It’s not the way he would have liked to return to the Winnipeg Jets lineup, but despite the circumstances, forward Kyle Connor knows he has a big opportunity in front of him.
Connor, 20, was recalled by the Jets on Monday morning after the team moved Mathieu Perreault to the injured reserve list following a lower-body injury he suffered blocking a shot on Saturday.
Connor was among the final cuts the Jets made at the tail end of a competitive training camp. He entered the preseason as one of the front runners to lock up a spot on the opening night roster, but inconsistent play in camp ultimately cost him what some felt was his to lose.
“It wasn’t a goal of mine,” Connor said Monday of beginning the year with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. “But it happens for a reason and you can’t dwell on it. You have to look forward and try to improve.”
And improve he did.
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The University of Michigan standout scored three times and added two assists in the first four games with the Moose; and Jets head coach Paul Maurice was impressed by Connor’s response to his demotion.
“I would think he was very disappointed, as they all are,” Maurice said on Monday. “But (he) turns around and now he gets a chance. And it’s a top six chance and he’s going to have to work really hard to keep that. We’ve got other players there that want that opportunity, too. So he has to perform. He doesn’t have to put pucks in the net. He has to show that he’s getting chances, but that’s not the big one. He’s going to play on that line, you’re drawing the other team’s better players, you’re drawing the other team’s better defence. So he needs to be able to play at that level.”
Connor’s task on the Jets second line will be to quickly find an understanding between himself and his new linemates, Bryan Little and Patrik Laine.
“They’re both really great players,” Connor said. “I think I can bring some speed to the table and I think our play-making ability, I think we can all move the puck around and have the ability to finish. It’s going to be exciting and I’m looking forward to it.”
Meanwhile, the loss of Perreault, who will miss four weeks according to Maurice, was already felt around the dressing room on Monday.
“It’s tough. He’s been playing well for us lately and it’s tough to replace a guy like that,” said Little. “I enjoy playing with him and how hard he works and his offensive side. He’s going to be missed.”
Nikolaj Ehlers echoed that sentiment.
“It's not fun,” Ehlers said. “It's never fun when you see teammates go down. But he took one for the team. It was a shot that was going for the net. That's not the way you want it to be after, but there's nothing you can do about it.
“He plays so hard. He gets down in the corners. It's everything. Tries to get every shot blocked. And just works his butt off every single game. What happened to him could have happened to anybody else. But it sucks.”
Maurice suggested that Perreault has “crept” into the fabric of the team.
“We really need what he brings because he finds a way to get on the puck, knock things down, keep it there,” Maurice said. “An important piece to that second power play unit. But we’ve got some young guys that are playing in the minors that maybe two years ago would have started here. So they come with a little more bite and a little more determination they didn’t get handed a job. So we think we have the pieces here to survive an injury like this.”
Maurice also asserted that it was an injury that could have been prevented by Perreault himself.
“Well there’s a funny story about how that shot had to get blocked,” Maurice explained. “So, control that puck maybe in the offensive zone and we’re not blocking shots in our own.”