Jets’ Mark Scheifele suffers lower-body injury vs. Blackhawks, will not return

The Winnipeg Jets announced that forward Mark Scheifele suffered a lower-body injury in Thursday night’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks and would not return.

The team shared the news on social media less than five minutes after Scheifele, 30, went down the tunnel after his first shift in the second period. It’s unclear what the injury was, but Scheifele appeared to be in discomfort.

Through 40 games in 2023-24, Scheifele leads the Jets in points with 41 (14 goals and 27 assists), which is nine points ahead of second-place Nikolaj Ehlers and his 32 points. On the eve of the regular season, Scheifele, as well as goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, signed seven-year, $59.5 million contract extensions, with an average annual value of $8.5 million.

Scheifele, 30, was the first player drafted by the Jets after the team relocated to Winnipeg, taken seventh overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Now in his 11th full season with the Jets, he’s scored 286 goals, 400 assists and 686 points in 763 regular-season games.

The Jets have been the talk of the NHL in the last week. Going into Thursday night, their 27-9-4 record and 58 points are ranked first in the entire NHL. They’ve gone 9-0-1 in their last 10 games and have won seven straight.

After Thursday’s game, the Jets wrap up the week with a home game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night.