After not playing in the Winnipeg Jets’ 4-2 loss Wednesday night to their division rival, Minnesota Wild, the Jets announced that forward Pierre-Luc Dubois wouldn’t join the team at the start of their upcoming three-game road trip, which starts on Saturday night in Sunrise, Florida against the Florida Panthers.
He suffered an upper-body injury in a 3-2 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks on Monday; Dubois saw 20:40 of ice time in his first game back after missing Winnipeg’s previous three games with a lower-body injury.
Although he did not re-aggravate his lower-body injury, he doesn’t have a clear timeline to return from his new upper-body injury. He is expected to join Winnipeg during their three-game road trip, which will see them play the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Carolina Hurricanes. Whether he plays or not is unknown.
The Jets have struggled lately, losing seven of their past eight games and 2-6-2 in their last ten games. Winnipeg has dropped to the Wildcard two in the Western Conference; going into Thursday night’s action, only four points separate them and the Calgary Flames in a battle for the final playoff spot in the conference. Winnipeg can’t afford to lose Dubois for an extended period.
Dubois, 24, has 24 goals and 31 assists for 55 points in 61 games for the Jets this season. In his career, spanning over six seasons, the former third overall pick in the 2016 draft by the Columbus Blue Jackets has 126 goals and 168 for 294 points in 422 career NHL games played with Columbus and Winnipeg.
He is playing on a one-year $6,000,000 contract he signed on July 22, 2022, and will become an RFA after the 2022-23 season.
Sunday, March 12, 2023 (4 pm CST): Dubois is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury and is not expected to join the team Tuesday when they play the Carolina Hurricanes.
Tuesday, March 14, 2023 (11:30 am CST): Dubois (upper-body) will miss a fourth straight game Tuesday, but he is expected to return versus the Bruins on Thursday.
Thursday, March 16, 2023 (11:55 am CST): Dubois will not return to the Jets lineup on Thursday night against the Boston Bruins; he will miss his fifth consecutive game with an upper-body injury.
Thursday, March 16, 2023 (10:00 pm CST): After Thursday night’s loss to Boston, the Jets head coach Rick Bowness said Dubois would travel with the team to Nashville, but his status for Saturday versus the Predators is questionable.
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