Jets place Connor on IR, expected to miss 6-8 weeks

The Winnipeg Jets placed forward Kyle Connor on injured reserve Wednesday, with the winger expected to miss 6-8 weeks with a lower-body injury, Jets reporter Sara Orlesky said Wednesday.

The Jets had previously only officially ruled out Connor through Wednesday's game against the Los Angeles Kings.

"Initially, the thinking is that it could be as few as six weeks or as long as eight weeks, but that's cautiously optimistic," TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger said Tuesday on Insider Trading. "The Winnipeg Jets needed to get Kyle Connor back to Winnipeg so he could be fully evaluated by their trusted doctors and specialists in Winnipeg. As we can see this was a violent knee-on-knee collision. The initial worry was that there was significant ligament damage here. But until there's more testing and more imaging, the Jets can't be sure. Which is why they also haven't confirmed that six-to-eight-week timeline."

With Connor on injured reserve, the Just recalled forward Dominic Toninato from the AHL's Manitoba Moose on an emergency basis.

Connor took a knee-on-knee hit in Sunday's 4-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks in the second period and has not played since. Ducks forward Ryan Strome hit Connor's right knee just after the Jets forward fired a backhand shot while cutting across the ice. Ducks goaltender John Gibson froze the puck on the shot attempt and Mark Scheifele dropped the gloves with Strome, who received a five-minute major and a game misconduct for the hit. 

The 27-year-old winger has 17 goals and 28 points in 25 games this season.

Connor has scored 226 career goals over 492 games with the Jets since they selected him 17th overall in the 2015 NHL Draft.