Mailbag callout
With the calendar flipping to the final month of the regular season, the Jets monthly mailbag is open, so please send your questions to Mike and Ken by replying to this email or reaching out via email or social media.
FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: I jokingly asked Jonathan Toews on Wednesday if we should refer to him as the “power play whisperer.” He smiled, then shrugged his shoulders. But there’s no denying the immediate impact he had after switching spots with Cole Perfetti on the top unit, which struck three times against Seattle on Monday night — the first time that’s happened all year.
Winnipeg’s power play has been a mess for much of this year, but if it can get hot for these final few games, look out.
“It’s nice to just go out there and sometimes changing things up like that for whatever reason, sparks a goal of two or you work for a bounce,” said Toews, who scored his tenth goal of the year and also chipped in an assist. “I’m trying to free up pucks, win some battles, win some draws and facilitate and let them make plays and do what they do.”
Jets forward Jonathan Toews (Nam Y. Huh / The Associated Press files)
On the flip side, Winnipeg is doing a great job on the penalty kill lately — by not taking any penalties. Consider this: the Jets have been shorthanded for a total of nine seconds in the last two games. Mark Scheifele was sent to the sin bin at 19:51 of the third period last Saturday against Columbus, and then not a single hockey foul was committed — or at least detected by the men in stripes — against Seattle.
I asked Arniel what’s behind his team suddenly being on their best behaviour?
“Yeah. I’m always barking, ‘Check with our legs.’ I think when you start to take stick infractions or lazy penalties, you’ve gotten yourself in position where you’re out of position and now you’re reaching,” said Arniel.
“I always talk about being above people and don’t get caught in foot races, don’t get beat back to the net-front because you’re not in the right spots. To me, that’s part of what it is. It’s your legs. Your legs have to…. If you move your legs in the defensive zone and you’re racing back to our end, in the offensive zone, you’re forechecking…. If you use your legs and keep your sticks off people, it helps you out a lot.”
I’ll be curious to see how Hellebuyck starts the game tonight after taking not one but two straight days off from practice. No doubt he’s trying to manage rest and recovery with such a heavy workload. I suspect as long as these games continue to have meaning, he’s not coming out of the net. That could mean playing 23 of Winnipeg’s final 25 games if this goes right down to the wire, which would be bonkers.
KEN SAYS: Get ready for a glorious matchup between No. 1 centremen, with Scheifele expected to be going up against Robert Thomas.
Scheifele had three assists on Monday and is in the midst of a remarkable heater, racking up 14 points during the past seven games to move him to 34 goals and 97 points through 77 games as the chase to triple digits continues.
A quick look under the surface shows that 27 of those 34 goals and 49 of his 63 assists have come at even strength, seven markers and 13 helpers have come with the man-advantage and one assist came while shorthanded.
Scheifele has moved within 28 points of Dale Hawerchuk in the quest to pass his mentor’s mark as the all-time points leader in Jets 1.0 history and that he’s done it in a season where he turned 33 last month only adds to the impressive nature of the season he’s putting together.
Shifting to Scheifele’s longtime linemate in Connor — he’s on the precipice of reaching 90 points for a second consecutive campaign, with a team-leading 38 goals and 89 points, having him approaching a third 40-plus goal season and threatening the 97 points he amassed in 2024-25 to set a career high.
Thomas, who was in the centre of trade rumours prior to the NHL trade deadline, has found his top form of late at both ends of the ice, chipping in 11 goals and 24 points during his past 17 games, moving him to just under a point per game player (57 points in 59 games).
Thomas is in year 3 of the eight-year pact he signed in July of 2022 that carries an AAV of US$8.125 million.
St. Louis Blues centre Robert Thomas (David Zalubowski / The Associated Press files)
Perhaps the threat of being moved has sparked Thomas, but he’s shown once again that he can be a franchise cornerstone and I don’t expect him to be dealt this offseason as he would be difficult to replace.
Sticking with the Blues, it’s been another solid season for left-winger Dylan Holloway, who is on the verge of consecutive 20-goal seasons with the Blues. Since signing the offer sheet that the Oilers didn’t match, Holloway has racked up 45 goals and 106 points in 131 games and immediately brought the level of production all teams are looking for from top-six forwards.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS
- Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
- Perfetti-Lowry-Vilardi
- Niederreiter-Namestnikov-Lambert
- Koepke-Toews-Rosen
DEFENCE
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Pionk
- Fleury-Bryson
GOAL
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Heinola
INJURED: D Salomonsson (concussion protocol), D Miller (lower body), C Barron (lower body), F Nyquist (undisclosed)
ST. LOUIS BLUES
FORWARDS
- Holloway-Thomas-Snuggerud
- Neighbours-Buchnevich-Berggren
- Stenberg-Dvorsky-Kyrou
- Toropchenko-Finley-Walker
DEFENCE
- Broberg-Mailloux
- Lindstein-Parayko
- Fowler-Tucker
GOAL
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: LW Drouin, C Suter, C Sundqvist, D Holl, D Kessel
INJURED: D Krug (ankle)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets forward Kyle Connor, who leads the team with 38 goals, on why offence has been so hard to come by during the season series:
“Maybe it’s just one of those matchups that everybody’s aware of and doesn’t want to make the mistake. For us, obviously, we want to be a team that defends first, so we take pride in that and that low number, but also not taking away from our offense. We’ve always stressed that we build through that.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Mike will have the game story of Jets vs. Blues. You can read it in Friday’s paper and online at winnipegfreepress.com.
|
