Kyle Connor made it clear from the outset that he wasn’t going to insert himself into a hot-button topic with political undertones attached.
What matters most to the Winnipeg Jets left-winger was that he made a personal choice to skip the celebratory festivities that most of his United States Olympic teammates took part in at the U.S. Capitol and White House to rejoin his NHL teammates.
“Just getting ready to play on Wednesday,” said Connor, who skated on a line with Mark Scheifele and Gabe Vilardi. “It’s a big second half, so I wanted to make sure I was ready.”
Connor stickhandled around several follow-up questions, making it clear the decision revolved around wanting to get back onto the ice as quickly as possible to help his team — which finds itself in a rather precarious position as they open a three-game road trip Wednesday at Rogers Arena against the last-place Vancouver Canucks.
John Woods / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, left, and Kyle Connor were teammates on the U.S. Olympic team that won Gold in Men’s ice hockey after defeating the Canadians in overtime.
Connor had family and friends with him in Italy, but his young daughter was back home and he hadn’t seen her in nearly two weeks, which was certainly a factor in his choice to rejoin the Jets.
So were the circumstances surrounding his personal experience at the Olympics in Milan, even if Connor said all the right things about being a good teammate when he was a healthy scratch for the final four games of the best-on-best event.
“It was surreal. To be able to share that with those teammates in that moment, waiting in line and getting that put around your neck, it’s a pretty cool feeling.”
“It was awesome. Some of the things were out of my control, the way it was,” said Connor, who was in full uniform and sprinted onto the ice to celebrate after Jack Hughes scored the overtime winner. “I don’t know if it’s really set in at this point. It’s been a whirlwind. It was surreal. To be able to share that with those teammates in that moment, waiting in line and getting that put around your neck, it’s a pretty cool feeling.”
Connor was also asked about the videos from the locker room that went viral of the exchange between the American team and Donald Trump, where the U.S. president spoke in a derogatory tone about needing to invite the women’s team to the celebration as well.
“Honestly, no, I don’t really have any thoughts on it,” he said. “There’s so many things happening, where you just won the gold medal and things are going on. So I don’t really remember what he said. It was such a whirlwind and (I was) just celebrating with teammates.”
Connor was one of five American players — Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger, Colorado Avalanche centre Brock Nelson, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Jake Guentzel and Anaheim Ducks defenceman Jackson LaCombe were the others — to skip the visit to Washington, D.C.
Petr David Josek / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES
Connor, pictured playing in a preliminary round match between the United States and Denmark, was a healthy scratch for Team U.S.A.’s final four games of the best-on-best tournament.
Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck will attend the state of the union address and is expected to rejoin his teammates in Anaheim on Thursday. Backup Eric Comrie had been scheduled to start against the Canucks prior to the Olympics.
Jets head coach Scott Arniel was thrilled when he got word of Connor’s travel plans on Monday afternoon.
“He’s an all-star. He’s an elite player in this league and with those guys, sometimes there are different things that motivate them and this might be one of them.”
Not only would the Jets be getting their second leading point-getter and goal scorer back in the lineup earlier than expected, they could be getting a highly-motivated player.
Arniel saw something similar from Connor last season after he was a healthy scratch for Team USA in the gold medal game at the 4 Nations Face-Off last February.
By the time the regular season had ended, Connor had accumulated a career-best 97 points and delivered his second 40-plus goal campaign.
“He wanted to be a part of that, (to be) in that last game and at the end of the day, he wasn’t,” said Arniel. “He’s an all-star. He’s an elite player in this league and with those guys, sometimes there are different things that motivate them and this might be one of them.”
Connor is a proud individual and he’s going to do his best to be at his best during the final 26 games.
The Jets are going to need him to be, since most of the injury news delivered by Arniel on Tuesday afternoon wasn’t positive.
Luca Bruno / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILES
Connor, left, is one of five American players to skip the visit to Washington, D.C. after winning the Olympic Gold Medal, Sunday.
Defenceman Josh Morrissey made it back from Italy, but has been ruled out of the entire road trip with the upper-body issue that kept him out of all but one period and change of the Olympics.
Joining Morrissey on the sidelines are fellow blue-liner Neal Pionk and forward Nino Niederreiter, both of whom are considered to be week-to-week.
Pionk sustained a new injury, not related to the lower-body issue that has kept him out of the lineup since Jan. 13.
Niederreiter is dealing with an undisclosed ailment and will be replaced by Tanner Pearson on the line with Jonathan Toews and Vladislav Namestnikov.
Defenceman Haydn Fleury, who hasn’t played since crashing violently into the end boards on Jan. 6, shed his non-contact jersey but won’t be an option to return to game action until later in this road trip.
Colin Miller skated with his teammates for the first time since a knee injury on Jan. 11, but is still going to need more time before he’s a consideration to return to the lineup.
With all of the injuries, defenceman Kale Clague was recalled from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League and forward Walker Duehr could jump into the lineup before the week is over.
“All hands on deck,” said Arniel. “At the end of the day, it’s our group. Whoever is dressed for those (26) games, find a way to start with against Vancouver and find a way of gaining two points. We’ve got lots of great players here. We’ve got a lot of veteran guys that have helped us in the past and we need them to step up now.”
SEAN KILPATRICK / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Ville Heinola is scheduled to make his NHL season debut with the Jets on Wednesday playing beside Luke Schenn on the team’s third pairing.
Speaking of opportunities, blue-liner Ville Heinola is set to make his season debut with the Jets on the third pairing with Luke Schenn on Wednesday and will be running the second power play.
Heinola, who hasn’t played with the Jets since Apr. 13, 2025, is having a strong season with the Moose, chipping in three goals and 21 points in 44 games.
“You never, ever want to see guys go down. But obviously for me, I’m super excited to get to play,” said Heinola. “It’s been mentally tough, for sure, but I think my game has been improving all year, and I feel like my game is in a good spot right now. So yeah, right now, I feel confident.
“(Being on the power play) is huge for me. You get more touches when you go out there, and obviously you feel better when you touch the puck. And, yeah, obviously it’s a big part of my game too. So I think it really helps me.”
Heinola was chosen 20th overall in the 2019 NHL Draft, selected with the pick the Jets got back in the deal for Jacob Trouba.
Injuries opened the door for Heinola to make the Jets right out of training camp and he appeared in eight NHL games before he was sent down to the minors and eventually loaned back to Finland.
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A series of injuries and stalled development have limited Heinola to 53 NHL games and that’s a trajectory few people would have envisioned — including the Finnish puck-mover.
“The first year gave me a little bit of too much hope, I would say, going straight in,” said Heinola. “But yeah, obviously, I know it’s never going to be easy anyway. If you make it there it’s not going to be easy to stay there. It is what it is. But yeah, I really hoped I would have made it sooner.”
Heinola, who turns 25 on Mar. 2, is focusing on making an impact, but since he doesn’t have enough runway to appear in enough games with the Jets in order to avoid becoming a Group 6 unrestricted free agent this summer, it will be interesting if this latest audition could boost his stock with the trade deadline fast approaching on Mar. 6.
“I always say, I never want to give up on my dream,” said Heinola. “Play well enough to stay in the lineup. That’s obviously the first thing I want to do. Show what I can do out there.”
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Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken.
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