Jets reload heading into training camp Time is now for next generation to make its mark By: Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe Posted: 6:27 PM CDT Tuesday, Sep. 17, 2024

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/09/2024 (385 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Welcome to a new year of Winnipeg Jets hockey.

We’ve got fresh ice, a few different faces and a clean slate for a club with raised expectations coming off a terrific 2023-24 regular-season campaign (52-24-6) — and something to prove after crashing and burning in the opening round of the Stanley Cup playoffs (a five-game series loss to the Colorado Avalanche).

Say hello to first-year coach Scott Arniel, new assistants Davis Payne and Dean Chynoweth, goaltenders Kaapo Kahkonen and Eric Comrie, defencemen Dylan Coghlan and Haydn Fleury and forwards Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Mason Shaw and Brayden Yager.

Bid farewell to retired bench boss Rick Bowness, assistant Brad Lauer, goaltenders Laurent Brossoit and Collin Delia, defencemen Brenden Dillon, Nate Schmidt and Kyle Capobianco, and forwards Sean Monahan, Tyler Toffoli, Jeff Malott, Kristian Reichel, and Jeffrey Viel.

Training camp gets underway Wednesday with physicals, while the first on-ice sessions begin Thursday at the Hockey For All Centre. The Jets have brought in 53 players — five goaltenders, 16 defencemen and 32 forwards — and will have to cut down to a maximum of 23 in time for the start of the 2024-25 season on Oct. 9.

Starting this Saturday, Winnipeg will play six preseason games, where many of the questions surrounding the roster should be answered.

Here are the storylines and job battles to keep a close eye on over the next three weeks:

Cole’s contract

Restricted free agent Cole Perfetti remains without a deal as negotiations continue.

That the 22-year-old could miss part of camp shouldn’t come as a surprise when you consider the history of Jets’ first round picks in the 2.0 era, but the expectation is that the two sides will come to an agreement before things drag on too long.

Perfetti is set for his fourth NHL campaign and is in a position to solidify his status as an important core piece and key contributor in the Top-6 — a spot he held for more than half of last season.

It’s been well documented that it was mostly a tale of two seasons for Perfetti, who set career highs in goals (19), assists (19), points (38) and games played (71). It’s also true he endured a 23-game scoring drought (recording two assists during that stretch) and was a healthy scratch 15 times (including four of the five playoff games against the Avalanche).

The expectation is that Perfetti will benefit from the experience of battling through adversity to fuel him to take the next step in his development. His average ice time figures to be on the rise and he’s in line for more power-play time as well, potentially on the top unit after the departure of Monahan in free agency.

One would expect that increase in the importance of his role to coincide with a significant rise in his production.

By all accounts, the negotiation has been an amicable one and the biggest question left to answer is whether this will be a bridge deal or a longer-term pact.

It says here a bridge remains the most likely outcome, probably in the range of US$3.25-to-US3.75 million, though that could change if the Jets pivot and offer something in the range of five seasons at north of US$6 million.

 

Kids these days

General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff raised plenty of eyebrows this summer when he stated in no uncertain terms the time is now for some of Winnipeg’s top young prospects.

“If I’m a young player in the Jets organization today, I’m pretty excited about the opportunities in front of me. I’m working hard in the off-season to make sure I can take full advantage,” he said.

The time is now. Over to you, Ville Heinola, Elias Salomonsson, Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov and Brayden Yager, among others.

With the departures of Dillon, Schmidt and Capobianco on the blue line and Monahan, Toffoli, Malott, Reichel and Viel up front — and not much in the way of established veteran players signed to replace them — the door would appear to be wide open.

To be clear, the Jets are not rebuilding. They are trying to reload and clearly banking on some drafted and developed players to take big leaps beginning in camp.

 

Arniel’s second chance

As Arniel mentioned after getting promoted to the top job, he’s spent more than a decade learning from his brief stint with the Columbus Blue Jackets and preparing for this second opportunity to be an NHL head coach.

We’re about to see how he runs things as the bench boss.

Arniel is a strong communicator, which allowed him to establish some strong relationships with the core players during the past two seasons in the organization. He’s taking over a team that won the Jennings Trophy and was one of the best regular season teams in the NHL.

Finding a way to maintain the commitment to playing sound team defence, while scoring a bit more without cheating for offence is a top priority for Arniel and his coaching staff.

The other obvious storyline is the Jets’ need to improve both special-teams units, with the power play needing more consistent production and the penalty kill needing to get a few more clears and be a bit more aggressive. Whether those improvements come from personnel changes or the implementation of new ideas doesn’t really matter, as long as the results are there.

The Jets were a four-line hockey team under Bowness and you can expect that to continue, though many eyes will be on what permutations and line combinations Arniel rolls out in both the workouts and in games. Finding optimal deployment is another way to ensure the Jets remain a playoff team in the highly competitive Western Conference.

 

Centre of attention

It’s the storyline that never seems to end around here. And once again, the Jets have an important job opening when it comes to the second-line centre.

We know the versatile Vlad Namestnikov can fill in effectively, as he did through stretches last season, but is that really the best solution? We’re about to find out.

The Jets seem to prefer Perfetti and Gabe Vilardi on the wing, so they’re likely out of the mix. That opens the door for Lambert or Yager to make things interesting.

It will be interesting to see how Arniel sets his lines during Thursday’s first on-ice session. We’d expect both of these young players to be given a good look at this position in the preseason.

 

Heinola’s time to shine

At this time last year, Heinola looked poised to take the next step in his career, and following a strong training camp, he appeared to have done enough to not only earn a spot on the roster — but was on track to be in the opening night lineup.

That plan was derailed by a fractured ankle in the final preseason outing against the Ottawa Senators. Heinola didn’t return to game action until January and it took him a bit of time to find his form, which resulted in seeing no NHL action.

