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Paul Postma

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Mark Scheifele

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JASON JAFFRAY

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Claude Noel (MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

A training camp update from the Winnipeg Jets, just hours removed from 20 players being forced to move their clocks up 21/2 hours after being sent to The Rock:

"Ø First-round draft pick Mark Scheifele is still here, still grinning and still ending every answer by vowing to "work hard."

"Ø Defence prospect Paul Postma still has his fingers crossed.

"Ø On-the-bubble forward Patrice Cormier is promising to adapt to playing either wing or centre as long as that versatility translates to earning a big-league sweater. Same goes for a dozen or so others in similar situations.

"Ø Players such as Andrew Ladd, as much as they would like to fine-tune their games in the final two pre-season contests this week, would likely just as soon fast-forward to Oct. 9 and the historic date with the Montreal Canadiens.

"Ø And head coach Claude Noel looked like a man who had just downed a carton of sour milk after assigning 20 players to St. John's, including some Manitoba Moose regulars such as Jason Jaffray, Marco Rosa, Kevin Clark, Shawn Weller, Mark Flood and Travis Ramsey who went to war for him last year.

"It's always difficult, especially when I deal with people I'm close to. It's a tough day," Noel said. "Jason Jaffray, you feel for. Marco Rosa, you feel for. But what we try to indicate to them is we have a good relationship and the love hasn't gone in the relationship.

"We don't know our whole group... Should (some of the players sent to St. John's) be here ahead of people? Potentially, yes. And that's the sad part. They're good players. We're not losing sight of them. And they are not far away."

The AHL assignments Tuesday left the Jets with 36 players in camp -- 20 forwards, 10 defencemen, three goaltenders and three injured players. NHL teams are allowed to carry 23 players, not including those on the hurts list.

The Jets have two pre-season games remaining, both at home -- Wednesday against the Carolina Hurricanes and Friday against the Nashville Predators. Those final two dress rehearsals will be critical for 10 to 12 players still trying to crack the big-league roster and for those jockeying for spots on the top two lines or power-play time.

"I guess it's really make or break, these last two," said Postma, who has two goals and three assists in three pre-season games. "They're going to be fun games. They're going to be intense. Teams are basically down to almost their full rosters. Coaches and staff are going to have tough decisions to make here.

"It's about just being consistently solid, not too flashy, not sticking out in any bad ways."

The meatiest question still unanswered for the Jets is what to do with Scheifele, the 18-year-old fresh-faced rookie with just one year of major junior hockey under his belt but now tied for the NHL pre-season scoring lead (with Philadelpha rookie Matt Read) with three goals and three assists.

Noel hinted Tuesday the Jets could take a longer look at their prized prospect -- if he signs -- in the regular season.

That "free" look could amount to a maximum of nine regular-season games, because once Scheifele plays a 10th, it would count as a full season on the term of his contract, drawing his future free-agent years closer. That is the main reason teams are careful before launching 18- and 19-year-olds full-time into the NHL.

The boss suggested Scheifele doesn't have to be a top-six forward to grow and develop, citing Alex Burmistrov as an example.

All that said, this raging debate is clearly heading into its critical and juiciest stages.

"In Scheifele's situation, I think the best assessment is: Is he an NHL player at 18 years old?" Noel said. "That's the first thing you do. Is he an NHL player? And when you look, you think 'yes.'

"So what stands in the way? There's different factors: How do you handle adversity? How do you handle less ice time? How many times do you sit him out? And when he's playing, is he playing three minutes, is he playing six minutes? Those things aren't good for development, and that's what you have to big-picture think. But for me, at a young age like that, if he's an NHL player, we'll put him everywhere he can succeed and he fits in the big picture. Is it right wing? Is it one game he sits out? Does he play centre? He's got to play. I've got to get him minutes; that's just my job as long as he earns it.

"This will all be determined in the next little while," Noel added. "It's still a man's league, and come the regular season, you see it's a man's league. Sometimes you need that extra time. I'm not saying that he will, he won't. There's a process, and we'll wait for the process and it will all fall into place."

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @WFPEdTait

SENT TO THE ROCK

A list of the 20 players who were assigned to the St. John's IceCaps, the Jets' AHL affiliate:

Forwards

Akim Aliu

John Albert

Mike Forney

Riley Holzapfel

Jason Jaffray

Eric O'Dell

Shawn Weller

Marco Rosa

Kevin Clark

Shayne Wiebe

Defencemen

Zach Redmond

Julian Melchiori

Ben Chiarot

Mark Flood

Travis Ramsey

Cody Sol

Arturs Kulda

Goalies

Chris Carrozzi

Edward Pasquale

Peter Mannino

STILL

STANDING

A list of those who remain in Winnipeg with the big club:

Forwards (20):

Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little, Evander Kane, Blake Wheeler, Nik Antropov, Tim Stapleton, Jim Slater, Patrice Cormier, Carl Klingberg, Mark Scheifele, Troy Bodie, Ben Maxwell, Kyle Wellwood, Alex Burmistrov, Tanner Glass, Jason Gregoire, Spencer Machacek, Chris Thorburn, Janne Pesonen

Defencemen (10):

Zach Bogosian, Toby Enstrom, Dustin Byfuglien, Ron Hainsey, Paul Postma, Brett Festerling, Randy Jones, Derek Meech, Johnny Oduya, Mark Stuart

Goaltenders (3):

Ondrej Pavelec, Chris Mason, David Aebischer

Injured:

Eric Fehr, F; Aaron Gagnon, F; Kendall McArdle, F.

Players with one-way contracts:

Byfuglien, Hainsey, Enstrom, Oduya, Stuart, Jones, Mason, Pavelec, Ladd, Antropov, Kane, Wheeler, Little, Fehr, Slater, Thorburn, Glass, Wellwood, Stapleton.

Entry-level contracts:

Kane, Burmistrov, Cormier.

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition September 28, 2011 C3