RALEIGH — We take you back to Nov. 27, 2015, when a 22-year-old Connor Hellebuyck made his NHL debut against the Minnesota Wild. The fifth-round draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets stopped 15 of 16 pucks that night in St. Paul as his team skated to a 3-1 victory.
The rest, as they say, is history. Hellebuyck has since become one of the league’s premier puckstoppers, with three Vezina trophies and a Hart Trophy on his mantle.
Now, exactly one decade later, the door appears open for Thomas Milic — also 22, also a fifth-round pick — to tend a big-league crease for the very first time. All signs point to him getting the nod on Friday afternoon as the Jets face the Carolina Hurricanes in the second stop of a five-game road trip.
John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
It appears the Winnipeg Jets plan to start goaltender Thomas Milic (left) in Friday’s matinee game against the Carolina Hurricanes and give Eric Comrie the back end of the back-to-back against the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
No pressure, kid.
“I think it’s exciting for him and his family. And that definitely gives us a bit of a boost,” defenceman Dylan DeMelo said following Thursday’s practice.
With Hellebuyck sidelined four to six weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery, backup Eric Comrie has assumed the No. 1 spot. He’s made four straight starts, losing the last three after giving up 13 goals on 114 shots (3.02 goals-against average, .897 save percentage). He could likely use a breather.
That was probably coming at some point this weekend anyway, with the Jets also playing Saturday in Nashville. But it appears the plan may be to give Milic the front end of the back-to-back and let Comrie handle the divisional clash against the Predators.
Milic went through Thursday drills typically reserved for the next game’s starter, a strong hint of things to come.
This will mark the second straight game a rookie Jets player gets the “hot lap” treatment. Defenceman Elias Salomonsson made his debut Wednesday night in Washington.
“It’s great. Those guys work their rear end off to get to this point. It’s a long journey for everyone,” said forward Morgan Barron. “It’s been great to see those guys come up, get their first (NHL) road trip, be part of the group. I’m really excited to see (Milic). He looks great in practice.”
Milic has been off to a sizzling start with the Manitoba Moose, posting a 2.14 GAA and .921 SV% in nine AHL games. The 2023 Western Hockey League Goaltender of the Year, who went to the Memorial Cup with the Seattle Thunderbirds in his final junior season, said earlier this week he had family members on standby to fly to wherever his first start came.
Unfortunately for Salomonsson, his parents couldn’t make it from Sweden to Washington in time, so they watched on television. His girlfriend, however, did make the trip.
PIONK WATCH: There appeared to be some good news at Thursday’s practice, with defenceman Neal Pionk a full participant in a regular sweater. The veteran suffered a lower-body injury on the first shift of last Sunday’s game against Minnesota and didn’t return.
Pionk tested things out during brief skates on Tuesday and Wednesday but didn’t play against the Capitals, which cleared a path for Salomonsson to make his debut. Head coach Scott Arniel said it “didn’t feel quite right.”
There is no morning skate on Friday, so we won’t know until close to game time if Pionk could be an option.
SCHEIFELE WATCH: It may be nothing. It may be something. But top centre Mark Scheifele has now skipped two practices this week — something he rarely ever does over the course of his career. Might he be battling through an ailment?
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It’s also notable that there were a handful of occasions in Wednesday’s game where he didn’t take a defensive zone faceoff, with Barron actually spelling him off. That’s also unusual.
Scheifele has continued to produce, scoring his team-leading 12th goal of the year against the Capitals. He also leads the team with 29 points as he continues to push for a spot on the Canadian Olympic team.
HURRICANE WATCH: Carolina could be in a surly mood after suffering a rare loss on home ice Wednesday night to the New York Rangers. Although they outshot the visitors by a 38-18 margin, a late push couldn’t lead to the equalizer, with an empty-netter finishing them off.
Winnipegger Seth Jarvis scored his team-leading 12th goal in the game, while former Jets winger Nikolaj Ehlers recorded an assist. After going his first five games without a point, Ehlers now has points in 14 of the past 18 games (4 goals, 11 assists). That included setting up the game-winning goal last Friday night in Winnipeg as the Hurricanes beat the Jets 4-3.
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Mike McIntyre
Reporter
Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
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