Key Jets forward to miss game with upper-body injury, playoff status unknown

Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness told reporters that Nikolaj Ehlers will not play in the team’s regular-season finale against the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday due to an upper-body injury.

Ehlers was hit by Ryan Hartman during Winnipeg’s game against Minnesota Tuesday, a moment that earned Hartman a one-game suspension. Bowness said the injury is not concussion-related and that it’s too early to tell if he’ll be ready for Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs next week.

Ehlers missed most of the first half of the season after undergoing sports hernia surgery in November. When healthy, he has managed to put up 12 goals and 38 points in 45 games in a top-six role for the Jets. Ehlers has been a force for the Jets throughout his eight-year career but has dealt with injury issues over the past few seasons. When healthy, he’s capable of 55- to 60-point seasons, so the Jets will hope he’s ready to go in time for Game 1.

The Jets are also sitting Pierre-Luc Dubois, Josh Morrissey, Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Nate Schmidt against the Avalanche on Thursday. The Jets were the final team to clinch a playoff spot in the Western Conference, so this one game offers the team a chance to rest its top talent ahead of the first-round matchup.

Winnipeg clinched the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference earlier this week, edging out Calgary and Nashville. As it stands, the Jets are projected to play the Vegas Golden Knights in the first-round of the playoffs, but the Edmonton Oilers can still take the top spot before the regular season concludes on Friday evening.