Veteran centre Little shifted to right side as Maurice concocts new front line

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This article was published 18/09/2015 (3698 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s a bit of mad scientist in every coach. And Paul Maurice has likely been rubbing his hands together about attempting this experiment since April’s playoffs.

The Winnipeg Jets coach put theory into practice on Day 1 of training camp Friday, moving Bryan Little from centre to right wing on the Jets top line and having Adam Lowry step into the No. 1 pivot role with Andrew Ladd on the other flank.

The move, as temporary or long term as it may be, does represent a few things: Little’s versatility, the club’s belief Lowry can continue his evolution into an elite centre and Maurice’s desire to have a flexible and deep enough Top 9 to move those pieces around regularly.

“I just found out about it last week. It’s something (Maurice) mentioned to me,” said Little after the morning session. “I’ve played wing before. It’s practice, it’s training camp so it’s kind of tough to gauge right now until we get into a game or a scrimmage.

“The way (Maurice) brought it up I think it’s more of a trial right now to see how it goes. Training camp is the time of the year where you can experiment a bit and fool around with the lines. I’m glad we’re doing it right now to see if it works out before the season gets started.”

Little had 31 goals playing right wing in 2008-09 with the Atlanta Thrashers, but has been exclusively a centre — the club’s No. 1 centre — the past four years in Winnipeg.

“I had the 30 goals the one year, the next year I had 13… which was my worst year,” he said. “That was six or seven years ago so it’s definitely been awhile since I’ve played the wing. But I think for a centreman it’s definitely an easier adjustment getting switched to the wing than for a winger to try and play centre.”

The Jets have some options at centre with Lowry, Little, Mark Scheifele, Andrew Copp and Alex Burmistrov, as well as Mathieu Perreault and Nic Petan. Moving Lowry up to the top line would give the Jets a big body to match up against the likes of Anze Kopitar, Ryan Getzlaf and Jonathan Toews in the Western Conference.

But it’s not like Little has struggled in that role, either. He’s considered one of the most consistent but underrated players in the NHL and has matched up well defensively against most centres.

“We’re going to look at two or three things in training camp,” said Maurice. “And that was something we saw last year… when Bryan got injured, Adam went into the middle with Ladd and Mike Frolik and was really effective there. And I really liked the way he played in the playoffs under heavier competition.

“It’s an idea. We know that Bryan has been really productive on the wing and we think there’s a chance he might be more productive on the wing. It’s something we want to look at and we’re going to change that again — somewhere between Day 7 and Day 10 he’ll go back into the middle and we’re going to look at a different unit. But without mixing these guys up too much, I’d like to look at two or three different possibilities, because those things are going to happen during the year. There’s going to be a point in time due to injury that you’re going to have to adjust your lineup so the more we can look at going in the better.”

The question now becomes, just what kind of offensive ceiling does Lowry have? He’s been seen mostly as a third-line centre and had 11 goals and 12 assists in that role as a rookie last season. In his final junior year with the Swift Current Broncos he did pot 45 goals and picked up 88 points in 72 games.

“It’s always nice to get the opportunity to play with two players like that,” said Lowry. “Coming into this year I wanted to expand my role and continue to get better and continue to develop. Obviously there’s going to be greater expectations going into your second season in the NHL.

“Playing alongside those guys, at least to start, there’s going to be some expectations to contribute right away.”

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Ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait