The Winnipeg Jets will be without their captain for at least the first few weeks of the season.
Adam Lowry, who had hip surgery in late May, said Thursday that his recovery is progressing well and he is targeting a late-October or early-November return to game action, per The Athletic’s Murat Ates.
Lowry then joked to Ates that he will be skating in “solitary confinement” over the next few weeks to avoid aggravating the injury.
The 32-year-old had surgery 10 days after the Jets were eliminated in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Dallas Stars.
Lowry played in all 13 of Winnipeg’s playoff games and scored the biggest goal of the Jets’ season when he fired home the double-OT winner during Game 7 of the team’s first-round playoff series against the St. Louis Blues.
A career-long Jet since being drafted in the third round (67th overall) in 2011, Lowry posted 16 goals and 18 assists in 73 regular-season games this season before adding four more tallies in the playoffs.
Over 775 career games with Winnipeg, Lowry has 121 goals and 152 assists.
Lowry is entering the final season of a five-year contract signed in 2021 worth an average of $3.25 million annually.
After winning the Presidents’ Trophy with a league-best 116 points last season, the Jets begin their follow-upon Oct. 9 when they host the Stars.