FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: Ville Heinola had himself a heck of a 2025-26 NHL debut.
Don’t just take my word for it — the underlying numbers jump off the page as well. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Jets had 85.83 per cent of the expected goals against Vancouver whenever Heinola was on the ice. That is, by quite a margin, the best individual showing on the team. Cole Perfetti was second at 76.66 per cent.
What does this mean? Essentially, the ice was very much tilted any time Heinola was on it, with all the metrics that go into measuring expected goals (shot, shot attempts, scoring chances, high-danger chances) going Winnipeg’s way.
Jets defenceman Ville Heinola (Sean Kilpatrick / The Canadian Press files)
The next-best defenceman against Vancouver in that department? Elias Salomonsson, at 71.72 per cent. Yes, I know it came against the lowly Canucks, but in a season that has been filled with disappointment, this is a terrific development.
Now, the next challenge: find a way to keep both of these guys in your lineup even if/when you return to full health.
That’s where next week’s trade deadline gets interesting, with Logan Stanley, Luke Schenn and Colin Miller all UFAs and potentially on the move. Not only would it be wise to try and recoup something for expiring assets, but it’s also wise because of the opportunities it creates for players like Salomonsson and Heinola.
I wouldn’t mind seeing Winnipeg’s top six look like this at some point this year:
- Morrissey-Salomonsson
- Samberg-Pionk
- Heinola-DeMelo
With Fleury being the extra and Stanley, Schenn and Miller all moved.
Looking at tonight, the Ducks will be trying to go undefeated in February, although granted, their month consists of just four games. But they put together wins over Vegas and Seattle before the Olympic break, then rallied for a big victory over Edmonton Wednesday night. Overall, Anaheim has won six straight games in their home rink, the last loss coming back on Jan. 2 against Minnesota.
This will be a good challenge for Winnipeg.
KEN SAYS: It was quite a reunion for the Jets’ top line, as they combined to provide both goals at even strength to erase the aforementioned pair of one-goal deficits.
There’s been lots of online chatter about the value of splitting up the first line — specifically trying to have Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor try to drive their own units — but that debate can rage on a little longer.
Gabe Vilardi did an excellent job on the second line and was developing some chemistry with Perfetti, but he’s been at his most productive with Scheifele and Connor. And given all of the unknowns coming out of a lengthy break, it made sense that Arniel put them back together.
They’ve been his most consistent and productive trio this season and the Jets are trying to put as many points in the bank as they keep their slim playoff hopes alive.
Both of Scheifele’s assists were impressive. The no-look feed to Connor rather than continuing to skate behind the net and look for something else was top-notch. And the thing about finding Vilardi in traffic was that he spent some time surveying the situation and was looking elsewhere before turning his attention to Vilardi in the mass of humanity in front of the net.
Now, in order for the Jets to keep riding the top line down the stretch, they’ll need secondary scoring like Perfetti provided — and they’ll need it from each of the three other lines.
By the way, that might have been Perfetti’s best game of the season.
He had a glorious chance on his first shift and they seemed to keep piling up each time he stepped onto the ice.
By the time he delivered the overtime winner, he had recorded four shots on goal and nine shot attempts.
On the back end, Stanley had a career-high 25:34 of ice time and while he was unable to clear the zone on the Canucks first goal, he settled in as the game wore on and generated a lot of offence, both at even strength and while running the top power-play unit.
Stanley had five shots on goal and nine shot attempts in the game.
Where things go with Stanley during the next week is going to be a frequent topic of conversation.
If a contract extension isn’t signed, Stanley figures to offer plenty of value to other contenders, given his offensive production, size and manageable cap hit (US$1.25 million).
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Perfetti-Lowry-Iafallo
- Nyquist-Toews-Namestnikov
- Koepke-Barron-Pearson
DEFENCE:
- Samberg-Salomonsson
- Stanley-DeMelo
- Heinola-Schenn
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: G DiVincentiis, D Clague, RW Duehr
INJURED: D Morrissey (upper body), D Pionk (lower body), D Fleury (nose, back), D Miller (lower body), LW Niederreiter (undisclosed)
ANAHEIM DUCKS
FORWARDS:
- Kreider-Carlsson-Gauthier
- Killorn-McTavish-Sennecke
- Viel-Poehling-Terry
- Johnston-Washe-Harkins
DEFENCE:
- LaCombe-Trouba
- Zellweger-Gudas
- Mintnyukov-Helleson
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Moore, C Strome
INJURED: G Mrazek (hip), F Granlund (upper body), LW Vatrano (shoulder)
MAILBAG CALL-OUT
We’re getting ready for our next monthly Jets mailbag, which will go online next week.
Got a question about the hockey club, especially with the trade deadline looming? Simply hit reply to this email and Mike and Ken will be sure to tackle it.
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets head coach Scott Arniel on facing the Ducks:
“They’re one of the best teams in the league on the rush. They’re real high when it comes to creating turnovers, especially in their offensive end. So, we’re going to have to be real good with our puck management. There’s top-end skill, but at the same time they will give up opportunities, so we have to be real patient and do all of the right things.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken is on the three-game road trip, and with the Olympics in the rearview mirror, he will combine with Mike on the return of Dump and Chase, our weekly lap around the NHL. The emphasis will be on the upcoming NHL trade deadline.
You can read that story in Saturday’s paper and online. Due to the late puck drop, you can only find the game analysis online.
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