Early signs hint at a big return for the Jets as they travel to Montreal.

The Winnipeg Jets have fallen into an early hole in their second round series against the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but thankfully for fans in Winnipeg it sounds like the team may soon be getting some help.

Over the weekend Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice confirmed that veteran forward Paul Stastny would be traveling with the team as they head to Montreal for Game 3 and Game 4, this after Stastny has missed the first two games of the series due to injury. Now to be clear Maurice did not confirm that Stastny would be playing in either game for certain, but you have to believe that the team considers his return to the lineup a strong possibility if they are talking him along for a 2 game road trip while down 0 - 2 in the series.

Not only will Stastny provide a significant boost to the Jets group of forwards, a group that already has to deal with the absence of Mark Scheifele due to his highly publicized suspension for a hit on Canadiens forward Jake Evans, but he will also bring a measure of experience to the lineup and will do so in more ways than one. Not only does Stastny have a ton of experience under his belt in terms of time spent in the National Hockey League, but he is also quite familiar with the province of Quebec given his family's history in that province. 

Stastny was born in the province due to the fact that his father, Peter Stastny, was playing for the Quebec Nordiques at the time and also spent significant time there during the early years of his life. In fact Peter Stastny would go on to have his jersey retired by the Nordiques franchise before the team was eventually sold and moved to Colorado where they became the Avalanche.

Given the absence of Scheifele, a centerman, due to his suspension, the timing of Stastny's return to the lineup could hardly be any better. One of the strengths many expected the Jets to have coming into this series was their depth up the middle of the ice, and if Stastny is able to go on Sunday the Jets will be one step closer to being able to flex that strength.