Winnipeg Jets finalize opening night roster

Training camp is now complete, the final cuts have been made, and all that’s left is to drop the puck on a new season.

48 hours ahead of their season opener, the Jets finalized their opening night roster. The Jets made six moves on Monday to get down to the 23-man limit, with the club deciding their top prospects need a little more seasoning on the farm.

The Jets assigning forwards Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov, and Jaret Anderson-Dolan, along with defenceman Elias Salomonsson to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.

Defenceman Logan Stanley was placed on injured reserve after recently undergoing knee surgery, while Ville Heinola was designated as injured non-roster after having surgery on his ankle.

Lambert, Chibrikov, and Salomonsson all had strong camps according to head coach Scott Arniel, and he stressed to the players that it’s all about their development and they could be back up with the big club anytime.

“We don’t want these guys to force them into a situation where they crash and burn and we got to start all over again,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “We’re doing this obviously because we need these guys. They are apart of our future.

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“This doesn’t mean anything is written in stone where we’re going. I told them both (Lambert and Chibrikov) that go down and continue to be the best players. This could be a week. This could be a month. I’m not making any guarantees, but they obviously opened eyes for a lot of guys from Penticton to playing in the exhibition games here.”

The Jets kept three goalies for now after giving fans a minor panic attack on Monday morning when netminder Connor Hellebuyck missed practice. But it’s not injury related as Hellebuyck was absent from the skate due to personal reasons for “family stuff” and they’re expecting him to be back with the team in time to catch the flight to Edmonton on Tuesday for Wednesday’s season opener against the Oilers. But the club opted to keep three goalies just in case.

“Might not be back for tomorrow’s practice but we’re expecting him to be on that plane when we head to Edmonton,” Arniel said. “So, he’s got some family stuff that he’s just looking after and has to take care of, so, we’ll just give him his privacy and move forward.”

Defenceman Colin Miller earned a spot on the Jets roster after an impressive first training camp with the team, scoring three times in the pre-season. He starts the campaign with a firm grip on a spot among their starting six defencemen after the injuries to Stanley and Heinola. It’s a big change from last spring when the 31-year-old veteran couldn’t find a regular place in the lineup under Rick Bowness after the trade deadline deal.

“A different feeling definitely for me,” said Miller. “I think coming in last year was a bit of a whirlwind with everything going on. So, nice to have a full training camp here and have some more familiar faces here to start.”

Forward Rutger McGroarty made the Pittsburgh Penguins 23-man roster out of training camp after the Jets first-round draft pick was dealt to the Pens back in August.

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