Lowry’s prolonged injury creates deep hole in roster

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This article was published 16/02/2018 (2760 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The absence of Adam Lowry’s immense presence is looming larger with each passing day.

With no imminent return on the horizon, it may become necessary for the Winnipeg Jets to look beyond internal solutions to fill the hole.

On Thursday, Jets head coach Paul Maurice said there’s growing worry over the uncertainty of Lowry’s lingering upper-body injury. The 6-5, 210-pound third-line centre has yet to hit the ice since he was banged up Feb. 1 against the Vegas Golden Knights.

It was considered just a short-term setback. But it’s been two weeks, and there’s no sign of the fourth-year NHLer, beyond Instragram shots of him and his snazzy fedora up in the press box.

He had previously been sidelined for eight games (Jan. 7-25) with an upper-body injury, and the tilt with Vegas was just his second game back before re-aggravating the injury.

Together, Lowry and winger Brandon Tanev, who will miss his fifth straight game with an upper-body injury, do a major chunk of the club’s body work.

“Big concern… (Lowry’s) a different style of player. Both he and Tanev, there’s a different piece to their game, which makes them more valuable in our lineup,” Maurice said.

Despite being shelved for 22 games, Lowry is third on the club in hits (95), behind only Tanev (142) and Dustin Byfuglien (110). The fourth-year Jet is also having a solid season in the faceoff dot, winning 55.1 per cent of his draws.

“We have a lot of guys that can skate and handle the puck, (but) we don’t have a lot of size on our wings or physicality in the group right now,” Maurice said. “We have guys that will play hard and finish checks. But those (Lowry and Tanev) are unique to our 12 (forwards). We miss that part of the game, and we’re seeing that now.”

A down-and-out Lowry during a stretch run to the post-season might compel general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff to deal for another centre. He’s been ultra-protective of his first-round picks and top-end prospects. However, this could be the year the GM makes a substantial move to fill the need up the middle while beefing up the NHL’s fifth-overall squad.

The NHL trade deadline is Feb. 26.

Meanwhile, Eric Comrie is sticking around as the backup to goalie Connor Hellebuyck for the time being, as Steve Mason and Michael Hutchinson recover from concussions. The injured masked men skated before the team’s regular 11 a.m. practice Thursday and are inching closer to a return.

Tanev and Shawn Matthias (upper body) are skating, while defenceman Jacob Trouba has yet to skate since he suffered a lower-body injury in late January in Anaheim.

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Matt Hendricks says he was the victim of the kind of cheap shot the NHL is trying to eliminate.

The veteran centre left in the second period of Tuesday’s clash with the Washington Capitals after collapsing to the ice following a hit to the head from defenceman Madison Bowey, a Winnipegger.

Bowey received a minor penalty for interference, while Hendricks went to a quiet room as part of the league’s concussion protocol, and did not return.

He passed all the tests and is eligible to play tonight when the Jets (33-15-9) host the Colorado Avalanche at Bell MTS Place at 7 p.m.

Hendricks, who has four goals and eight assists in 48 games this season, said the transgression has no place in hockey.

“I’m pretty disappointed with the hit. In my opinion, that’s exactly the stuff we’re trying to get out of the game,” he said.

Hendricks said he administered a clean bodycheck on the Caps’ rookie earlier in the shift, and was on the receiving end of some ugly payback.

“It was his retaliation for what happened at the blue line at the other end of the ice. I’m 20 feet away from the puck, looking at the puck, trying to skate to it and I get blindsided right in the head. That wasn’t anywhere legal,” he said.

Bowey was fined US$1,890.68 by the NHL’s department of player safety, the maximum allowable.

“I don’t care about (the punishment). I didn’t like the hit,” Hendricks said.

The fourth-line centre was cleared to play, and will likely skate between wingers Nic Petan and Joel Armia against the Avs (31-21-4), winners of two straight.

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Late in Tuesday night’s game, the Jets’ Byfuglien stung Washington centre Jay Beagle with a vicious hack to the ribs, which resulted in a US$5,000 fine for the 6-5, 260-pound defenceman.

Beagle, who played through pain two nights later against the Minnesota Wild, told Washington Post writer Isabelle Khurshudyan he believes he was impeded while skating toward an empty cage and the Capitals should have been awarded a goal.

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Brendan Lemieux was reassigned to the Manitoba Moose on Thursday morning.

The 21-year-old winger played just one game with the Jets — Feb. 6 against the Arizona Coyotes — in his latest stint with the NHL club.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @WFPJasonBell