Kyle Connor to miss six-to-eight weeks with lower-body injury
They haven't provided all the details quite yet, but Winnipeg Jets star forward Kyle Connor will be out a minimum six weeks as he recovers from what most are calling a knee injury.
On Sunday evening, Connor was checked directly in the right knee by the leg of Anaheim Ducks forward Ryan Strome. The play cost Strome the rest of the game and Connor the next two months of his life.
Connor exited the game and had staff travelling with the team check out his injured leg. Head coach Rick Bowness didn't provide much of an update on Tuesday, just indicating that Connor had travelled back to Winnipeg, where the rest of the team's doctors would get a better look at his ailment and provide the club with an update.
Most have speculated the setback to be his MCL, to which he likely suffered a tear - quite possibly of the second degree.
That injury recovery aligns similarly to that of the timetable that Winnipeg announced on Wednesday that he would be missing.
"We understand how big a contributor KC is in the locker room, power play, five on five, he scores a lot of goals for us," Jets defenceman Brenden Dillon said following Tuesday's loss in San Jose. "But we got to understand that he's not coming back anytime soon and that's the reality of it. We wish him the quickest and best recovery. But overall there's going to be guys in elevated roles, there's more ice time, more opportunities."
First-year forward Gabriel Vilardi suffered a similar injury in just his third game of the season. His timeline was initially estimated at four-to-six weeks, but it took him seven to fully recover and get back into Winnipeg's lineup.
For now, the Jets will need to look elsewhere for offence to fill the void left by Connor. Vilardi is a great option. Another is youngster Cole Perfetti, who will certainly benefit from some added power play time.
"KC is out for a bit now," Perfetti said. "We can’t use that excuse, we just need to put our heads down and work. Hopefully we can turn this thing around.”
The Jets will look to get back in the winning column on Wednesday night in Los Angeles. They play the Kings at 9:30 PM central time. The game will be broadcast on TSN.
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