Insider Trading: Jets face adversity going into Round 1

TSN’s Hockey Insiders discuss Winnipeg’s injury issues heading into the playoffs, the injuries to Leafs defencemen Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson, Miro Heiskanen’s status with the Stars, how Ivan Demidov’s star status could make Montreal an off-season destination and Rick Tocchet not expected to coach at the men's Worlds.

James Duthie: This is the time of year where teams who have solidified their playoff spots are concerned about one thing and that is injuries and some concerning news for the Jets today, Dregs.

Darren Dreger: Yeah, Scott Arniel, the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets, acknowledged that his veteran Nikolaj Ehlers is going to be lost to the team week-to-week. That doesn't entirely take him out of the possibility of the first round, and also Gabriel Vilardi who skated, is listed as day-to-day. So if we look at Nikolaj Ehlers here, let's talk about how unlucky, how fluky this was on the weekend as he collides with an on-ice official and you can immediately see that this guy is in pain and this injury is going to be significant. That's the way it's turned out. Better news for Gabe Vilardi. As I said, he is skating, so he remains a possibility to start round one of the playoffs or participate at some point. Maybe is the the middle part of round one, but what it also means is that the Jets are going to have to lean on some other guys like Alex Iafallo, Cole Perfetti are going to have to shoulder more of the load.

Chris Johnston: There's a little more of an encouraging tone, I would say, in Toronto, where defencemen Jake McCabe and Oliver Ekman-Larsson have both been sidelined with upper-body injuries. It seems at this point like the Leafs are really just being cautious, that they don't want to put either player in harm's way. And really the only decision when it comes to will they be available for the start of the playoffs is Ekman-Larsson. He's still day-to-day. He has resumed skating in Toronto, is away from the team at this point in time, but may or may not be ready for that first game. It certainly sounds like McCabe will be there, and so while we won't likely see them in uniform before the end of the regular season, neither appears to be in too much danger when it comes to their playoff availability.

Duthie: Dallas about to start what will be a cage match in the first round against Colorado. Will we see Miro Heiskanen against Nathan MacKinnon, CJ?

Johnston: Well, it's going to be a focus throughout. I mean, right now there are hoping he'll be available for that round one series, but I think it's not much more than hope at this point in time. It does sound like from sources close to the situation, it's very possible Heiskanen is not available at all during the first round to the Dallas Stars. He had a knee surgery, has been out since the end of January. He did resume skating at the end of March, but that's a pretty long period of time to be recovering. Obviously, when it comes to the playoffs, sometimes those injury timelines get shrunk and guys find a way to get back in the lineup, but right now it's far from a certainty we'll see Heiskanen in that first-round series.

Duthie: Ivan Demidov, instant star, Dregs, in Montreal. I know it's early, but looking forward, could he have an impact on the way other free agents perceive Montreal?

Dreger: Yeah, I think that's fair because he's an added piece, right? And you can see that he provides an instant element of offence and that was the injection that the Montreal Canadiens were hoping, but they didn't expect it would be this immediate in terms of his NHL debut, so if you're looking at the bigger picture, which we are here, you can also look around the division and look around the top contenders in the league and recognize that the Montreal Canadiens are going to have to add some pieces. They'd like to add some top six forwards either through free agency or through trade. So if you're a player who has trade protection and Montreal isn't on the list, or you're a free agent looking at all your other options and you see a star quality player like Demidov that just adds to the sales pitch.

Duthie: World Championships just over three weeks away, Canada yet to name a head coach, but we can scratch one prominent name off, CJ?

Johnston: Yes, it appears that way and that would be Rick Tocchet who we've discussed Hockey Canada would like to have brought as the head coach for this tournament. He was part of the Four Nations staff. They're looking for continuity, but this is a tough time right now for Tocchet and I think especially if there's such a difficult season for the Vancouver Canucks, it's expected the postmortem is going to be rather extensive, and that involves a lot of meetings with key players on the team. Obviously, Tocchet also has to have conversations with Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford about his own future with his contract expiring, and so the timing right now does not seem to be right for Tocchet to take that extra responsibility with Canada.