Jets left winger Nikolaj Ehlers out long term after sports hernia surgery

Winnipeg Jets left winger Nikolaj Ehlers of Aalborg, Denmark will be out six to eight weeks with sports hernia surgery according to TSN in Canada. When healthy, Ehlers is a top six forward on the Jets. Unfortunately staying healthy has been an issue for Ehlers in recent seasons. Since 2018-19, Ehlers has suffered injuries to his shoulder, an undisclosed upper-body injury and a medial collateral ligament strain.

When did the sports hernia injury occur?

Ehlers injured his hernia in a 4-1 Jets loss to the Dallas Stars on October 17. Before the injury, Ehlers had assisted on the Jets’s lone goal of the game, which was scored at 3:28 of the first period by Mark Scheifele of Kitchener, Ontario. In the loss to the Stars, Ehlers also had four shots on goal, two hits, and one blocked shot. He had 22 shifts in 21 minutes and 47 seconds of ice time.

2022-23 NHL stats

Ehlers had three assists in two games, and had one power-play point. He also had seven shots on goal, one blocked shot, two hits, four takeaways, and one giveaway. In the Jets’s opening National Hockey League game of the 2022-23 regular season, Ehlers had a multi-point game. He assisted on two other goals by Scheifele in a 4-1 Jets win over the New York Rangers.

Career Statistics

In 480 National Hockey League regular season games, Ehlers has 164 goals and 197 assists for 361 points. He is a +67 with 165 penalty minutes, 71 power-play points, one shorthanded point, 27 game-winning goals, 1363 shots on goal, nine faceoff wins, 164 blocked shots, 234 hits, 217 takeaways, and 266 giveaways. Ehlers’s lone shorthanded goal came from Blake Wheeler of Plymouth, Michigan in a 3-2 Jets win over the Montreal Canadiens on January 6, 2020.

 Jets great start I’m 2022-23

Thanks to the great goaltending by Connor Hellebuyck of Commerce, Michigan, the Jets find themselves tied for second place in the Central Division with a record of 11 wins and five regulation losses with one overtime loss for 23 points. Both teams are only two points back of the division leading Dallas Stars, which have 25 points.