Unfortunately, the announcement was followed by some bad news as well.
Nathan Beaulieu will be out four weeks with an upper-body injury he sustained against the Minnesota Wild on Sunday. Beaulieu played 18:18 in the game, including 5:28 on the penalty kill. Beaulieu will be placed on injured reserve to start the season.
Bryan Little was also injured in that game due to a hit from Wild forward Luke Kunin in the first period.
Maurice said Little sustained a concussion on the play and is in protocol, there is no timeline for his return.
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Power Play Units
This was the first practice where the Jets had the opportunity to do some extended power play work, especially with camp being focused on four or five key themes, mostly on even strength and rush defence.
Kyle Connor and Patrik Laine, fresh off signing their new contracts, were back on the top unit with Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, and Morrissey.
"It's always good to get those reps in. We didn't have a full power play unit until today," said Scheifele, who scored 12 times on the man advantage last season - the second most on the team.
"It's good to be back getting those guys some touches and getting us some touches as well. It's good to have that power play unit back together."
With Byfuglien still away on a personal leave of absence, the left-handed Morrissey gives a bit of a different look to the Jets power play, which most often had the right-handed Byfuglien in that spot last season.
"It changes the passing angles up top," Maurice said, referencing that the one-timer side for Josh is a pass from Laine, whereas for Byfuglien that pass comes from Wheeler.
"We felt with our power play, that was something. They started to either really press Blake on one side or leave him and close out the one-timer shooters. We needed a shooter up top that would find the holes in the lane. We think Josh can excel there."
The second unit featured Ville Heinola, Neal Pionk, Mathieu Perreault, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Jack Roslovic.
However, there is some flexibility to that unit, as Little will also see time with that group as well - when healthy.
"Scheifs' group goes out and they end up taking a minute and a half of zone time - they're in zone, the entire time," said Maurice. "Once the clock hits 20 (seconds) I'm going two D. We'll run two D out because this game is going to five-on-five and you don't want to get a forward trapped. We have a four forward and three-forward plan. With Bryan out, we're running two D."