Connor taking advantage of prime time with NHL club

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This article was published 09/11/2017 (2864 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — An injury opened the door for Kyle Connor with the Winnipeg Jets. And the second-year pro has bolted right through it, excelling with his play and giving his coach plenty of intriguing options going forward.

When Mathieu Perreault went down while blocking a shot on Oct. 14, it created a spot on the Jets’ top line with Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele. Connor was summoned from the Manitoba Moose for an audition of sorts. He’s certainly making the case for permanent work.

“Right now he’s not a placeholder there. He’s not pushing guys down to try and balance things for us. He’s been really effective in that spot. He’s had three or four games where he’s looked on par with the other two,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said Wednesday.

Connor has put up three goals and four assists in nine games, is a plus-five and is being given heavy minutes — more than 20 a night on average in his past three games. His defensive work is being praised by Maurice, and both Wheeler (13 points in five games) and Scheifele (10 points in five games) seem to be playing their best hockey of the year.

“He does a couple things that are important as a young player. He’s very readable as a young player. So Mark and Blake have a real good understanding of where he’s going because he’s consistent with that. And his defensive positioning is very, very strong. There’s not a lot of video of him being 10 feet off where he’s supposed to be. He understands the game and he can skate,” Maurice said.

Perreault is getting closer to returning. He was a full participant in Wednesday’s practice, albeit with a non-contact jersey. Maurice said he won’t play in Friday’s game in Las Vegas or Saturday’s contest in Arizona.

However, when Perreault is fully healthy, Maurice will certainly have some options at his disposal that he didn’t have prior to Connor’s emergence.

“So we’ll see what it does with the rest of the group. I’m not sure I can remember the last time you had the same group of forwards for more than a game, but we’ll see. We hope we can get to that,” Maurice said.

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As for Connor, he said Wednesday he’s just looking to keep improving every game while handling the responsibility of playing on the top line.

“It’s just been a lot of fun. Those guys are incredible players. You saw it every night, they don’t take any shifts off,” said Connor, who had a goal and an assist in Monday’s 4-1 win in Dallas. “We all play a direct game, with lots of speed. We try to play it quick. Our games complement each other, for sure.”

Connor has already surpassed the two goals and three assists he registered in 20 games during his rookie season last year, which included a lengthy stay with the Moose. While he found himself back on the farm to start this season, a return seems unlikely.

“Every time you play and get more minutes, you get that confidence,” Connor said.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

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