Pavelec still No. 1 puck stopper for Jets

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/09/2015 (3694 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Training camp has been an interesting experiment in evaluating youth, mixing up lines and moving players around, but one prevailing constant remains: the Winnipeg Jets will fail or succeed on their ability to keep the puck out of the net, and Ondrej Pavelec is still the dominant factor in that equation.

Nothing in camp has suggested Pavelec won’t be the No. 1 goalie for the Jets when the regular season begins, and barring injury, he’ll be the starter opening night.

Second-year man Michael Hutchinson proved last season he can win games and help keep Pavelec fresh and rested. But take over the No. 1 job full-time? He had his chance last season and wilted a touch down the stretch. Maybe he makes another push this season, but his skill-set seems more suited for 25 to 30 NHL games rather than 50-plus.

Prospect Connor Hellebuyck has had a few shining moments, but hasn’t done enough to force the issue and have the Jets hand him an NHL role. Contract status (he doesn’t need to clear waivers to get to the AHL) predetermined Hellebuyck was heading to the Manitoba Moose to begin the season. He needed to force Jets coach Paul Maurice’s hand in order to get the coach to push for a shakeup in the net and that hasn’t happened.

No, it’s still Pavelec’s crease in Winnipeg, and if the Jets are to return to the post-season he’ll need to have a .920 save percentage season like he did last year. The analytics crowd points to his career .908 save percentage and the near 20,000 minutes played in the NHL to make the case he’s a replacement-level goalie.

Pavelec supporters will point to the lax defensive style this franchise was infamous for prior to the arrival of Maurice as the reason for his bloated numbers.

Which Pav it’s gonna be remains the key question in Winnipeg.

Why the fuss? Jets coach Maurice said Sunday morning he was going to ice a young lineup and was eager to see how they performed against a veteran Minnesota Wild lineup. They got spanked 8-1. And late in the game Wild coach Mike Yeo had his No. 1 power play out on the ice which rankled Maurice.

Maurice didn’t like Minny trying to put up a 10-burger on his kids. Yeo claimed after he didn’t like the fact the Jets had tough guy Anthony Peluso out on the ice running around a bit.

Maurice knew what he was getting into when he iced a mostly AHL lineup against what was very close to the Wild’s opening-night group. And Yeo is lucky one of the Jets on the ice didn’t fire a puck into the bench late in the game when the Wild coach didn’t call off the dogs.

You have to like Maurice coming to the defence of his kids and creating a false issue which deflects criticism in Winnipeg from his players to the opposition coach.

On the other hand, Yeo is well within his rights to be working on his power play with only one game left on his preseason schedule. He has to worry about his team and not the Jets. It’s the preseason and to be used to prepare for the games that matter.

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So both sides have their points. The best part? The two teams meet again in the regular season here in Winnipeg on Oct. 25. Rivalries can’t be manufactured, but it looks like one might be developing between these two Central Division clubs.

Two rookies and maybe more: The Jets will almost certainly have two rookies in the lineup on opening night. Following Monday morning cuts, the Jets were down to 27 players, including three goalies, nine defencemen and 15 forwards.

Here’s my best guess at what unfolds from here with the Jets getting down to 23 players early next week: the Jets will carry 13 forwards, eight D and two goalies. Goalies are easy, it’s Pavelec and Hutchinson. The blue line will have Dustin Byfuglien paired with Ben Chiarot, Tyler Myers working alongside Toby Enstrom then Jacob Trouba matched with Mark Stuart. Paul Postma, Adam Pardy and Jay Harrison are fighting for the extra two jobs and the Jets will have to try and squeak one through the waiver wire to get to the Moose.

Up front, the top nine is beginning to shape up as follows, Adam Lowry, Bryan Little, Andrew Ladd, Mark Scheifele, Drew Stafford, Blake Wheeler, Alex Burmistrov, Nik Ehlers and Mathieu Perreault. The fourth line will be centred by Andrew Copp with Chris Thorburn on the right wing. Rookies J.C. Lipon, Nic Petan and Thomas Raffl are fighting for an open spot on the left wing. Anthony Peluso will be the 13th forward and available to Maurice on nights when he wants some muscle.