Jets still have to ‘earn their keep,’ GM says

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This article was published 23/11/2016 (3271 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Kevin Cheveldayoff’s Winnipeg Jets were 9-10-2 entering Wednesday night’s Central Division showdown with the Minnesota Wild.

On some nights, the youthful Jets are one of the NHL’s most exciting and explosive teams. On other nights — particularly evident during the three consecutive road losses they absorbed last week — they look overwhelmed and unsure of themselves.

So which is it? A playoff contender or a team too inexperienced for its own good? If he knows, the Jets’ general manager isn’t saying.

“You can’t say it is until you earn it,” Chevedayoff said Wednesday morning of his club’s playoff potential. “Certainly, emotions were riding pretty high after the Chicago game (a resounding 4-0 win on home ice Nov. 15). This league is tough. There are 29 other teams doing the same thing on a nighty basis. You have to earn it, whether I proclaim it or I say it. Do I believe in these guys? Absolutely, I believe in these guys but at the end of the day, everybody has to earn their keep.”

Cheveldayoff, who is in his sixth year of running the franchise, has learned to tune out the noise of public criticism that comes with being the top decision-maker in the hockey department.

“You’re always your own harshest critic,” Cheveldayoff said. “I’m sure there are people out there that are extreme critics of me and I’m sure there are people who think I have done a good job. At the end of the day, you don’t go out to try to please people. You go out to try to build within whatever parameters (you’ve chosen).

“You have to do your job and if your job is to try to build a franchise through a draft-and-develop model, in a league where there are so many uncertainties, the CBA, the schedule, injuries — you have to go about your business in a way in which you think is right.”

Cheveldayoff said he has purposefully never adhered to a time frame. In his world, there are no five- or 10-year plans, just an ongoing process where the work is done sensibly.

The squad that made the playoffs during the 2014-15 season has received a major overhaul of youth and skill. The GM felt he couldn’t predict how quickly the transition would proceed.

“There’s an evolution of any team,” Cheveldayoff said. “From our standpoint, we were certainly very excited to make the playoffs as an organization… but again, starting to creep up on the age side of it. And we didn’t win a game (in the playoffs), so that’s not good enough.

“We knew we had young players coming who, for us, we believed was going to be something sustainable.

“If you look at the timeline of what it’s taken to get to this point,” Cheveldayoff said.

“Mark Scheifele drafted (seventh overall in 2011). Five years in, Mark Scheifele is here now. Jacob Trouba drafted (ninth overall in 2012). Jacob Trouba… is at this point now. Those players advanced from that perspective.

“There are lots of players who play a year or two or three at the American (Hockey) League level before they come to the National Hockey League and have great careers…

“What you’re seeing here is a group of guys that in some ways have met the expectations or even exceeded.”

Cheveldayoff said he didn’t consider a more dramatic teardown, sacrificing all or most of his top veterans for the possibility of higher draft picks, in the early years of his regime. It would’ve been too painful and made little sense.

“You wouldn’t have a Bryan Little,” he said. “You wouldn’t have a Dustin Byfuglien, Blake Wheeler… Those were the pieces we chose to have within this group and at many points in time, could have chosen to move on with those players. But you can’t simply fill the group with 18-, 19- and 20-year-old players because they have to be able to play. You can’t go to the free-agent market and try to sign three or four players in the free-agent world to become your core, because it just doesn’t work like that, whether you’re in Winnipeg or Los Angeles or Chicago.”

Cheveldayoff asserts having respected veterans on the roster such as Wheeler, Little and Byfuglien is essential for building a winning tradition.

“You have to choose players you want to surround your young players with that embody what you want to do moving forward,” he said. “We did trade a couple of players away for draft picks. We traded Johnny Oduya (in 2012) for a second- and a third-round pick. One of those picks is Nic Petan, so now you’re seeing the benefit of those types of situations.”

More from Cheveldayoff on other topics:

Does the club’s recent slew of injuries have anything to do with a brutally tough schedule?

“You can never predict the injuries,” he said. “Bryan Little (getting hurt) four shifts in is not something that’s a fatigue thing or a schedule thing…

“As you talk to different people about fatigue science, when you change time zones it takes time for a body to adjust — if you change a time zone coupled with maybe playing an afternoon game. These guys have their routines, so these are things you constantly have to adjust and in the National Hockey League, this is their job and they’re here to perform at their best. They have to find ways, whether it is by themselves or with the team, to replenish nutrition, replenish sleep, rehabilitate injuries.”

Is he amazed by rookie Patrik Laine’s sudden impact?

“I don’t know that I’m amazed,” Cheveldayoff said. “We set no expectations for him. There’s no billboard campaign. It’s more from experience that we know there’s going to be ups and downs here. With any 18-year-old, with any 20-year-old and with any 25-year-old, this is a very difficult league to play in.

“Obviously, he’s accomplished some great things in the first 20 games. But, I think he’ll be the first to tell you, he puts those behind him and it’s really about how can I get better today. That’s what drives potential young stars and and potential great players.”

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14