The Winnipeg Jets made a minor roster shuffle prior to embarking on a short one-game road trip.
The Jets recalled forward Andrei Chibisov and reassigned defenceman Cameron Schilling back to the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose.
Chibisov, 26, is enjoying his first season in North America after five seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League.
He has seven goals and 17 assists in 46 AHL games with the Moose this season. Chibisov is playing on a one-year entry level contract that was signed last June.
“Big, strong, powerful man, heavy shot,” Maurice told reporters.
“He can move when he gets to speed, and he has relatively no English, which is an important factor. The learning curve, then, is going to take a little bit longer.”
Jets head coach Paul Maurice would like to see the big Russian winger in the lineup at some point.
“Of available players down there, he had played very well,” he said.
“And while I don’t necessarily have a lineup change up front, based on his work, his size, and his hands, I may want to see him here.”
Chibisov’s services are required after forward Mathieu Perreault was placed on injured reserve on Tuesday. But Maurice made no promises about how long he would stick with the parent club with 13 healthy forwards now with the team.
“We may rotate players up and down,” Maurice said. “That may happen here because we still got some time on Matty Perreault before he comes back.”
Perreault is expected to miss a couple weeks with an upper-body injury.
The Jets play the St. Louis Blues on Thursday where Nathan Beaulieu is expected to return to the lineup after missing the last five weeks of action.
The Jets will then fly back to Winnipeg for their next six straight games.
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