Bryan Little hasn’t suited up for Winnipeg since the first game of the year, when he suffered a lower-body injury in a collision with Carolina forward Bryan Bickell.
Unfortunately for the Jets, he’s not expected back anytime soon.
“We’re two weeks out today, and we’re shooting for the end of November,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said on Thursday, while updating his team’s health situation.
To give an idea of how big a loss this is for the Jets, consider what Maurice had to say about Little’s absence, compared to missing unsigned d-man Jacob Trouba.
"[Trouba’s] not in the room, that has a big factor in terms of the distraction. It’s no different -- well, it is different than Bryan. We’ve got a number of solid defensemen in our lineup.
“The Bryan Little injury is probably a bigger frustration than anything else, because that really changes the look.”
Little, 28, opened the year as Winnipeg’s No. 2 center, on a line with Drew Stafford and Shawn Matthias. As mentioned above, he was hurt in the first game of the season and -- prior to the Bickell collision -- set up the club’s first goal of the year, registering an assist on Matthias’ first-period marker.
When healthy, Little’s a productive contributor for the Jets.
He posted a career-high 64 points during the ’13-14 campaign, and a career-high 24 goals the season following. He’s also one of the club’s top faceoff men.
With Little out of the lineup, the Jets have rolled with Mark Scheifele, Mathieu Perreault, Adam Lowry and Alex Burmistrov at center.
It’s fair to suggest Little’s absence has played a big role in Winnipeg’s slow start to the year. It has just two wins from six games, but will look to get things back on track tonight when it welcomes Dallas to the MTS Centre.
