Connor looking ahead after cut

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This article was published 04/10/2017 (2984 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There was no sulking. No pouting. And no complaining. Instead, Kyle Connor seems to have taken his assignment to the Manitoba Moose in stride while vowing to do everything possible to get back to the big club as quickly as possible.

“Anybody who’s not frustrated… I wouldn’t tell you otherwise,” Connor, 20, said Wednesday following his first American Hockey League practice after being sent down by the Winnipeg Jets one day earlier. “But it’s just the hand you’ve been dealt. You’ve got to make the most of it. For me, it’s just improve my game and get that much better.”

The 2015 first-round pick made the Jets out of camp last year, but only dressed for 19 games — putting up a goal and three assists in limited playing time — before he was dispatched to the farm. After a bit of a slow start with the Moose, Connor took off. He scored a team-high 25 goals and added 19 assists in 52 games in antlers.

Connor was recalled for one more NHL game at the end of last season and scored a goal. He was hoping to build off that this season, but was held pointless in six pre-season games. He found himself on the outside looking in as Jets head coach Paul Maurice finalized his 23-man roster.

“He’s very positive. He’s taking it like a man,” Moose head coach Pascal Vincent said Wednesday. “He knows what he has to work on. There’s one good thing that he does extremely well and that’s self-evaluation. He’s not down, he’s not negative, he’s not taking it as a demotion.

“He wants to show that he belongs to the NHL.”

Connor said the Jets brass gave him some ideas on what he needs to get to the next level and stay there.

“Staying on the puck, winning more battles is kind of a big thing,” he said. “Just keep playing my game, keep working hard and do all the little things right.”

Although an AHL encore wasn’t his first choice, Connor said his confidence at this level should allow him to hit the ground running.

He’s excited to reunite with fellow first-round pick and good friend Jack Roslovic on what is expected to be the top line for the Moose when they open the season Friday night in Michigan against the defending league champion Grand Rapids Griffins.

“I think we mesh together. It’ll be fun to see what we can do,” Connor said. “I’m just going to come out here and have a good start to the season and see how it goes. I don’t put any numbers on it. Just go out there and play my game and I think the results will come.”

 

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One of the most promising defensive prospects in the Winnipeg Jets pipeline could miss the entire season with a major injury.

Defenceman Nelson Nogier, 21, was hurt on the first shift of his first exhibition game with the Moose last weekend in Grand Forks, N.D., Vincent said Wednesday.

It happened during a seemingly innocent-looking play when an Iowa Wild skater rubbed him into the boards.

He requires surgery for an upper-body injury and will be out between four to six months.

It’s a major blow for Nogier, who was expected to be a key player with the Moose this season as well as providing some valuable defensive depth for the Jets.

“He had a good summer. He worked hard during the summer. He showed up in camp in good shape and the right mindset. He’s a solid kid. It’s really too bad for him. It’s too bad for us,” Vincent said Wednesday.

“We’re going to have a plan for him to keep his mind sharp so he keeps learning the game. But for a while he’s not going to be able to do anything physically.”

Nogier enjoyed a fine rookie pro season last year, appearing in 60 games with the Moose. He put up two goals and 11 assists and was rewarded with a late-season call-up to the big club, playing 10 games with the Jets.

The Moose are currently dealing with several injuried players. Forwards Patrice Cormier, Jansen Harkins and Francis Beauvillier and defenceman Jan Kostalek are all doubtful to be ready by this weekend.

Manitoba still has 28 skaters in camp, but only 23 are healthy enough to play.

Vincent said he’s likely to keep everyone around, at least for now. Unlike the NHL, there is no maximum roster size in the AHL.

“It’s going to give us a little bit more time to adjust and make the right decisions,” Vincent said.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg