Appleton broke his foot while playing football and is expected to miss at least one month according to head coach Paul Maurice. David Gustafsson will remain on the Jets fourth line while Appleton is out.
Not to be confused with this summer’s No.2 overall pick Kaapo Kakko, Kahkonen was a fourth-round pick in 2014. The 23-year-old netminder has gone 4-0-0 with a 2.95 GAA and .886 SV% in four AHL games this season. He is expected to serve as Alex Stalock’s backup on Thursday because Devan Dubnyk was banged up in Tuesday’s win.
Hellebuyck stopped all 28 shots that he faced in the Jets' shutout win over the Oilers on Sunday. The win snapped a brief two-game losing skid for Hellebuyck, who is now 4-2-0 with a 1.82 GAA, .944 SV% and one shutout in his last six starts. Hellebuyck is playing extremely well and is a great option in a home matchup vs. the 3-5-0 Kings.
Hellebuyck surrendered four goals on 35 shots in the Jets loss to the Coyotes on Tuesday. The loss snapped a three-game winning streak for Hellebuyck, who is now 3-2-0 with a 2.82 GAA and .919 SV% in his first five games. On Thursday he draws a great home matchup vs. an Islanders team that is tied for 26th in goal-scoring (2.33 GF/gm) through six games.
The rookie defenseman has been a healthy scratch for the last three games but will be back in against the Islanders. Heinola is closing in on nine games played, which will force the Jets to keep him and burn the first year of his ELC or send him down and keep the ELC intact. So far, he has one goal on eight shots and two assists while playing 19:16 ATOI in five games.
Gustafsson, 19, was a second-round pick (No.60 overall) in 2018 and will replace Mark Letestu in the lineup on Tuesday. Gustafsson, who had 12 points (2G / 10A) in 36 games with HV71 Jonkoping of the Swedish Hockey League last year, will skate with Gabriel Bourque and Mason Appleton.
Hellebuyck allowed two goals on 29 shots in the Jets win in Chicago on Saturday. After a season-opening loss in New York, Hellebuyck has won three in a row while stopping 102 of the 107 shots (.953 SV%) that he has faced. Tonight he faces a Coyotes team that is 1-2-1 and is averaging the least goals per game (1.75) in the NHL right now.
Hellebuyck allowed two goals on 40 shots in the Jets win over the Jets on Thursday. After a tough start to the season, Hellebuyck has settled in, winning each of his last two starts while stopping 75 of 78 shots (.962 SV%). On Saturday he will face a Blackhawks team that he was 2-0-0 with a 3.89 GAA and .864 SV% against last season.
Morrissey missed Saturday’s game against the Islanders with an upper-body injury and was held out of Tuesday’s game for “precautionary reasons.” Morrissey has played 26:01 ATOI in his first two games as the team’s No.1 defenseman and will be back on the top-pair and top PP tonight.
Hellebuyck responded well after being benched on Sunday, stopping 37 of 38 shots in the Jets 4-1 win in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. It was a big win behind an inexperienced blueline for the 26-year-old, who is 16-12-1 in his last 31 road starts. He was 0-4-0 with a 2.80 GAA and .911 SV% vs. the Wild last year, but Minnesota comes into tonight at 0-2-0.
Morrissey missed Sunday’s game with an upper-body injury and will miss Tuesday’s game despite taking part in practice on Monday. The Jets are also without Dmitry Kulikov (personal), so Sami Niku and Nelson Nogier were recalled from Manitoba (AHL). Morrissey should be back in vs. the Wild on Thursday.
Namestnikov had 11 goals and 20 assists (31 points) in 78 games with the Rangers last season. He has been held pointless through two games this season but has been buried in the Rangers bottom-6. With Ottawa, Namestnikov has a chance to carve out a top-6 role and that will go a long way in revamping his fantasy value.
Hellebuyck gave up five goals on 31 shots in the Jets loss in New York last Thursday. Laurent Brossoit started the last two games but the Jets will come back to Hellebuyck tonight in Pittsburgh. The Penguins have had one bad game and one good game but come into Tuesday without Evgeni Malkin and Nick Bjugstad, who are both out with lower-body injuries.
Morrissey missed Sunday’s game against the Islanders but was back at practice this morning and could be back in the lineup on Tuesday. Morrissey skated on the top pair and top power-play unit, which is a good sign for him suiting up in Pittsburgh. Morrissey has averaged an absurd 26:01 TOI/gm through two games on the Jets' new-look blueline.
Morrissey took part in warmups and was even announced in the starting lineup before being a late-scratch with an upper-body injury. The Jets blueline can ill afford to lose Morrissey, who is their clear No.1 defenseman right now. The Jets are back in action on Tuesday, so monitor Morissey's status heading into Pittsburhg.
Hellebuyck had a breakout campaign in 2018, winning 44 games while posting a .924 SV%. In his fourth season, Hellebuyck’s numbers dropped off (.913 SV%) but he still managed to win 34 games. This summer the Jets were gutted on the back-end and it hurt Hellebuyck’s chances for a bounce-back. He starts the season vs. a Rangers team that he was 2-0 against last year—however, they added some game-breaking talent in the offseason.
Comrie was a second-round pick of the Jets in 2013 and has appeared in just five NHL games since. Last year he was 25-20-2 with a 2.69 GAA, .917 SV% and two shutouts in Manitoba (AHL) last year. Comrie provides a little extra goaltending depth for the Coyotes, who had to dip into the minor leagues last year because of a long-term Antti Raanta injury.
Connor was looking for term and he got it. The 22-year-old winger has scored 30-plus goals in back-to-back seasons and set a new career-high in points (66) in 2018-19. Connor is expected to be a fixture on the Jets top-line with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler again in 2019-20 and should have no trouble approaching 30 goals again.