebuyck
Delia
The Senators skated downtown at the same time and have brought a pretty seasoned roster as well.
FORWARDS
Tkachu-Stutzle-Giroux
Joseph-Greig-Tarasenko
Kubalik-Chartier-Bailey
Smejkal-Kastelic-Kelly
DEFENCE
Sanderson-Zub
Chabot-Chychrun
Brannstrom-Hamonic
GOAL
Forsberg
Korpisalo
WHO’S OUT
A separate, secondary Jets skate was held involving those who won’t suit up tonight.
Forward Nikolaj Ehlers and defencemen Declan Chisholm, Nate Schmidt and Kyle Capobianco are all nursing various aches and pains. The good news is all four were wearing regular sweaters (as opposed to non-contact jerseys) which suggests they’re not far away from game action.
Forwards Parker Ford and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and goaltender Laurent Brossoit were the other participants. You can put them down as healthy scratches.
ON THE MOVE
Forward Jeffrey Viel cleared waivers this afternoon and is headed down to the Manitoba Moose. The rugged winger, signed this summer as a free agent, had a nice showing in camp and will likely be one of the first call-ups during the season.
Forward Henri Nikkanen was also assigned to the AHL club today. He had been nursing an injury through most of camp and didn’t get any preseason games. Now healthy, the 22-year-old Finn will be looking to build on a rookie season with the Moose in which he had five goals and 11 assists in 66 games.
The Jets have also re-assigned defenceman Elias Salomonsson back to his club team in Sweden, Skelleftea AIK. The 19-year-old, selected 55th-overall by the Jets in 2022, is the top blue-line prospect in the system. He got in one preseason game with the Jets, suffered an upper-body injury as a result of a high hit, and was then assigned to the Moose last weekend once he had recovered.
NOTABLE QUOTABLES
Jets coach Rick Bowness on the status of Ehlers, who will have missed all six preaseason games due to neck spasms:
“He’s not 100 per cent and until he’s 100 per cent, we’re not going to play him. We can’t afford a setback on this. He’ll keep getting treated, and hopefully by Monday, when we really get ready for the season, he’s 100 per cent and ready to go.
Bowness, when asked whether Ville Heinola had done enough in camp to earn himself a roster spot:
“We’re going to find out Thursday night. We’re very, very happy. We were just talking again about that. He’s done everything he can to make this hockey club. So we’re very, very happy with where he is. Love the attitude he came in with. When we talked to him this summer, ‘You’re going to be given every opportunity.’ We played him in a lot of games. We played him in a lot of situations. Like I’ve always said, players cut themselves, whether its bad performance or getting outplayed by somebody else. And Ville certainly hasn’t done either one. Listen, he’s done a great job.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Mike will have a story posted online later today, and in Friday’s print edition, on why Winnipeg’s power play has been a major focus during training camp. It struggled mightily at times last season, but with a renewed focus and some new personnel, the team hopes it can become a valuable asset.
Mike will also have a column out of tonight’s game with thoughts on analysis on everything that goes on at the downtown rink.
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