The Winnipeg Jets need their best players on the ice to maximize what has been a fast start to the season.
They already know that for the moment, they're without superstar goalie Connor Hellebuyck — and that they may not have him at all if he ends up getting traded.
But with that in mind, the Jets can't afford a ton of other absences. They need their roster in the best shape they can have it, because without Hellebuyck on the back end, things could end up being a bit more leaky.
That's where Josh Morrissey's injury comes in, and it's certainly far from ideal.
Morrissey was injured on Wednesday as the Jets took on the Colorado Avalanche.
He took a hit from the Avs' T.J. Hughes and was clearly shaken up by it, leaving the game and not returning.
His potential absence isn't really known more than that.
"Just about everything is going right for the Jets in the early part of the season," Sportsnet's Michael Amato wrote on Friday. "Winnipeg jumped out to a 3-0-1 record in a season that was supposed to be marred by the Connor Hellebuyck trade request, and the team is full of confidence playing an exciting brand of hockey. If there is one negative, though, it's that top defender Josh Morrissey went down with an injury Wednesday in a victory over the Colorado Avalanche."
Morrissey is definitively the Jets' top offensive defenseman, and on a team that needs to keep scoring goals, he's pretty crucial.
"Morrissey is a huge catalyst for the Jets offence, so if he is forced to miss substantial time it's going to sting," Amato writes.
Last season, Morrissey had 55 points, a huge total for a defenseman.
This season, he'll have to find a way back from injury sooner rather than later.
The Jets simply have less margin for error when Hellebuyck isn't available.
That applies to every situation, including in an injury spot like this with Morrissey.
"If the Jets are going to have a good season this year without Hellebuyck in a tough Central Division, just about everything has to go perfectly," Amato writes. "So far, the goaltending has done a good job and the team isn't showing any signs that they miss their gold medal-winning goaltender. There's lots of optimism in Winnipeg right now, so you just hope a Morrissey injury doesn't derail it."
An injury like this really can sink the spirits, and so Winnipeg simply has to hope that they can keep their heads in a good place.
It also would help the Jets if Morrissey simply didn't have to be out that long. Hockey injuries are always a bit mysterious, but this is clearly a case of the sooner Morrissey can get back, the better.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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