The 20th overall pick of the 2019 draft is no longer exempt from waivers, so he’s a safe bet to be on the roster. Heinola has bigger goals in mind, he yearns to become an NHL regular and there could be an opportunity for him to run the second power-play unit on the horizon.

It feels like a long time since Heinola made the Jets out of camp as an 18-year-old in the fall of 2019 and scored his first NHL goal in his fourth NHL game. The 23-year-old figures to partner with Colin Miller on the Jets’ third pairing, though there will be competition from the likes of Logan Stanley, Fleury and Coghlan.

Heinola’s puck-moving ability should help his cause and it’s up to him to earn the trust of the coaching staff through his play in the defensive zone.

 

Ehlers’ future

A year ago, major questions were swirling about the futures of Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck as they were about to enter the final year of their contracts. Those were quickly put to bed when the pair signed simultaneous seven-year extensions worth US$59.5 million each (US$8.5 million cap hit).

Could we see a similar situation with Nikolaj Ehlers?

The 28-year-old, fresh off helping Denmark qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics, wasn’t biting when asked on Monday at the team’s charity golf tournament.

“There’s obviously a reason I’ve been here nine years, but there’s nothing new to tell,” said Ehlers, who grew increasingly frustrated at the line of questioning. “I know you guys are trying to get information out of me, but I literally have no information to give.”

Ehlers revealed his agent and Cheveldayoff did speak over the summer but wouldn’t go any further. However, he was happy to hear Arniel say several times in the off-season how important a role he expects Ehlers to play.

“It’s always nice to hear good things,” he said.

Will this become a season-long distraction, or will both sides find a way to put it to bed in the next few weeks? Stay tuned.

 

Bottom six battle

Forwards Scheifele, Ehlers, Vilardi, Perfetti, Namestnikov, Kyle Connor, Adam Lowry and Nino Niderreiter have nothing to worry about when it comes to job security. There should be plenty of competition for the remaining roster spots and playing time.

Based on tenure and contract status, you’d assume Mason Appleton, Alex Iafallo and Morgan Barron are safe, too, which makes 11 forwards. But that trio shouldn’t get too comfortable.

The likes of Rasmus Kupari, David Gustafsson, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby, Dominic Toninato, Parker Ford, Anderson-Dolan, Shaw, Lambert, Chibrikov and Yager should all be in the running, too.

Add it all up and that’s as many as 13 players for what could be just five spots on the opening-night roster — or 10 for two spots assuming Appleton, Iafallo and Barron are locked in and there are no injuries.

 

Who’s No. 2

The Jets had the best goalie tandem in the league last season, with Hellebuyck and Brossoit combining to allow the fewest goals in the NHL. Hellebuyck won his second Vezina Trophy in five seasons and Brossoit provided the perfect complement in the backup role.

The raw numbers were impressive — Brossoit was 15-5-2 with three shutouts, a 2.00 goals-against average and .927 save percentage — but the ability to push one another while supporting their partner was equally important.

Brossoit departed to the Chicago Blackhawks in free agency, leaving the first open competition for the backup job since 2018 (when Brossoit was signed by the Jets the first time).

Kahkonen and Comrie were both signed to one-year deals on July 1 and they’ll battle for the starts behind Hellebuyck. The Jets are likely banking on 20-to-24 games from the No. 2 netminder and it will be incredibly difficult for either Kahkonen or Comrie to match the quality of the performances Brossoit delivered. However, it’s imperative for them to provide a reasonable facsimile.

Kahkonen enters with a slight edge, despite Comrie’s familiarity with the organization, but let’s see what the preseason games bring.

Comrie played the best hockey of his career with the Jets prior to signing the two-year deal with the Sabres, delivering a 2.58 GAA and .920 save percentage in 19 games in 2021-22. Kahkonen has shown flashes during stints with the New Jersey Devils, San Jose Sharks and Minnesota Wild and perhaps with Jets goalie coach Wade Flaherty’s help, the 28-year-old Finn will find consistency.

 

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: @WiebesWorld

 

WINNIPEG JETS TRAINING CAMP SCHEDULE

Thursday, Sept. 19
10 a.m. Group 1 practice
1 p.m. Group 2 practice

Friday, Sept. 20
10 a.m. Group 2 practice
1 p.m. Group 1 practice

Saturday, Sept. 21, Jets Fan Fest Event
10 a.m. Morning skate for playing group
11:45 a.m. Practice for non-playing group
12:30 p.m. Scrimmage for non-playing group
7 p.m. Wild @ Jets

Sunday, Sept. 22

9:45 a.m. Practice for non-playing Group 1
Noon Practice for non-playing Group 2
5 p.m. Jets @ Oilers

Monday, Sept. 23
Day off

Tuesday, Sept. 24
10 a.m. Group 1 practice
1 p.m. Group 2 practice

Wednesday, Sept. 25
10 a.m. Morning skate for playing group
Noon Practice for non-playing group
7 p.m. Oilers @ Jets

Thursday, Sept. 26
10 a.m. Group 1 practice
1 p.m. Group 2 practice

Friday, Sept. 27
10 a.m. Morning skate for playing group
11:45 a.m. Practice for non-playing
7 p.m. Jets @ Wild

Saturday, Sept. 28
Day off

Sunday, Sept. 29
10 a.m. Practice

Monday, Sept. 30
10 a.m. Practice

Tuesday, Oct. 1
10 a.m. Practice

Wednesday, Oct. 2
10:30 a.m. Morning skate at Canada Life Centre
7 p.m. Flames @ Jets

Thursday, Oct. 3
Noon Practice

Friday, Oct. 4
10 a.m. Morning skate
8 p.m. Jets @ Flames

All skates at Hockey For All Centre and open to the public