Jets working on cutting roster after loss to Canucks

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This article was published 03/10/2021 (1438 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE time has come for the Winnipeg Jets brass to cut the wheat from the chaff.

While it’s been intriguing to observe many of the NHL’s prospects in action during the pre-season, there’s no need to continue with the auditions of certain players.

A Jets lineup featuring about nine players likely on the regular-season roster was dumped 3-2 by the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday evening at Rogers Arena. Winnipeg is now 1-2-1 in the pre-season.

The plan all along was to start trimming numbers now.

General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, head coach Paul Maurice and the rest of the hockey department were to reduce the Jets roster overnight, prior to the start of Moose training camp this morning at the Iceplex.

Maurice said it’s time to get the band together for the last two jam sessions before the start of the regular season.

“Now, we’ve got to get these other guys on the ice together, get some power-play units together, get some minutes. I don’t know that chemistry is an issue,” Maurice told reporters. “We’ve got a lot of these guys who haven’t played together for a long time. Probably blocks of forwards and a (defence) with the two new defencemen… get those guys back out there.”

The Jets host the Calgary Flames on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (TSN3) and then wrap up the exhibition slate Friday in Calgary at 8 p.m. (TSN3)

Winnipeg begins the regular season, Wednesday, Oct. 13, against the Ducks in Anaheim.

If the likes of forwards Jeff Malott, Kristian Reichel and Mikey Eyssimont, defencemen Johnathan Kovacevic and Leon Gawanke, and goaltender Mikhail Berdin face the chopping block, they can feel relatively good about their final performance.

Malott and Reichel, Winnipeg’s goal-scorers in defeat, will undoubtedly do some damage in the American Hockey League this winter.

“(Malott’s) had a good camp. There’s a bunch of those guys that have had good camps. They’re all not gonna start the season with the Jets but a bunch of them, I would say, accomplished what they could,” Maurice told reporters. “They needed to get on the radar and be understood for the kind of player that they are and then leave with that.

“Go down and play with the (Manitoba) Moose, where they’re playing well and they’re the best player and the coaches here know what to expect when they come up.

A few of those guys that maybe I didn’t know, hadn’t coached them, or hadn’t seen them in camp before, I got a little better handle on them.”

Berdin’s gained a reputation as a skilled puckhandler but his gaffe led to the game’s first tally. His attempt to move the puck behind the net was intercepted, leading to Canucks captain Bo Horvat’s goal at 3:32 of the initial period.

Third on the depth chart behind Connor Hellebuyck and Eric Comrie, Berdin admitted some early nerves got the better of him in his pre-season debut, adding the miscue was a wakeup call.

“I feel pretty good but there’s some stuff, it’s the first game of the season. Bad bounces. First one was mine,” he said. “I didn’t feel great with the puck. First game tough, but I will keep working on it.

“(Settled in) probably after the first goal. I can’t make mistakes anymore, probably, that’s why I started to play. I wasn’t nervous anymore after the goal.”

Berdin finished the night with 30 saves.

The Jets tied it 1-1 when Malott jumped on a loose puck and fired it past 16-year NHL veteran goalie Jaroslav Halak with just under eight minutes left in the first.

Malott, 25, signed a two-way deal with the Jets in May after a terrific inaugural professional season with the Moose. He led the team’s American Hockey League affiliate with 14 goals — tied for second among league rookies — while chipping in six assists in 34 games.

“I felt good about playing the game. I’m used to playing with (David) Gustafsson and have been playing with Reichs a little bit lately and I think we do a good job of keeping it simple. I like playing with those guys, I think we play fast and strong,” said Malott, a Burlington, Ont., product who played four years at Cornell University. “You wanna use pre-season as an opportunity to showcase the work ethic and what you can bring to the table.

“At the end of the day, we were going to go out there and have that hard forecheck and have numbers on the puck. If we’re going to end up with a call-up or whatever the process is, I think that’s the way we need to approach it.”

The Jets’ clash Saturday night with the Edmonton Oilers definitely had more sizzle — the presence of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl will have that effect — while the stop in Vancouver just 24 hours later was more of a plodding affair.

Scoring opportunities for the visitors were scarce as Winnipeg shooters drilled just 18 shots at the goaltending tandem of Halak and youngster Michael DiPietro.

Former Jets forward Nic Petan snapped in his first of the pre-season five minutes into the second period with the squads playing at 4-on-4, beating Berdin with a shot from the slot that appeared to glance of Dylan DeMelo’s stick before sailing in. The Canucks inked Petan to a one-year, two-way contract in late July.

Tanner Pearson and Reichel traded goals in the third period.

Skilled but slight blue-liner Ville Heinola quarterbacked the Jets power-play unit, which went 0-for-2, failing to even produce a shot on net during an opportunity early in the final frame.

A bright spot was the penalty kill, which snuffed out all six of Vancouver’s man-advantage chances.

Logan Stanley was hurt in the second period and was kept out of the third period as a precaution, reducing the blue-line corps to five.

Kristian Vesalainen, vying for a job on the bottom-six forward group, had his best game of the pre-season, while centre Pierre-Luc Dubois played a powerful game, ramming his way to the net a couple of times. He looked comfortable between veteran Andrew Copp and Jets hopeful Evgeny Svechnikov.

“I feel good. I feel confidence every day, I’m making small steps every day and feeling more comfortable. Not just in the locker room, but with the system and everything else,” said Svechnikov. “I don’t think too much, I don’t think too far (into the future), I just do (things) day-by-day. Live in the present and work hard.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell