Winnipeg's Kyle Connor Expected to Miss 6-8 Weeks with Knee Injury

The Winnipeg Jets will need to get used to life without forward Kyle Connor.

On Tuesday, Jets head coach Rick Bowness said that Connor would be heading back to Winnipeg for further testing on his right knee. It was unveiled Wednesday that he would be out rather long-term.

The team placed Connor on the injured reserve and called up forward Dominic Toninato from the Manitoba Moose to serve as his replacement.

Bowness said that Connor's injury is to his right knee and the initial timeframe is expected to be somewhere near the six-to-eight week mark. 

"You don't replace Kyle Connor," Bowness said Tuesday. "You think someone else is going to step in there and do that? That's completely unrealistic. But what is within our control is for each and every player to be at their best every shift, throughout every game, and we'll go from there."

Gabriel Vilardi, who has recently returned from a sprained right MCL, ended up missing seven weeks to start the year thanks to another dirty play - this time a trip from former teammate Blake Lizotte. 

Vilardi's absence was missed, but Connor's 17 goals will certainly be a large roster hole to fill. 

“Obviously it sucks losing KC, who is as elite of a shooter and goal-scorer as they come, even on the power play he’s pretty legit," forward Cole Perfetti said Tuesday night. "We’ve got a next-man-up mentality. Of course it hurts losing him, but Fly is a pretty talented player himself and he fills that spot. We really shouldn’t be putting up any excuses here."

Taken out on a dirty knee-on-knee check by Anaheim's Ryan Strome, Connor left Sunday's game and was ruled out shortly thereafter. 

Strome was given 20 penalty minutes on the play and subsequently booted from the game. He wasn't suspended, however, as the NHL's Department of Player Safety felt the hit and resulting injury fit perfectly within the rules of the game.

"We understand how big a contributor KC is in the locker room, power play, five on five, he scores a lot of goals for us," Brenden Dillon said. "But we got to understand that he's not coming back anytime soon and that's the reality of it. We wish him the quickest and best recovery. But overall there's going to be guys in elevated roles, there's more ice time, more opportunities."

The 16-9-2 Jets face off against the Kings on Wednesday night in a 9:30 PM central puck drop. That game marks the second of back-to-back late night contests, as Winnipeg previously suited up in San Jose, where the club's four-game winning streak came to an end by way of a 2-1 los to the Sharks. Wednesday's tilt can be viewed live on TSN.