Jets defenceman Neal Pionk week-to-week with lower-body injury, will miss time

Winnipeg Jets coach Scott Arniel confirmed on Friday that Neal Pionk will miss time with a lower body injury. Pionk’s injury puts immediate strain on the Jets’ defence and their depth given the heavy minutes he plays at even strength and on both special teams.

Pionk appeared to twist his leg during a collision with Rangers forward Brennan Othmann in the third period of Tuesday’s game. He left the game immediately, holding his foot off the ice, and sat on the Jets’ bench in apparent pain without heading down the tunnel to the Jets room. He later returned to the game, finishing with a season low 16 minutes, 18 seconds of ice time, compared to an average of over 22 minutes per game this season.

Arniel said Pionk had played through the injury for some time prior to Tuesday’s incident with Othmann, but they’re shutting him down now with the playoffs in mind. Pionk has played through all manner of pains before — including a broken foot — and tried to get through this injury too.

“We’re going to need him for the long run here. As much as he wants to play, this is the right decision,” Arniel said.

Without Pionk, the Jets will expand the roles of depth defencemen Colin Miller and Luke Schenn, who they acquired at the 2024 and 2025 trade deadlines.

Miller has played 48 games on the third pair this season but will take over for Pionk on the Jets’ second unit power play. Tuesday was Schenn’s first game for Winnipeg since being acquired from Pittsburgh last week; he started it on the third pair but played shutdown minutes with the Rangers’ goalie pulled at the end of the game.

Here’s how Winnipeg’s lines and pairings will look on Friday against Dallas:

What does this mean for the Jets’ playoff run?

Winnipeg is in first place in the NHL and enters Friday’s games with an eight point lead on Dallas for first place in the Central Division. It looks like a commanding lead, but Dallas has control of its destiny, too: Not only do the Stars have two games in hand, but the teams play on Friday and again on April 10. Dallas can tie Winnipeg by winning their head-to-head matchups as well as their extra two games.

The Jets’ focus is on finishing in first place, thereby avoiding the Stars and Avalanche in the first-round of a hotly contested Central Division. That’s why Arniel declined to talk about keeping other Jets players out of game action.

“I’m not getting too far down the road here,” Arniel said. “There’s too much going on. We still have two big western trips to go here. We’ll worry about that when we get around the end of the year, but the big picture is too big now.”

Can Schenn and Miller handle their new jobs?

Schenn was always going to be an option for Arniel to use in key defensive moments. Schenn’s size, strength, and the quality of his defence-first approach to defending makes him an ideal shutdown defenceman. He’ll play with Dylan Samberg — a younger, more mobile version of the same shutdown defenceman — on the Jets second pair. One imagines a heavy dose of shifts starting in the defensive zone and soaring shot block totals; Schenn blocked five in 16 minutes of play during his Jets debut.

The risk is that Schenn and Samberg struggle to move the puck up ice. Schenn was good in that regard on Tuesday, making several short passes that released pressure and helped Winnipeg get out of its zone. Samberg has had a lot of success in that regard this season, too. Both players may be underrated in terms of their puck movement but neither is elite in that regard.

Miller will play on the third pair with Haydn Fleury, while taking over for Pionk on the Jets’ second power play.

The Fleury/Miller pairing has been outscored 6-1 at five-on-five in 116 minutes this season while controlling 57 percent of shot attempts and 56 percent of expected goals. In a bigger sample size, their goal numbers should improve in accordance with their control of the play. Winnipeg’s coaches do a great job sheltering their third pairing all the same; whereas Schenn just graduated to a steady dose of Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston and company, Miller will spend more of his night playing against bottom six competition.

Miller’s shot is a rocket; it should be an asset on the second unit power play. He doesn’t have as much subtlety to his offensive game as Pionk, though. Pionk can fire a hard one-timer, too, while also moving the puck well in the offensive zone and getting the puck to the net for deflections with a wide array of well-placed wrist shots that beat the first layer of defence.

Should we reconsider the Jets’ trade deadline?

“We talked going into the deadline that depth was our No. 1 and whatever happened other than that would be a bonus,” Arniel said on Friday. “If you have plans to play into June, you’re going to need your (full) roster. It’s been proven. Injuries happen. Situations happen. You have to go deep. It happened a little earlier than I hoped but, at the end of the day, I’m glad we have Luke for it.”

Without Schenn, the Jets could be in a situation where Miller gets promoted to the second pair and some combination of Fleury, Logan Stanley, or Ville Heinola play on the third pairing. It doesn’t inspire confidence — particularly against the West’s top teams. With Schenn, you can see a way through the stretch run to Pionk’s return wherein the Jets maintain their top seed.

An alternative is also true: had the Jets been able to pick up Rasmus Ristolainen or Jamie Oleksiak, they’d be even better insulated than they are now.

But Schenn has played up the lineup before, including two years ago alongside Morgan Rielly as the Toronto Maple Leafs finally got out of the first round. He’s shown himself to be capable of the job Winnipeg will ask of him now.

What they’re saying

Dylan Samberg, on playing without Pionk.

“It’s obviously unfortunate, but it is what it is. Schenner is a great guy and he’s already taught me a lot here. He’s got a lot of wisdom so I’m excited to play with him.”

(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)