FROM THE PRESS BOX
KEN SAYS: Yager joins defenceman Elias Salomonsson, forward Danny Zhilkin and goalie Thomas Milic to become the fourth member of the Jets to make his NHL debut this season.
He’s had a steady rookie season and while the offensive numbers aren’t eye popping, Yager is a strong skater and a dependable two-way player. The AHL is a hard league for a 20-year-old to jump into, and putting up double digits in goals as a first-year pro is not an easy thing to do.
By getting into some late-season NHL action, Yager will get a handle on what he’ll need to do over the summer to compete for a roster spot next fall.
Brayden Yager is making his NHL debut for the Jets. (Mike Deal / Free Press files)
Skating on a line with the feisty Chibrikov and a veteran like Niederreiter should help ease the transition.
No doubt he’ll be feeling some nerves, but this is a moment Yager has been waiting for and he gets to experience it in one of the best road environments in the NHL.
As for Chibrikov, his offensive production in the AHL is down considerably from his rookie campaign, when he notched 17 goals and 47 points in 70 games.
When he was up with the Jets to start the season, he didn’t generate much offensively either and took six minor penalties while getting mostly fourth-line minutes.
Chibrikov is the type of player who can get under the skin of the opponent, but to become an NHL regular, he must use his good shot and go to the hard areas.
Chibrikov is no longer exempt from waivers and is about to start a one-way contract, so it’s a good opportunity for him to get a head start on competing for a roster spot in the fall as well.
Both Yager and Chibrikov will benefit from the experience they’ll have in the Calder Cup playoffs as well, but for now, they’re looking to leave a lasting impression on Arniel and the rest of the coaching staff and management team before heading back to the farm.
Since the loss to the Jets late last month, Winnipegger Mark Stone has five goals and eight points during his past eight games to move him to 70 points in 58 games this season.
That leaves him third in team scoring behind Jack Eichel (84 points in 72 games) and Mitch Marner (79 points in 79 games).
Eichel has been playing some of his best hockey of the season of late, recording 10 points during his past eight games – including a pair of three-point outings.
MIKE SAYS: Is this Hellebuyck’s final start of the season? I suspect Eric Comrie gets the call tomorrow night in Salt Lake City, and then I wonder if one of Thomas Milic or Dom DiVincentiis could get a look in Thursday’s season-finale against San Jose, should the Jets decide to use their remaining call-ups from the Manitoba Moose and give a few more young players a game.
I would have considered switching things up and starting Comrie tonight, just to give Hellebuyck some extra rest. He wasn’t sharp at all on Saturday night against Philadelphia and sure looked like a guy who has been worn down by heavy usage over the past few weeks.
It sure shows you how far Ville Heinola has fallen down the depth chart — not to mention out of favour — with the Jets that he continues to be a healthy scratch in favour of Miller, a pending unrestricted free agent who hasn’t played a game in three months due to injury.
I’m not sure of everything that’s gone on behind the scenes between the organization and the 20th-overall pick from 2019, but it can’t be good. I wonder if the full story of what went wrong will ever come out?
Heinola, who passed through waivers out of training camp and began the season with the Moose, wasn’t even papered down to the AHL team on trade deadline day, which would have made him eligible for the Calder Cup playoffs.
Nor has he played a single second since then with the big club. He is stuck in hockey purgatory, with his last game coming on March 5 against Tampa Bay (13:51 of ice time, one shot on goal in a 4-1 victory).
That was Heinola’s 56th game of his NHL career. And it might just have been his last. He’s a pending UFA as well this summer and there’s no chance the Jets are looking to bring him back (or, I suspect, that he’d want to come back).
Does another team give him a shot, or does Heinola go back to Europe (like another Jets first-rounder, Kristian Vesalainen, along with other draft picks including Sami Niku and Mikhail Berdin)?
In addition to Yager’s first NHL game, other milestones to keep an eye tonight: Does Mark Scheifele get a point to reach 100 for the first time in his career? Does Gabe Vilardi score a goal to reach 30 for the first time in his career? Does Kyle Connor get two more tallies to his 40 for the third time in his career? And can Jonathan Toews get one more point to hit 30 for the 16th time (in 16 NHL seasons)?
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Perfetti-Lowry-Lambert
- Koepke-Toews-Rosen
- Niederreiter-Yager-Chibrikov
DEFENCE
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Pionk
- Fleury-Bryson
GOAL
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Heinola
INJURED: D Salomonsson (concussion protocol), C Barron (lower-body), F Nyquist (undisclosed), Namestnikov (lower body), Iafallo (undisclosed)
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
FORWARDS
- Barbashev-Eichel-Stone
- Howden-Marner-Dorofeyev
- Saad-Hertl-Sissons
- C Smith-Dowd-Kolesar
DEFENCE
- McNabb-Theodore
- Hanifin-Andersson
- Lauzon-Korczak
GOAL
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: G Schmid, D Hutton, F R Smith
INJURED: D Pietrangelo (hip), C Karlsson (lower body)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets head coach Scott Arniel to JETS TV on Brayden Yager making his NHL debut:
“He’s had a real good year with the Moose and doing some really strong things, building more than just being a one-dimensional player. He’s worked at being a good two-way player. He was that, obviously, in junior, but it’s a different thing when you get to the pros. That’s what we talked to him about. Just go out and be yourself. Do what you do best and hopefully it will be a strong evening for him.”
MAILBAG CALLOUT
With the calendar flipping to the final month of the regular season, the Jets monthly mailbag is open, so please send your questions to Mike and Ken by replying to this email or reaching out via email or social media.
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Ken will have an early story on Jets prospect Brayden Yager making his NHL debut for Tuesday’s print edition, but with the late puck drop in Nevada, you can only find the game analysis online at winnipegfreepress.com.
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