Wheeler nearing a return as Jets prepare for Preds

NASHVILLE - For the second straight day, Blake Wheeler put himself through a rigorous on-ice workout as he tries to make his way back from the lower-body injury he sustained back on December 10.
The last couple days have certainly brought on optimism that the Jets captain's return is coming sooner than later, but Thursday's tilt with the Nashville Predators might still be a bit too soon in Wheeler's mind.
"There's certain things, boxes I need to check off before I can get into a game. Getting into a full practice, taking some contact," said Wheeler. "I was hoping to get that in today, so tomorrow's probably pretty unlikely."
Wheeler was one of the last players remaining on the ice following Wednesday's optional 30-minute skate at Bridgestone Arena.

He went through the formal part of that skate, then stayed on the ice for a game of three-on-three, and worked with Jets associate coach Jamie Kompon on a couple other drills.

Jets interim head coach Dave Lowry is remaining patient, despite the fact he'd love to get Wheeler in as soon as possible, especially with Nikolaj Ehlers out for the remainder of the road trip after being in the receiving end of a knee-on-knee hit from Washington Capitals defenceman Dmitry Orlov.
"Anytime you can add your captain back into the mix, your guys get excited," said Lowry. "The thing for us is that he's a world-class player and when he comes in, he'll play where we feel he has the best opportunity to get his feet wet again."
Looking back at the night of the injury, Wheeler said he could see the way things were developing around him on that fateful shift and knew he was in trouble.
"I saw bodies coming at me fast and I just couldn't get out of the way fast enough. So knew it wasn't going to be good," said Wheeler, who prior to this season had only missed 12 games dating back to the relocation to Winnipeg in 2011 - six of those games came last season.
"I've been so lucky over the course of my career, with a clean bill of health for the most part," Wheeler said. "I just look back on that and feel lucky I've gone this long without anything super serious. Even that particular injury, initially I thought it was going to be one of those where it was much more severe than it ended up being."
Still, that doesn't take away from the frustration of getting hurt - on that night in particular.
Wheeler had scored his first goal of the season and had two assists to go along with a breakaway and back-door chance in the game. In short, he was all over the ice, racking up seven shots on goal and adding two takeaways alongside his familiar linemates of Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor.
He was riding a five-game point streak (accumulating 10 points in that span) and it was all suddenly brought to a halt when the bodies of teammate Nathan Beaulieu and Canucks forward Vasili Podkolzin slid into his legs.

He isn't dwelling on the past though. If anything, he takes confidence from the level he was playing at and knows he can get there again.
"I thought for a month plus, it was right where I liked it and I felt good about where I was at," he said. "I thought we had a lot of guys playing well, and we still have a lot of guys playing well, so now it's about fitting back into the line-up whenever that happens and trying to maximize whatever role I'm put in."
When Wheeler does return, it will be Lowry's voice he hears behind him and not that of former head coach Paul Maurice.
"The way he carries himself and the way he carries himself in the room, how he treats guys, I think that was for me the biggest thing that stood out," said Wheeler of Maurice. "I didn't feel like I was just a pawn on the chess board. I felt like I was cared about."
Working with Lowry won't be out of the ordinary, as he was someone on the Jets bench last season as well.
Wheeler believes what Lowry stood for during his 1,000-plus NHL games between 1988 and 2004 can rub off on the Jets.
"He was a guy that played the game the right way, played hard," Wheeler said. "All the little things we're trying to instill in our team to take us to that next level are things he brought to the table as a player. That experience in and of itself, I think, is real valuable for our group."
If there is a silver lining to Wheeler's injury, it's that he won't miss the amount of games it appeared he would. Originally, the Jets were slated to have played 17 games by now, but COVID-19 related postponements have kept that number to just eight so far.
"Blake is a world-class player and the nine games that have been moved, hopefully he is available for these games," said Lowry. "I know that he's excited that for the amount of time that he's missed, the very few games that he actually does miss."
ICE CHIPS
There was no further update on Ehlers, who didn't take part in the optional practice after leaving Tuesday's game due to the Orlov hit.
Ehlers had an appointment in the afternoon and Lowry has ruled the speedy forward out for the remainder of the road trip.