Winnipeg Jets forward Cole Perfetti will miss a minimum of eight weeks with an upper-body injury, coach Rick Bowness said Friday. Here’s what you need to know:
- The 21-year-old Perfetti is third in NHL rookie scoring with eight goals and 22 assists (30 points) in 51 games.
- He was a first-round pick (No. 10) by the Jets in 2020 and ranked No. 29 in Corey Pronman’s midseason under-23 list.
- Perfetti was injured on Feb. 19 in the Jets’ game against the Devils.
- The Jets (35-22-1) are in second place in the Central Division with 71 points.
Eight weeks from today is April 21, four days after round one of the playoffs is tentatively scheduled to start.
— Murat Ates (@WPGMurat) February 24, 2023
What this means for the Jets
Winnipeg was already a buyer, in need of top-six forward help when Perfetti was healthy. In addition to the obvious — $9 million in projected cap space, a wide open west, Pierre-Luc Dubois’ uncertain future and a 2024 UFA year that impacts Mark Scheifele, Connor Hellebuyck and Blake Wheeler — you could see it in the way Bowness ran his lines.
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Perfetti’s minutes were already being shaved, on occasion — particularly when Winnipeg needed to protect a lead late in a game. Occasionally, Nikolaj Ehlers’ minutes were cut too. Bowness wanted bigger, more physical forwards he could trust and it was my opinion that Saku Maenalanen and Karson Kuhlman were placeholders for bigger, more impactful forwards higher in the lineup. — Ates
Who will have to step up in Perfetti’s absence?
Without Perfetti, the top six look ordinary. Scheifele and Wheeler can make two-thirds of a scoring line, while Dubois and Kyle Connor can make two-thirds of one more. But the Jets are aiming for better than ordinary and their shopping list may expand from one big, 200-foot quality forward who can score to two. If Winnipeg falls out of the Timo Meier race, then look at players like James Van Riemsdyk, Nick Schmaltz or Josh Anderson — or lesser players, but more of them — because Winnipeg already needed help to take the next step in a wide-open West.
And don’t forget: Bowness said Perfetti is out a “minimum” of eight weeks. I’d take the current timeline — a few days into the first round of the playoffs — with a grain of salt. Winnipeg needs to plan its playoff run as if Perfetti is a bonus and not at all a certainty. — Ates
(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
