Life without No. 1 centre Mark Scheifele was surprisingly fruitful, to the point that Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice dropped a bombshell as he greeted the media following practice Thursday.
“We’re trading him,” Maurice deadpanned.
He was kidding, of course. But the way the Jets not only survived, but actually thrived, without the services of Scheifele was nothing short of amazing. They went 11-2-3 in his time on the injury list, a span that has them in better position now then when he went down on Dec. 27 with an upper-body injury.
Winnipeg now gets to see if they can continue their winning ways as Scheifele returns to the lineup tonight when the Jets host the St.