Team flying deepest since return to Winnipeg

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This article was published 18/03/2018 (2786 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE debut was delayed a few weeks because of injuries. But the Winnipeg Jets rolled out their strongest lineup of the year Sunday, one which included centres Mark Scheifele, Paul Stastny, Bryan Little and Adam Lowry playing together for the first time.

It is the deepest the Jets have been up the middle not only this season, but in the seven years since they relocated to Winnipeg. And it hasn’t gone unnoticed around the league.

“What you’re saying is the Beatles are back together,” Dallas Stars head coach Ken Hitchcock told the Free Press Sunday when asked to assess the centre-ice depth of his opponent.

Hitchcock — the third winningest coach in NHL history — said he’s impressed by what the Jets have done.

“In the National Hockey League, you have to have, of your 12 forwards, probably six that can play centre. Nashville learned that lesson (last season), that’s why they went and added what they added. I think you can’t have enough centres, because you’re going to end up using them in different situations. They end up killing a lot of penalties. They can play a multitude of roles. Some people think that they’re the smartest players on the team, or have the highest level of IQ. I think that’s important,” Hitchcock said.

“When you look at Winnipeg, they have six that can play centre. That’s going to be significant moving forward, when they get into playoffs, because it’ll be hard for the opposition. When they have an injury, they can make adjustments and probably won’t miss a beat.”

Indeed, those options were on display Sunday night.

Scheifele was anchoring the No. 1 line between Blake Wheeler and rookie Kyle Connor. Stastny was with Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers. Lowry slid into his familiar shutdown role on a line with Joel Armia and Brandon Tanev. And in a somewhat surprising move, Little was moved to the wing to play with Mathieu Perreault and Andrew Copp, who remained at centre.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice said Sunday he likes what Copp has shown in his time at centre during Lowry’s injury. Little began his career on the wing and scored a career-high 31 goals there in 2008-09.

Consider this an experiment more than anything.

“Paul Stastny has spent his career in St. Louis playing against the other team’s best. Bryan Little has done that for six years here. Mark Scheifele’s had that job the last two years. And Adam Lowry’s been training for that job in the four years he’s been in,” Maurice said prior to the game against the Stars.

“Which means you should have a real good comfort level. You won’t be pulling anyone off the ice. At the centre-ice position now, there’s a comfort level and an experience against good players.”

But will there be enough minutes for everyone?

“There has to be. You can almost work harder on shorter minutes. Nobody ever asks for the Wingate test (used to measure fitness) to be longer. So, they can push harder and go shorter,” Maurice said.

Lowry, who had missed 19 straight games and 27 of his past 29 before returning Sunday, said the Jets have a “real dangerous lineup, one through four” up the middle, with several others who have shown they can step in and make an impact.

“I think that really bodes well for us moving forward. It allows any of our lines to play against any team’s lines and be successful. You’re going to need that depth and the scoring through four lines in the playoffs,” Lowry said.

“I think, early on, maybe some guys will be looking for a few more minutes. But at the same time, it really allows us to play that up-tempo game if we’re rolling all four lines.”

Prior to Sunday, Winnipeg only had 29 games this season where Scheifele, Lowry and Little were in the lineup at the same time. None included Stastny, as Lowry had been out since he was added on trade deadline day. Winnipeg had a 16-10-3 record in those 29 games, and a 26-9-7 record in the 42 games without them all together.

Wheeler called Copp a “Swiss Army knife,” and the same definition could probably apply to the captain, who was effective at centre during Scheifele’s 16-game injury absence earlier in the year.

“It’s nice to be versatile. The more positions you can fill, the longer you can stick around… It helps a lot with how we can run the bench, matchups, that kind of stuff,” Wheeler said.

In addition to Scheifele, Stastny, Little, Lowry, Copp and Wheeler, Winnipeg also has rookie Jack Roslovic and Matt Hendricks, who have played centre. Roslovic was a healthy scratch Sunday, while Hendricks is out six to eight weeks with an injury.

“We have a ton of guys who have experience in the middle,” Scheifele said. “We like the look of our team, and we’re excited to have guys getting back from injury and guys getting back into the lineup. I think that’s exciting for all of us.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg