Jets find a killer line

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 14/03/2022 (1273 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If the Winnipeg Jets proved anything over this just-completed road trip, it’s that they aren’t going to go quietly into the night. Victories in New Jersey and St. Louis will keep them hanging around the playoff race at least a little longer.

We shouldn’t be entirely surprised. This underachieving bunch still has plenty of talent, not to mention pride. For all their flaws, they are not quitters. Expect them to keep fighting to the bitter end.

Still, it’s probably too little, too late when it comes to the current season. Sure, Winnipeg is just four points out of the final Western Conference playoff spot with 22 regular-season games remaining, but this is one of those cases where objects may appear closer than they really are. They are chasing three teams, not just one, for that berth. And they’ll need to be markedly better than Dallas down the stretch, plus two of Vancouver, Edmonton and Vegas, just to sneak into the eighth-seed and a first-round meeting with the mighty Colorado Avalanche. Possible? Sure. Likely? Not really.

Which is why it says here the best thing that happened for the Jets over these last three games isn’t the four points they gathered, which are likely only going to delay the inevitable. Rather, it was interim coach Dave Lowry’s decision to (finally) put his three best forwards together on a line.

Pierre-Luc Dubois, Kyle Connor and Nikolaj Ehlers have the potential to be something truly special, and they showed that in spades Sunday night in St. Louis. First came a Connor to Dubois to Ehlers second-period tally to tie the game. And then came the Connor to Ehlers to Dubois overtime winner to end it.

Memo to Lowry: Keep these guys together at all costs. They are the foundation of your franchise, the forward trio I would absolutely be building around. The torch has been passed. The future is now.

It wasn’t long ago Connor was part of the undisputed No. 1 line with this team, along with captain Blake Wheeler and centre Mark Scheifele. But those days are gone. Connor and Dubois have formed a terrific one-two punch this year, bringing out the best in each other.

Connor, 25, is one goal away from matching his career high of 38, and he might just be knocking on the door of 50 by the time this campaign ends in late April. He’s scored in four straight games, and is a threat every time he’s on the ice. Dubois, 23, is blossoming into a true power centre and is on pace to smash his career bests in goals, assists and points while also showing tremendous leadership abilities on and off the ice. I see Winnipeg’s future captain coming into his own.

They’ve had plenty of partners on the right side this year, with Evgeny Svechnikov forming the most comfortable fit. He began Sunday’s game on that line, but took a slashing penalty (that led to St. Louis’ first goal) and an undisciplined 10-minute misconduct for beaking at the officials which forced Lowry to get the blender out. Perfetti didn’t look out of place either in his short stint there prior to getting hurt. Kristian Vesalainen, Jansen Harkins and Adam Brooks have also got brief looks.

But none of them have what the 26-year-old Ehlers does. And putting Winnipeg’s most explosive winger — heck, one of the most dynamic players in the league — with Dubois and Connor seems like a no-brainer. And yet, I understand Lowry’s hesitation to do it up until this point.

Ehlers, of course, missed nearly two months with a knee injury, and the Jets have been trying to find secondary scoring all season. There’s always a risk in putting all your eggs in the proverbial basket, as other teams can focus their best on trying to shut them down, then have a field day with the rest of your lineup.

We saw Blues coach Craig Berube attempt that on Sunday, shortly after the trio were put together. He put shutdown centre Ryan O’Reilly’s unit out against Dubois, Connor and Ehlers, shifting that group away from playing against Scheifele, Wheeler and Paul Stastny.

That’s OK. Let this young trio fight through it together and find their way. There’s no reason, with the blend of size and strength and speed and skill, that they can’t eventually become one of the league’s best. Think Landeskog-MacKinnon-Rantanen in Colorado. Bergeron-Pastrnak-Marchand in Boston.

We’re at a critical juncture for the Jets, that shouldn’t be clouded by what happened over the last three games, or what happens this week with home dates against Vegas and Boston, and a Sunday night tilt in Chicago. It’s vital the organization keep its eyes on the big picture.

Stastny and Andrew Copp, who may have suffered his fifth career concussion and second of this season on Sunday night, are pending unrestricted free agents who should be flipped for draft picks and/or prospects by next Monday’s trade deadline. Standing pat and using one or both of them as a self-rental of sorts, knowing they’re likely both signing with other teams in the summer, is not sound asset management.

Bigger moves, which could include drastically changing the mix of the team by moving forwards or defencemen who still have term, will likely wait until the off-season. But pretty much everything should be on the table at this point.

We were reminded once again this past weekend a solid foundation remains in place, led by a thrilling young forward trio that is capable of taking over games. The key for Kevin Cheveldayoff and company is to now complement Dubois, Connor and Ehlers with the type of talent that will ultimately get them over the top.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg