Wheeler absent from practice due to protocol as Jets prepare for Wild

ST. PAUL - Coming back to Minnesota is a bit of a homecoming for a number of Winnipeg Jets born in the state, but a prominent member of that group wasn't on the ice for practice on Monday.
Jets captain Blake Wheeler has entered the National Hockey League's COVID-19 protocols.
His status for Tuesday's game against the Minnesota Wild is currently unknown.
Taking the right-winger from the top line off the ice had a ripple effect throughout the lines and special teams units.
One of the moves was putting left-handed Nate Schmidt as the quarterback of the unit with Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Riley Nash.
"Blake is unusual, he can play his natural side on that power play and be really effective with it," said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. "But in order to put a different righty there, then it needs to go back over to Mark's side of the ice. All those guys have some experience with it."

Schmidt has spent the first two games on a power play unit that featured two defencemen - himself and Josh Morrissey - and says there is a bit of an adjustment to going to four forwards and one solo defenceman.
"Being with Josh, I think we had a feeling for each other throughout camp for what each other wanted, and now I just have to find that chemistry with a new grouping," Schmidt said. "I don't know how it's going shake out tomorrow with everything that's going on and how the units worked today."

So far the power play has come up empty in the first two games going a combined 0-for-8. Schmidt likes the chances that the groups are generating and feels like things will start to turn if they keep up good habits.
"You've almost got to take that baseball approach. If you fail seven times, you're having a heck of a good year," Schmidt said. "We've got some new guys moving around. That's not an excuse, but it does take a bit of time for guys to get used to each other. We're going to be a team that as the year goes on, is going to get stronger in a lot of areas."
As far as the full forward lines are concerned, the Jets line rushes looked like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Copp
Stastny-Dubois-Ehlers
Harkins-Lowry-Vesalainen
Svechnikov-Nash-Perfetti
Morrissey-Schmidt
Dillon-Pionk
Stanley-DeMelo
The Jets come into Minnesota after two losses in California to open the regular season. The Wild (2-0) also started their 2021-22 campaign on the road and will play their home opener at Xcel Energy Center on Tuesday against Winnipeg.

It's the first time in 654 days that the Jets will take on the Wild. A divisional opponent might be just what the Jets need to get that first win on the board.
"They're always going to be a little more (like) the end of the regular season and playoff-like," said Nikolaj Ehlers. "This building, they've got some pretty passionate fans too. These are going to be fun games and we're going to try to go out there and play the way we can and work as hard as we can to get the two points."
Ehlers believes the Jets have the right mindset about the tough start to the season. The group is a bit older now and has some perspective on the ups and downs of a long season.

That being said, they want to win. The best way to do that is to get quicker, as their head coach mentioned after Saturday's loss in San Jose.
"For myself, it's a matter of thinking, for example, shooting first. That's what makes me skate a little faster than hanging behind or waiting to make that perfect pass," said Ehlers. "There's also individual things in that to make you a faster player, but as a team, like I said, play simple, skate hard and work hard."
If the Jets can do that, they'll be playing the type of game that makes them successful. It's also the type of game they'll need to play against a Wild team that doesn't have any of the names that hockey fans often find synonymous with the club - Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Mikko Koivu, and Devan Dubnyk.
"That was the backbone of that group," said Maurice. "And those guys have moved on, and they've got some younger players that have kind of developed. Their structure's good. They've got a pretty good checking line, two good offensive lines after that and the fourth line's going to work hard. And some nice defencemen back there. So they're a good team."