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Published Dec 08, 2025 • 3 minute read
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Carolina Hurricanes’ Nikolaj Ehlers (27) celebrates his goal with Jackson Blake this season. Photo by Karl DeBlaker /The Associated PressArticle content
You don’t even need truth serum to get the Winnipeg Jets to admit they miss forward Nik Ehlers.
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The speedy winger’s free-agent departure to Carolina last summer seems to have hit this team harder than anybody thought it would.
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“You’d be lying to say he didn’t help a lot,” forward Gabe Vilardi said on Monday. “He has the ability to create five-on-five at an extraordinary level that not many guys in the league do. He has the ability to take over a game, which is rare. Not many people in the world can do what he does.
“So obviously we miss him a lot. When he would bring that game where he would just take over.”
Vilardi is quick to say that’s no excuse, though, for what’s been ailing his team.
After ranking in the top-10 in goal scoring the last two seasons, the Jets are currently tied for 16th, averaging three goals per game.
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Their top line accounts for about half of it, as secondary scoring has all but dried up most nights.
“We have players in here,” Vilardi said. “We’re capable of winning, I believe. I don’t know what the analytics say, I don’t know what the media says. But I believe we do.”
Vilardi (13 goals), Mark Scheifele (14) and Kyle Connor (15) are the only Jets to hit double digits in goals.
The next players, Nino Niederreiter and Vlad Namestnikov, have six each.
It’s not like Ehlers has ripped it up in Carolina. He’s up to six goals and 13 assists.
But he hit at least 20 in eight of his last nine seasons in Winnipeg.
“Nikky’s not coming back to save us,” Dylan DeMelo said. “So we’ve got to figure it out without him. We’ve been trying… guys are trying to figure out their own games, first and foremost. A lot of guys wish, maybe, they’d had a better start to the year. As a team, we wish we were in a better spot. But we are where we are.
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“It’s how we deal with it, the adversity we’re facing, the inconsistency we’re having.”
DeMelo says Ehlers’ departure is only one of the factors in the Jets’ decline. Another is injuries.
“We miss him a lot. We miss Connor Hellebuyck right now,” the defenceman said. “We missed Lowry, we missed Samberg at the beginning of the year. We missed Perfetti. There’s different personnel, schedule – everything’s different this year. We’ve got injuries this year that we didn’t have last year.
“These aren’t excuses, either. Just things that are true.”
Break ’em up
Scott Arniel appears ready to break up that top line for Tuesday’s home game against Dallas.
In Monday’s practice the head coach had Vilardi skating on a second line with Adam Lowry and Niederreiter, while Alex Iafallo (four goals) was up with Scheifele and Connor.
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The other two combos: Namestnikov between Cole Perfetti and Tanner Pearson, Morgan Barron with Jonathan Toews and Cole Koepke.
“I’m just trying, obviously, to spark some people, spark some lines, spark some consistency on the offensive side of things,” Arniel said. “Just trying to find something that works, here.”
The Jets have been held to two goals or less in five of their last eight games.
Crease move
The Jets have made a backup goalie swap, sending Thomas Milic down to the farm and calling up Domenic DiVincentiis.
Arniel says he plans a similar approach with DiVincentiis as he took with Milic, getting him his first taste of the NHL fairly quickly.
“As we know, it’s a very, very tough position to play,” the coach said. “And this is really about getting opportunity and experience. It gives us an opportunity to see what we have. It allows them to build their brand, build their game for the future.”
Eric Comrie (6-6-1 record, 3.08 goals-against-average, .898 saves percentage) remains the No. 1 netminder for the foreseeable future, as Hellebuyck recovers from knee surgery.
paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca
X: @friesensunmedia
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