Time running out on Jets

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/03/2022 (1280 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

SOMEWHERE IN THE CLOUDS — Greetings from seat 16C on Delta flight 3938, where there’s plenty of thoughts running through my head as I sit here at 35,000 feet en route to cover the latest Winnipeg Jets road trip.

We’re going to cover a lot of ground today — both figuratively and literally.

Buckle up.

***

Just like this Newark-bound bird, the Jets will be looking to avoid turbulence as they get set for three games in four nights. New Jersey on Thursday. The New York Islanders Friday. St. Louis on Sunday.

I’ve seen plenty of projections that it’s going to take at least 95 points to be on the right side of the Western Conference playoff line.

That means Winnipeg, at 25-22-10, has to find 35 points over these final 25 games. To get there, Dave Lowry’s crew must go 17-7-1, or 16-6-3, or 15-5-5… you get the picture. I suppose anything’s possible, but that’s a huge ask for a team that hasn’t strung together more than two wins in a row since early January.

We got a glimpse of what this group is capable of when they downed the two-time Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay 7-4 on Tuesday, closing out a four-game homestand with a 2-1-1 record.

But consistency, or lack thereof, has been a big issue.

***

In reality, Winnipeg’s runway is even shorter given the looming March 21 trade deadline. By then, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff will essentially have to pick a direction.

I think we can rule out the Jets being buyers at this point, as has been the case in recent years. Mortgaging any part of the future for what would amount to a hope and a prayer would be foolish. That leaves two realistic options — sell, or stand pat.

Cheveldayoff will listen to what rivals are willing to pony up for Paul Stastny and Andrew Copp, who are pending unrestricted free agents this summer. But parting ways with one or both would be akin to throwing in the towel on the current campaign. Still, if some short-term pain can lead to long-term gain, that’s probably the best play.

By maintaining the status quo, the Jets would essentially be using them as their own rentals, which isn’t very good asset management for a team that needs help in multiple areas.

Only six games remain between now and then before a final decision must be rendered. That adds an extra sense of urgency and importance to the coming days.

***

The press box at Canada Life Centre was filled with scouts during the past week. More than a dozen NHL clubs had eyes in the sky.

Nobody is watching Winnipeg closer lately than Edmonton. Director of pro scouting Archie Henderson was at three straight games, and you wonder who was his main focus?

Stastny (five goals and one assist in his past four games) and Copp (one goal and three assists in the four games since returning from a concussion) are certainly doing their part to not only help their current team gain ground in the standings, but also raise their own value on the open market.

Maybe the Oilers want both guys? They certainly could use some help with secondary scoring, especially with a number of players currently out of the lineup including Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Jesse Puljujarvi.

I’d say McDavid and Draisaitl for the duo ought to get it done.

***

I’m still shaking my head over Blake Wheeler’s suggestion the other day that Winnipeg’s struggles can be pinned on the fact they’re a young team.

Huh?

Sure, they have a few fresh-faced players. Every team does. But 23-year-old Pierre-Luc Dubois, 25-year-old Kyle Connor and 26-year-old Nikolaj Ehlers have been their three best forwards this season.

The top line of Wheeler, Stastny and Mark Scheifele are a combined 99 years old, with a whopping 2,697 regular-season games under their belts. The top four defencemen (Josh Morrissey, Neal Pionk, Nate Schmidt and Brenden Dillon) are 26, 26, 30 and 31 and have combined to play nearly 1,900 regular-season games. Connor Hellebuyck, the workhorse No. 1 netminder, is 28.

Adam Lowry, Dominic Toninato and Dylan DeMelo are 28. Copp is 27.

Wheeler’s explanation, unlike the age and experience of the team, just doesn’t add up.

***

Speaking of Ehlers and Dubois, I’ve been impressed with the maturity and poise both have shown over the past week.

Following Sunday’s 4-1 loss to the New York Rangers, Ehlers blamed himself for the opponent’s third goal midway through the final frame — despite the fact he wasn’t even on the ice at the time, his last shift ending more than a minute earlier. Ehlers tried to get too cute with a pass attempt in the offensive zone, leading to a turnover that amounted to nothing. But it was quite something to see him fall on the sword like that.

Dubois is leading in many ways as well. He constantly is made available to media, even requesting to do so after a recent loss, and offers candid, thoughtful insight.

He also seems to be single-handedly trying to raise his team’s compete level, such as his first shift after the Rangers scored to make it 2-0. Dubois came out like a wrecking ball, clearly ticked off and wanting everyone to know it, hitting everything in sight. He quickly got under the skin of several New York players and drew a penalty, which he’s done more than almost any other player in the league.

That, folks, is leadership. And Dubois has future captain written all over him.

***

When we eventually write the obituary on the 2021-22 season, one leading cause of death is going to be the club’s play in games that go beyond regulation.

That’s happened 13 times so far. And Winnipeg has just three victories to show for it (two wins, six losses in eight overtime finishes, one win and four losses in five shootout finishes). For a team with so much skill, that’s hard to understand.

A lot of valuable points have been left on the table. Turn half of those NHL-worst 10 OT/SO losses into victories, and the Jets would be waking up today just two points out of a playoff spot, not seven. They’d also be just four points out of third place in the Central Division, rather than nine.

So close. And yet, so far.

***

Not only does this look like a lost season on the ice, but business is hurting off it, too.

There were just 12,925 paying customers to watch the Lightning. That’s more than the 12,867 in attendance for the Rangers. Dallas last Friday drew 13,466. And the real canary in the coal mine was the fact Montreal last week, once the hottest ticket in this market, had only 13,816 in the stands.

That’s more than 8,200 unsold seats during the homestand, something that was unfathomable during the first decade of the NHL’s return. Perhaps this is the so-called “new normal,” and the Jets are hardly the only team having trouble selling out.

Still, this shows True North has its work cut out in the months ahead to try and sell a product that once sold itself.

And for all the folks who are going to flood my inbox and suggest this is what happens when you don’t let the unvaccinated in — as the Jets still aren’t doing at least through the remainder of the regular-season — I’ll remind you they polled their season-ticket holders and concluded they might lose more fans than they gain if they didn’t say the course despite changes to public health orders of March 1.

As a private business, that’s their right.

***

I walked around the concourse prior to puck drop against Tampa and was surprised by just how many Dustin Byfuglien and Patrik Laine jerseys I saw.

Out of sight, but definitely not out of mind.

It was a stark reminder that the Jets didn’t just lose two big stars, and big personalities. They also lost two of the most marketable names in the game.

Byfuglien hasn’t returned since his surprise retirement, save for a video cameo during Wheeler’s 1,000th game celebration earlier this season which got a huge roar from the crowd. But Laine (and Jack Roslovic, and Pascal Vincent) will be back in town on March 25 for the first time. That should be a lot of fun.

Good seats are still available for that game.

***

I can see the iconic New York skyline below, so it’s time to return my tray table to the upright position and prepare for landing. Thanks for joining me on the ride. Hope it wasn’t too bumpy and didn’t have you reaching for the air sickness bags.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg