Jets place Paul Stastny in COVID protocol, recall Cole Perfetti

The Winnipeg Jets lost another key player. Paul Stastny joins his teammates in the COVID protocol. It’s not all bad though. The team recalled Cole Perfetti from the taxi squad under emergency conditions. The Jets also brought Mikhail Berdin, Jeff Malott and Austin Poganski from the AHL to the taxi squad, giving them some extra bodies ahead of Thursday’s game.

Stastny joins Kristian Reichel, Nikolaj Ehlers, Jansen Harkins, Ville Heinola, Logan Stanley, Nathan Beaulieu and Dylan DeMelo in the protocol, sapping the Jets of a huge amount of depth before returning to the ice. The team hasn’t played since a 7-1 bloodbath against the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 6 and after Thursday won’t have another game until Jan. 18.

With that light schedule, it does give the Jets a chance to work through this recent COVID outbreak and get some players back. Harkins and DeMelo could both play Thursday depending on health, but Stastny certainly won’t. The veteran center actually has 16 points in 24 games this season, a strong pace despite turning 36 a few weeks ago. He’s been mostly playing on the wing after a long career in the middle of the ice but has still been a solid contributor. Losing that, along with so many others, will make it a tough test against the upstart Red Wings Thursday evening.