With less than two weeks until the start of the regular season, the Winnipeg Jets blueliners are dropping like flies.
Three of their defencemen are currently dealing with injuries of various degrees after just a week of training camp with Ville Heinola, Dylan Samberg, and Logan Stanley all missing from Thursday’s practice.
Heinola has the most serious injury of the three as he already underwent another surgery on his previously surgically repaired ankle. Heinola was experiencing swelling in his ankle last week and it was determined he had an infection in the area surrounding the pin that was inserted into his ankle a year ago.
Doctors have since removed the pin and he’ll miss the next month at a minimum as his streak of bad luck continues.
“He had the surgery and hopefully it’s a quick recovery,” Jets head coach Scott Arniel told reporters after Thursday’s practice. “It’s a minimum four weeks that we’ll see where it goes from there. I’m not 100 per cent how long it will be because he took the pin out of his ankle.
“So, I’m not a doctor, so I’m not 100 per cent how long that will take. I think it’ll obviously depend on as long as there’s no swelling and infection and go from there.”
Samberg missed Thursday’s skate for maintenance after getting a bump in Wednesday’s pre-season victory over the Edmonton Oilers. It’s not considered serious though and head coach Scott Arniel is hoping he can play as soon as Friday.
Stanley was a late scratch on Wednesday after he “tweaked something” and he’ll be sidelined for at least the next few days.
The Jets depth on defence will be tested, but the injuries open the door for players like Haydn Fleury and Dylan Coghlan to make the team out of camp.
“We wanted to have depth in all positions so that just in case,” said Arniel. “I really wasn’t hoping it was going to happen this quick, but now for those two, that’s a chance. Go put your best foot forward, show us what you’re good at, be consistent at what you do, and hopefully the results help you make our hockey team.”
The Jets play the fourth of their six pre-season games on Friday in Minnesota.