FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: It may not be the way the Jets drew it up, but there’s tremendous value in seeing Salomonsson get an extended run here with the big club as a result of injuries. He projects to be a huge part of the future, and with the likes of Miller, Logan Stanley and Luke Schenn all pending unrestricted free agents, this is a perfect time to see what they have in him.
“Way more comfortable,” Salomonsson said this morning of this latest promotion. “Having played in the league now, know the higher pace and stuff like that.”
The 21-year-old was summoned from the farm in November and appeared in four games, with no points and a minus-four rating. That doesn’t really tell the story. The 55th-overall pick from 2022 showed glimpses of great play against stiff competition (Washington, Carolina and Montreal on the road and then Buffalo at home).
“It was valuable for me to play against those tough teams and see how fast everything is and try to learn and adapt from that,” he said.
One of the knocks against the Jets this year is how slow they look at times, but injecting Salomonsson into the lineup and getting Barron back from injury will help in that department. Both guys are great skaters.
Winnipeg did a terrific job on Tuesday night going to the so-called “dirty” areas of the ice, with all five of their goals against the Islanders coming as a result of net-front traffic. That’s how you win in this league, and it was a good sign to see plenty of players getting near the blue paint.
At the top of that list was Jonathan Toews, who had three goals in his first 42 games and now has scored in three straight outings to double his total. I’m not sure how his comeback story is going to end — is it just a one-and-done scenario with the Jets, who may not make the playoffs? Would he be open to a potential trade to a contender? — but this most recent chapter is quite compelling. Toews has seven points in 10 games since the five-day Christmas break, which clearly did his body and mind a lot of good.
Winnipeg Jets’ Jonathan Toews has scored in three straight outings. (Angelina Katsanis / The Associated Press files)
Barron will start on the fourth line tonight, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he switches places with Vlad Namestnikov at some point to give Winnipeg’s shutdown line — which also includes captain Adam Lowry and veteran Nino Niederreiter — a bit more jump. That would allow Namestnikov to slide back into the centre position between Cole Koepke and Tanner Pearson.
Unfortunately for Zhilkin, he’s the odd man out (for now) despite making a good impression during his first four NHL games. As for Nyquist, the 35-year-old will be a healthy scratch for a fifth straight game, stuck on no goals and eight assists through 31 games. Given that he’s making US $3.25 million this year, I don’t imagine there’d be any takers on him in terms of a potential trade. And so he’s stuck in limbo, with the Jets perhaps having no choice but to put him on waivers at some point soon.
KEN SAYS: The injuries on the blue line are going to be a major storyline for the Jets during this pivotal stretch in the schedule. And while the collective will be under the microscope, it also means that Arniel and Dean Chynoweth will be leaning even more heavily on Josh Morrissey.
Morrissey scored his eighth goal of the season Tuesday and he’s up to 37 points, which leaves him fourth on the team in scoring, while averaging 24:32 of ice time per game. That puts him on pace to be north of 60 points for a fourth consecutive season and in line to challenge to hit or eclipse 70 for the second time during that span.
Dylan DeMelo also scored on Tuesday and he’s been rounding back into form of late, which is an important development for the Jets.
The Jets will need their top defence pairing to be leading the charge while trying to minimize the damage caused by Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, who are mostly used on separate lines.
This matchup also features two of the best D-men in the league, Morrissey and Wild blue-liner Quinn Hughes.
Hughes has one goal and 16 points in 16 games since the trade to the Wild and he’s getting more and more comfortable with his new team, adding a dynamic second wave to the offensive attack and the power play.
The Wild are not firing on all cylinders and are dealing with a few key injuries, but they’ve still found a way to pick up points during this “rough” patch at 1-2-2.
Wallstedt is one of the great stories in the NHL this season. This will be his 20th start of the season — compared to 28 for Filip Gustavsson — and his numbers are spectacular (2.42 goals-against average, a .923 save percentage and four shutouts) — which leaves him tied for the league lead with Winnipegger Joel Hofer of the St. Louis Blues and Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders.
Wallstedt’s games-played totals are on the rise, which should help him earn more consideration in both the Calder Trophy and Vezina Trophy races.
For context, when Hellebuyck won his third Vezina (and first Hart) Trophy last season, Hellebuyck had a save percentage of .925 and a goals-against average of 2.00 with eight shutouts.
So while the Jets offensive outburst during the homestand was impressive, it will likely be challenging for them to put four past Wallstedt, which would match the per game average during the previous five games.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
- Perfetti-Toews-Vilardi
- Niederreiter-Lowry-Namestnikov
- Koepke-Barron-Pearson
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Salomonsson
- Stanley-Schenn
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: F Nyquist, F Zhilkin, D Phillips
INJURED: D Fleury (nose, back), D Miller (lower-body), D Pionk (lower-body)
MINNESOTA WILD
FORWARDS:
- Kaprizov-Yurov-Zuccarello
- Johansson-Hartman-Boldy
- Foligno-Sturm-Tarasenko
- Trenin-Jones-Pitlick
DEFENCE:
- Hughes-Faber
- Middleton-Spurgeon
- Hunt-Spacek
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: F Hinostroza, D Lambos
INJURED: C Eriksson Ek (lower-body), D Brodin (lower-body), D Bogosian (undisclosed)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets coach Scott Arniel on what he views as the key to success for his club against the Wild:
“With our back end having some injuries, we have to make sure we’re really simplifying how we do things. Don’t feed into Minny’s transition. Especially their top six, they can move. They’ve got some defencemen that are coming all the time. Try to force them to play more in their end of the rink than ours.’
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Mike is on scene in St. Paul and has an early story coming on Elias Salomonsson, who hopes to make the most of his second callup from the Manitoba Moose.
He will also have game analysis of Jets vs. Wild.
You can find both pieces in Friday’s paper and online.
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