Jets lose Mathieu Perreault for possibly rest of regular season
The Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars are all playing good hockey at the moment. The Winnipeg Jets have been as well, winning four of five, but mounting injuries are threatening to knock them out of their current wild card standing.
Paul Maurice revealed on Wednesday that newly-acquired Drew Stafford is day-to-day with an upper-body injury. (This means Dustin Byfuglien will go back to forward for the time being.) He also announced that Mathieu Perreault has a “significant” lower-body injury and could be out for the rest of the regular season.
“We would be hopeful that he will return by the end of the regular season,” Maurice said, via the Winnipeg Sun. “It won't be much sooner than that.”
Perreault took a hit along the boards Monday night against Edmonton and was helped from the ice, avoiding any weight on his leg. After the game, he was spotted leaving the arena in a walking boot.
Losing Perreault, who has 18 goals and 36 points on the season and is a key piece on the power play, for potentially the final 23 games of the season, while clinging to a playoff spot, isn’t an ideal situation for the Jets.
With the NHL trade deadline a week and a half away, will this force GM Kevin Cheveldayoff to make a second deal this month? If so, he might want to ring up Columbus Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen. They have three cheap forwards — Matt Calvert, Cam Atkinson and Mark Letestu — who are pending unrestricted free agents and could have new homes soon.
Cheveldayoff knows that the Jets must make the playoffs this season. Making a move to bolster their top-six will serve them well to hang on to a playoff spot, as well as the bonus of added depth once Perreault and Stafford return healthy.
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
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