Jim Slater is not believed to be close to returning from his undisclosed injury. "I was hoping he'd be skating by now," coach Claude Noel said. Slater has already missed six games with the ailment.

Jim Slater is dealing with an undisclosed injury. Slater is expected to miss at least a week due to the ailment. He has an assist in eight games this season.

Jim Slater was the only Winnipeg Jet to win over 50 percent of his faceoffs on Friday. Olli Jokinen won only 5 of 14 draws while Bryan Little won 6 of 16 and Mark Scheifele was victorious on 3 of 10. Andrew Ladd lost all three of his draws as the Jets won despite a poor performance at the faceoff dot.

Jim Slater (broken hand) says he could've returned if the Winnipeg Jets made the playoffs. Slater missed the final 29 games of the lockout-shortened season after getting hit in the hand by a shot March 12. "It just caught me in the right spot. At first, I didn't really know it was broken. It didn't even hurt but there was a pretty significant break," Slater said. "The finger was actually more trouble than I thought it would be. It took a little longer to get back than I thought. Towards the end of the season, I was real close to playing those final few games but I just wasn't able to get back."

Jim Slater is week-to-week with an upper body injury, according to Jets coach Claude Noel. It's worth noting that previous reports suggested that Slater had a broken hand. He has two points and 19 penalty minutes in 26 games this season.

Jim Slater reportedly has a broken hand. That would explain why they called up Patrice Cormier. The Jets are expected to provide an update this afternoon.

Jim Slater expects to ramp up the intensity of his workouts now that the NHL is back and the lockout is over. "I found out early this morning and reading through the emails it was like, 'All right, here we go,' " said Slater. "My first instinct was, 'I gotta get to the weight room to get a bike ride in or something.' You want to be ready for the first of the season. It's real now." The Winnipeg forward has been a regular participant in workouts at MTS Iceplex, but he admitted to finding it hard to stay properly fit because he was preparing for a start date that didn't exist. Several NHLers should be getting their bodies back on track with the start of the 2012-13 season just around the corner.

Jim Slater talked about the difficulty of training when you aren't sure when the NHL regular season will begin after another informal practice at MTS Iceplex this week. "It's hard now because all summer you prepare for training camp and getting into the regular season," he said. "It's up in the air as to when we'll need to be ready. It's hard to train ... do you do more of a power-phase (workout) or speed phase if you think it's going to start up soon? You want to peak at the right time. Over the years you come up with a system that best suits your body and you try to stick to that. But now it's difficult." He talked about the need to mix up workouts because the lockout has dragged on and he also spoke about his own fitness which he believes isn't up to par right now. "Honestly, I feel like I've gone backwards a little bit," he stated. "I was really feeling great mid-August, but now I feel like I need to get it back a little bit. It seems like I've regressed." Issues like this could end up being common for players that don't find work elsewhere as the lockout continues.

Jim Slater skated with some Winnipeg teammates at the Iceplex on Monday. "It's good to be out there," he said. "Obviously meeting some of the new guys it was nice to get the small talk out of the way. It's great to be back and be back with your teammates again. The fans are definitely expecting more, we're expecting more of our team." Slater received a three-year extension with the Jets after he bounced back from concussion in 2011-12 to record career highs with 13 goals and 21 points in 78 games.

Jim Slater agreed to a three-year contract on Wednesday worth $4.8 million. "We talked a lot within the group with respect to the type of person that Jim is, what he brings to the table, his work ethic," GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said. "He's someone we feel very, very comfortable about bringing into our fold on a longer-term basis. He showed the commitment to us. He could have taken his opportunity to go to free agency, which players covet, and we showed a commitment to him." He made $1.1 million in the final season of his contract and was slated to become an unrestricted free agent this July, but with his new deal he gets a healthy raise and a good term for a bottom-six forward. The 29-year-old notched a career high 13 goals and 21 points in 78 games with the Jets last season. Slater was also the team's top faceoff man, with a 54.4 winning percentage, and he finished the year with 163 hits.