The Winnipeg Jets are into their final week of training camp and will play their second-to-last game of the preseason Monday night in Calgary.
And it’s safe to say, Rick Bowness and his coaching staff have needed to revise on the fly because of injuries — and illness — to a couple of key players.
Former Jets bench boss Paul Maurice said it best: as an NHL coach, you have a plan … until they drop the puck.
That certainly applies to what has gone down over the past week and a half at the Hockey For All Centre.
And it began right from day one, when Nikolaj Ehlers lasted for about 15 minutes into his first on-ice session before departing with neck spasms resulting from a routine training drill the day before.
Ehlers just returned to full practice on the weekend — but told the coaches and trainers he still doesn’t feel quite ready for game action. So Cole Perfetti and Nino Neiderreiter will have a linemate not wearing #27 for the third time this preseason.
Nate Schmidt has been dealing with a lower-body injury since the exhibition-opening 2-1 shootout win at Edmonton, when Oilers forward Evander Kane fell on him. The veteran blueliner has practised with the main group — but only in a non-contact jersey.
Not good news for Schmidt. But an opportunity for Ville Heinola to continue what has been a strong bid to break into the top six on the blue line.
Illness sidelined Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi for both weekend practices, so those two will stay home Monday night along with Ehlers and Schmidt.
So much for using these two final games as tune-ups for what would have been the lineup for the opening night of the regular season in Calgary, nine days from now.
So much for keeping the three forward lines with ex-Kings Vilardi, Alex Iafollo, and Rasmus Kupari intact to try and develop chemistry.
Every forward unit will look different than originally intended in Calgary on Monday evening. A positive thinker would say. “Better to get all this out of the way now.” A pessimist would ask, “What do you think will go wrong next?”
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