Jets: Rookie Niku may give a boost to depleted blue line
WINNIPEG— Captain Blake Wheeler isn’t too worried if rookie defenceman Sami Niku fills a hole in the Winnipeg Jets’ depleted defence.
Niku was called up from the Manitoba Moose on Thursday, where he posted 54 points in 76 regular-season games and was named American Hockey League defenceman of the year.
The 21-year-old Finnish native could make his NHL playoff debut in Friday’s Game 5 against the Minnesota Wild as a replacement for suspended blueliner Josh Morrissey.
The Jets lead the best-ofseven series 3-1 and could win the Western Conference quar- terfinal at home in front of 15,000 white-clad fans.
Niku made a great impression on Jets players in his first regular-season NHL game against the Montreal Canadiens April 3.
“Sami Niku has played one game in the NHL and he scored one goal,” Wheeler said with a smile when asked what he expects if Niku plays.
The Jets were a loose bunch after practice Thursday, a day after Morrissey was given a one-game suspension for crosschecking Wild centre Eric Staal in the neck during the Jets’ 2-0 victory Tuesday.
Morrissey practised with the team but wasn’t available for comment. Head coach Paul Maurice said he hadn’t talked to the second-year defenceman, but he appeared to be taking his suspension fine.
“He showed up smiling today, that’s his normal routine,” Maurice said.
The absence of the steady Morrissey, who’s on the top pairing with Jacob Trouba, is being viewed as another test for a team that has overcome some adversity because of missing players.
“We’re used to it,” Maurice said.
“It doesn’t cause a ripple in there when a guy goes down or a guy goes out. We’ve had players come in and be good ... all of the other guys who stayed in our lineup all year have kind of taken up that slack, but there’s no doubt you miss a guy like Josh.”
The Jets already lost blue-liner Tyler Myers to a lower-body injury in Game 3. He didn’t skate Thursday and neither did injured defencemen Toby Enstrom and Dmitry Kulikov.
Maurice said he wasn’t ruling anybody out when asked specifically about Myers’ status for Friday’s game.
Veteran forward Bryan Little said the team is just focusing on ending the series no matter who’s playing.
“We don’t want to give (the Wild) any life or any hope,” Little said.
Niku wants to contribute if he’s tapped to play.
“I’m pretty confident,” said the offensive-minded defenceman, who notched 16 goals for the AHL playoff-bound Moose.
Fellow Finn Patrik Laine, who turned 20 on Thursday, has been spending time with Niku.
“He’s always eating at my place and I’m getting to know him,” he said. “He’s a good kid.”
The talented winger had no doubt Niku could fit in.
“He has one game, one goal, so you have to think he’s going to score if he plays,” Laine said.