The Winnipeg Jets announced Saturday that Blake Wheeler and Nate Schmidt will be missing 4-6 weeks each, with their respective injuries, and the Jets look to take on the struggling Canucks to continue their dominant season, competing with the Dallas Stars for the top spot in the Central division.

Blake Wheeler underwent a procedure on his groin yesterday, and is expected to miss 4 weeks, targeting a mid-January return. Wheeler has been having a great season, has 9 goals, 26 points in 29 games. Many were very skeptical to continue to partner him and Mark Scheifele on the top line again this year, but the two of them, with Cole Perfetti, have been fantastic together. Wheeler has taken a bit of a step back in ice time, which can be beneficial given his age, but it is also giving him an opportunity to give his all is situations where he will thrive.

Nate Schmidt, who is also set to miss upwards of 4-6 weeks, targeting a return before February, will also be missed in the lineup, though it gives opportunity to try a few things out. Schmidt, who is notably an offensive defenseman, only has six points so far this season. His production isn't near matching his salary, but he has settled into his role, and has provided some defensive reliability. In his absence, it is expected that the third pair will by Kyle Capobianco and Dylan Samberg, with Logan Stanley still having some injury issues.

With a few question marks on the third pair, we could see a situation that Ville Heinola gets a shot here too. With 13 games in the AHL this year, Heinola has registered 10 points, all being assists. He was recalled to the NHL club on an emergency basis, but isn't expected to lace up against the Canucks tonight.

The Canucks, who are currently 4-1-0 in their last 5, and have started to wake up on the season a bit. With so much drama surrounding the team, now could be a good time to take advantage of the team.

Speaking of the Canucks drama, let's talk about Brock Boeser and Bo Horvat. Both are on the verge of a trade out of Vancouver. Boeser could be an interesting addition. The Canucks are not interested in retaining salary or taking another high-value contract back, but to make the money work they are going to have to. The expectation is that the Canucks will not get a very good return on Boeser, but I expect they will be forced to do this to make the move work. The Jets currently have a roster of 14 forwards, 7 defensemen, and 2 goalies. On top of this, they have 5 players on IR, but none on LTIR. They could earn some cap relief by having Wheeler, Ehlers and Schmidt on LTIR, as right now, they sit with less than a million dollars in cap space based on the current roster.

Boeser has a cap hit of $6.65M, and has 16 points in 24 games this season. He could definitely benefit from a change of scenery, and with the current injury issue with the Jets on the wing, it could be a great fit. The Jets current right-winger depth is Kuhlman, Gagner, Harkins, Jonsson-Fjallby. Obviously Ehlers and Wheeler out of the lineup hurts this, but it may be time to make a move.

As a rental piece, Bo Horvat could be a great asset. In a contract year, with his $5.5M cap hit, Horvat has 21 goals, 30 points in 29 games. He could be a great piece to add to the lineup, and the price isn't astronomical. I expect a Horvat trade to look similar to the Giroux trade last season. In that Giroux trade, Florida sent Owen Tippett, a first round pick to Philadelphia for Giroux, Bunnaman, Rubtsov and a 5th round pick. In Jets-Canucks terms, it could look like Ville Heinola and a 1st round pick for Horvat and a low-end prospect and late pick. That could be a pretty realistic move. If they don't bite on that, the Jets have a few other pieces they can play with, as they have a very good prospect pool to work with.

Another rumour being spread around is that Jonathan Toews may be willing to take less to play in Winnipeg, especially if he is traded to them in the season. Any trade happening to bring Toews to Winnipeg isn't imminent, and likely wouldn't be until close to deadline day, but he wouldn't cost a lot, and Mike Johnson suggested he may even be willing to sign a Jason Spezza-type deal to win in his hometown. This could be extremely exciting, especially if the Jets can get a third line with a combination of Toews, Lowry, Gustafsson, Appleton or Barron. That could be a fun line to watch shut down the entire opposition.

Flipping pages here, the Winnipeg Jets are going to be well represented at the upcoming World Junior tournament.

Brad Lambert (FIN), Rutger McGroarty (USA), Chaz Lucius (USA), Fabian Wagner (SWE) have all been named to their World Juniors rosters. I will have a piece out closer to the Boxing Day start of the tournament once things shape out a little more, letting you know what to expect from each of the prospects making their way to Halifax and Moncton. I plan on attending a Czech vs. Finnish game, but that is not locked in yet. I would love to be able to give some boots-on-the-ground reports on Lambert if I can.

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