Injury Report: Paul Maurice confirmed Jacob Trouba's status for tonight's game.

Injury Report on Jacob Trouba

Winnipeg Jet’s head coach Paul Maurice has confirmed the team will be without stalwart defenceman Jacob Trouba for yet another game due to an upper-body injury, according to The Winnipeg Sun’s Ken Wiebe.

The Jets’ 2012 first-round draft pick will be missing his third consecutive game, after apparently sustaining an injury in a 3-0 shutout loss to the Calgary Flames on March 12th.

Trouba has only managed to play more than 65 games in one of his four NHL seasons with the Winnipeg Jets. This year, the majority of his absences have so far been due to some controversial contract negotiations at the beginning of the season. Trouba requested a trade and sat out the first month of the season before ultimately resigning with the team that drafted him.

Trouba’s injury only depletes a defense that was already stretched thin, with veteran defenseman Toby Enstrom out indefinitely with concussion symptoms. Enstrom was inured only days before Trouba by a brutal hit that earned Pittsburgh’s certified-goon Tom Sestito a game misconduct and a four-game suspension.

Defenseman Julian Melchiori was called up from Winnipeg’s AHL affiliate to help fill out Winnipeg’s blueline. With the Jet’s practically eliminated from playoff contention, getting a look at some of their younger prospects at the NHL level may be the silver-lining to the team’s injury woes on defence.

Despite the early-season contract drama with Trouba, his performance this season has made him an indispensable asset to the team, part of a youth movement that includes breakout players like Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers. The sooner Trouba can return to the lineup, the better it will be for the Jets.