Winnipeg Jets at Edmonton Oilers

There are no points being awarded in the standings, but there is still plenty at stake tonight as the Winnipeg Jets begin their four-game preseason slate with a Saturday night affair in Edmonton.

Coach Scott Arniel is bringing a very young, inexperienced group to face an Oilers squad that will include the likes of Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and Evan Bouchard.

“All I can say to that is bring it on,” a laughing Thomas Milic said following the morning skate at Hockey For All Centre.

Milic will get the start in net as he tries to show he’s ready to take on a bigger role within the organization, especially with Connor Hellebuyck currently on strike from the squad and a big hole in net behind the new No. 1 man, Stuart Skinner.

“It’s hard to ignore something like that that’s going on,” said Milic, who had a strong campaign last season with the Manitoba Moose which included making his NHL debut with the Jets.

“It definitely crossed my mind and I know there’s an opportunity there. So I’m going to do whatever I can to take advantage of that. At the same time, all I can control is what I’m doing and living in the moment. One day at a time and we’ll see how far that goes.”

Goaltender Thomas Milic made his NHL debut with the Jets last season. (Mike Deal / Free Press files)

The same came be said for plenty of other players in tonight’s lineup. Viggo Bjorck, the eighth-overall draft pick this past summer, will look to pick up where he left off last weekend in Quebec following two strong games in the prospect tournament, skating on the top line with Isak Rosen and Brad Lambert.

“I’ve already said it to them, that you’re going to see the best in the world coming at you here, so it’s awesome,” Arniel said of throwing them directly into the deep end against McDavid and Draisaitl, who will skate with Vasily Podkolzin.

“It’s great. For those guys, especially the guys that haven’t had a chance to play an NHL game, to watch those two superstars play, to be out there and on the ice with them, hopefully they’re not being too much spectators. But they’re going to do what they have to do. It’s a great opportunity. And that’s more than anything what I’m hoping for them to have.”

Same goes for the likes of forwards Brayden Yager, Nikita Chibrikov and Danny Zhilkin and defencemen Tyrel Bauer, who are also looking to show they deserve a role in The Show as early as this fall.

“I think a lot of young guys kind of knew coming into camp that there’s going to be some opportunities,” said Yager, who has been skating in camp with veterans Nino Niederreiter and Alex Iafallo but will centre a line tonight with Parker Ford and rookie Kevin He.

Is he looking forward to facing Edmonton’s dynamic duo?

“The trainer and I were joking. He said I should say (to Leon) ‘How’s it feel to be the second best No. 29 tonight?” Yager said with a big smile.

You also have players like forward Noah Greger and defencemen Haydn Fleury, Henry Thrun and Jack St. Ivany, who all have NHL experience under their belts and are battling for depth positions on the big-league roster. Not to mention some other recent Jets draft picks looking to move up the pecking order.

“I’ve seen (Colby) Barlow a couple times and last year he was in the American League and now we get He coming in and (Kieron) Walton and (Jacob) Julien – these guys are coming in for the first time, this is going to be their first year turning pro. You sort of see them in development camp and then you kind of see them in our camp,” said Arniel.

“Now you hope that the growth is happening. Now they get to play the game like this tonight, it’ll be good to see where everybody’s at.”

The Jets will play a pair of home games on Monday and Tuesday night – with a lot more regulars in the lineup — then wrap up the exhibition slate next Friday in Denver. By that point, the 23-man roster should be finalized. The Jets will spend a few days in Colorado Springs doing some team building and bonding before returning home to get set for the start of the 84-game regular season campaign on Oct. 2.

Here’s some other information to get you set for tonight:

—Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe

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FROM THE PRESS BOX

MIKE SAYS: First off, welcome back, folks. Did you miss us? We certainly missed you!

More importantly, I suspect you missed hockey. That was a looooong offseason, which is what happens when you fall far short of expectations and don’t make the playoffs. The (long?) road back to redemption starts tonight, sort of, and while the lineups don’t exactly scream “DON’T MISS THIS ONE” there are still plenty of reasons to pay attention.

Kenny has the crease and up front covered below, so I’m going to focus here briefly on the blue-line. We know Josh Morrissey, Dylan DeMelo, Dylan Samberg, Neal Pionk and Mario Ferraro are all cemented in Winnipeg’s top six, and Elias Salomonsson will likely be there as well once he recovers from his shoulder surgery. But with a season debut possibly on hold until late October, that creates an opening for the third-pairing.

Bauer has been skating with Ferraro earlier this week and would seem to have the inside track. But St. Ivany – who came over from Pittsburgh in the David Gustafsson trade – is another right-shot option to consider as well. Same for Fleury, Thrun and Isaak Phillips, who are left shots but could potentially slide over to play the offside if necessary.

All five of those guys are playing tonight (along with college free agent signing Lukas Gustafsson, who is on an AHL deal), so there should be plenty of internal competition. I’ll be especially interested to see them matched up against the McDavid/Draisaitl/Podkolzin trio. That will be a true litmus test.

“Obviously with our defence, with Sol being banged up, somebody’s going to have to step into that spot,” said Arniel. “Again, put your best foot forward. There’s opportunities there to make an impression.”

KEN SAYS: Consider this a continuation of the prospects games from Gatineau last weekend, with the stakes slightly increased.

Many eyes will be on Bjorck, as he prepares for what is likely the first of three outings to solidify his spot on the opening day roster. Bjorck’s vision was on display this week, with one cross-ice pass he made to Rosen catching the attention of many.

It’s also a chance for Yager to catch the attention of the coaching staff. Yager is playing with confidence, which one would expect when you’re placed on a line with veterans for this condensed camp. Yager would probably benefit from top-six minutes with the Moose at least to start the season, but in the meantime his job is to make the decision to keep him around as difficult as possible.

There are a lot of moving parts as it pertains to the backup goalie position behind Skinner, but this is a chance for Milic to try and make his case to not pick up a veteran option on waivers. Milic, who was the Moose MVP last season, got his first taste of the NHL last season when Hellebuyck was out with a knee injury and he’s determined to push for more.

With Skinner expected to get two starts next week and DiVincentiis likely to get the other, Milic has an opportunity to try and get a leg up on the competition in this contest.

“Obviously there’s two games in there for the young guys to take advantage of. Just like the defence, the forwards: show us what you have,” Arniel said this morning.

“We don’t know where we’re going to be in a week or 10 days from now. But there’s a chance. There’s an opportunity. Both those guys played well last year. Both those guys have earned the opportunity to get a game. Go take advantage of it.”

PROJECTED LINES

WINNIPEG JETS

FORWARDS:

Rosen-Bjorck-Lambert
He-Yager-Ford
Chibrikov-Zhilkin-Gregor
Barlow-Julien-Wahlin

DEFENCE:

Fleury-St. Ivany
Thrun-Bauer
Gustafsson-Phillips

GOAL:

Milic
Pouter

EDMONTON OILERS

FORWARDS:

Draisaitl-McDavid-Podkolzin
Formenton-Dach-Joseph
Jones-Samanski-Howard
Nicholl-Michaels-Griffith

DEFENCE:

Shea-Bouchard
Stastney-Emberson
Stillman-Brown

GOAL:

Jarry
Tomkins

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

Jets goaltender Thomas Milic on a potential backup role being up for grabs behind Stuart Skinner – and competing with fellow netminder Dom DiVincentiis for that role:

“We both know the situation and are constantly going to be fighting to one-up each other. We said this countless times that we have a healthy competition. We’re not stepping on each other’s toes but we know what the deal is so we’re trying to compete with each other and earn that spot over each other. But also cheering for each other and on the same team at the end of the day.”