Jets’ Josh Morrissey now week-to-week with upper-body injury

The Winnipeg Jets got bad news on the injury status of their number one defenseman, as head coach Scott Arniel told reporters, including Mike McIntyre of The Winnipeg Free Press, that Josh Morrissey is now out of the lineup on a week-to-week basis as he deals with an upper-body injury.

Morrissey sustained the injury during the Jets’ 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Oct. 7. He exited the game early and was ruled out on a day-to-day basis shortly afterward. Now, it’s clear that timeline was a bit on the optimistic side, and that Winnipeg will have to go without its star defenseman for a while longer.

The Calgary native was off to a strong start before leaving the lineup, as he had earned three assists in the Jets’ first three games of the season while averaging about 23 minutes per game.

In Morrissey’s absence, Arniel has deployed Dylan Samberg and Neal Pionk as his top pairing with the duo of Mario Ferraro and Dylan DeMelo rounding out the top four.

The Jets are in the Windy City tonight to take on the Chicago Blackhawks, and they will look to pick up another divisional win and keep their impressive run to start the year going. The group has already tallied victories over the Avalanche and Minnesota Wild.

Dealing with the absences of both Morrissey and goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who has requested a trade, Winnipeg currently owns a 4-1-1 record and sits second in the Central Division a point behind the Utah Mammoth, though the Jets are ahead on points percentage.

Free agent goalie acquisition Stuart Skinner has been strong between the pipes, and Winnipeg’s top forwards have been outstanding offensively, as Kyle Connor (10 points), Cole Perfetti (8) and Mark Scheifele (6) are each averaging at least a point per game played.