NASHVILLE – Toby Enstrom has gone back to Sweden to tend to a family matter.

As a result, the Winnipeg Jets defence corps will be without one of its steadiest performers as they close out a five-game road trip on Friday against the Nashville Predators.

Enstrom has one goal and seven points in 22 games this season while averaging 22:23 of ice time per game.

“Toby had to get home for a family situation that has come up, with the full and complete support of the Winnipeg Jets organization and we're hopeful it's a positive result and we get him back real soon,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice, whose team has lost four consecutive games and is 9-11-2 overall. “But I don't know when he's going to be able to return.”

With Enstrom and Tyler Myers (lower body) out of the lineup, Maurice reunited Ben Chiarot with Dustin Byfuglien, had Josh Morrissey with Jacob Trouba and Mark Stuart with Paul Postma.

“We're balancing some things out,” said Maurice. “We know Chiarot and (Byfuglien) have a lot of history together. We like the way (Trouba) has played with (Enstrom) and we think it will be a good match (with Morrissey). Josh has proven himself beyond needing to play with a veteran player to play well. He can stand on his own game. We'll have two young defencemen there and we expect them to play well together.”

Trouba was chosen in the first round of the 2012 NHL Draft (ninth overall) and Morrissey went 13th overall the following June.

“We've played together before in pre-season and in development camps and stuff like that,” said Morrissey. “Whenever you're playing with a new partner, it's (about) communication and talking and reading off the other guy.”

Maurice hinted the Jets would recall a defenceman from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League to have an extra blue-liner around and the logical candidate would be Julian Melchiori.

Up front, left-winger Kyle Connor is inching closer to a return to the lineup after missing the past five games with an upper-body injury.

Centre Bryan Little is progressing as well, though Maurice didn't think he would be cleared for contact for about another week or so.

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