Winnipeg's Cole Perfetti out for eight weeks with upper-body injury

Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness has said that forward Cole Perfetti will miss at least eight weeks with an upper-body injury.

Perfetti sustained the injury during Winnipeg’s game against the New Jersey Devils on Sunday. He sat out Winnipeg’s games against the New York Rangers and New York Islanders earlier this week. Bowness didn’t give specific details about the injury, but that it won’t require surgery and is not related to the injury that kept him out of action for the final few months of the 2021-22 season.

The 21-year-old also missed time with a shoulder injury last December that kept him out of action for a few games.

Drafted 10th overall by Winnipeg in 2020, Perfetti immediately became an impact rookie with the Jets. He has eight goals and 30 points in 51 games while playing in Winnipeg’s top six, helping the team stay near the top of the Central Division standings. He sits third in the NHL’s rookie scoring race, putting him in a position to challenge for the Calder Trophy.

Perfetti split last year between the NHL and AHL, scoring twice and adding five assists in 18 games with the Jets and 15 points in 17 games with the Moose.

The Jets have an otherwise healthy team, for the most part. David Gustafsson is still out with an upper-body injury, while top prospect Chaz Lucius will miss the rest of the season after requiring shoulder surgery while in the WHL. The Jets sit second in the Central Division, just one point behind Dallas and two points ahead of Minnesota.

It’ll be interesting to see how the Jets now attack the upcoming trade deadline. Capfriendly lists the Jets as having $9,172,375 in deadline cap space, with $7.862 million in current cap space. Perfetti and Gustafsson make up just $1.669 million on injured reserve, so neither is giving the team much extra cap relief.