Laine gives Jets fans reason to roar

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 22/09/2016 (3352 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The start of a new National Hockey League season brings hope to fans whether their favourite team deserves it or not. Last year, I was skeptical at best about the chances of the Winnipeg Jets having a successful season. There was lots of bravado, but the club had a thin lineup that needed a miracle for success to happen. We know how that worked out.

A year later, they have a much better outlook after a good off-season.

The acquisition of Finnish forward Patrik Laine with the second-overall draft pick was the coup of the decade for the Jets, and allowed general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff to fast-forward his plan by having the right lucky charm in his pocket at the draft lottery. Laine has incredible talent for an 18-year-old — matched by his confidence in his game.

Cheveldayoff didn’t do a lot in the unrestricted free agent market; the only notable addition was veteran forward Shawn Matthias, who can play centre or wing. He can kill penalties and will definitely help the bottom-six group of forwards.

That brings us to one of last pre-season’s biggest red flags — the lack of depth at forward, as it looked as though players were given spots because the GM refused to add depth players to compete for jobs.

This year’s group will provide fans with some great battles that will make this pre-season a lot more interesting than most. I’ll assume the top-seven forwards to start the year are Laine, Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers, Bryan Little, Mathieu Perreault and Drew Stafford.

Take those and add Matthias and we have eight forwards who will almost certainly be in the starting lineup.

With only four spots open, there are a number of contenders — Kyle Connor, Brendan Lemieux, Jack Roslovic, Quinton Howden, Brandon Tanev, J.C. Lipon, Scott Kosmachuk, Chase De Leo and Nic Petan have to beat out Alexander Burmistrov, Adam Lowry, Andrew Copp, Joel Armia, Marko Dano and Chris Thorburn. Anthony Peluso is a long shot as the Jets look to play at a quicker pace.

That’s a skilled, speedy group with some physical players in the mix. If you remember back in the day (before the Laine gift), Connor was thought to have an excellent chance at joining the Top 6. Now we’re left to wonder whether it’ll be better for him to advance his skills in the American Hockey League or if he could add some nice touch on the Jets’ third line. This is a luxury not enjoyed in previous years, and I’ll break down more exciting options here in the coming weeks.

On defence things remain pretty much the same unless the Jets can’t sign Jacob Trouba before the regular season starts. Dustin Byfuglien, Tobias Enstrom and Tyler Myers (although there is some concern Enstrom’s game may be declining) join him in a solid group.

Many teams struggle to come up with a decent third pairing and the Jets are no different. Choosing a good combination from Ben Chariot, Julian Melchiori, Paul Postma, Mark Stuart and UFA-signing Brian Strait would be a welcome change but that’s a crapshoot. There’s hope 2013 first-round pick Josh Morrissey can make the jump this year. The highly skilled Manitoba Moose defenceman showed signs last year he may be ready. That would change the look here dramatically. The prospect pipeline, particularly left-shooting defencemen, after Morrissey is weak — one of those red flags fits here.

The Jets have focused on highly skilled forwards at the draft the last few years. They haven’t drafted that skill with the same intensity on defence and it shows.

It looks as though goaltending is the real wild card here — but is it? I believe Connor Hellebuyck can grab the No. 1 spot and run with it based on his overall numbers and his “quiet” style of play. Michael Hutchinson can be a good backup in a situation where there is stability at the top spot. This leaves us with the enigmatic Ondrej Pavelec, who operates between greatness and the basement — too often he leans to the dark side to be a No. 1 goalie. He has had endless opportunities to lead this team and mostly come up short.

How these goalies play will determine their roles. How head coach Paul Maurice handles (juggles?) them will have the most profound effect on their record. Having Hellebuyck grab the job from the start would make Maurice’s job much easier. There are some who are concerned Hellebuyck might be sent to the minors as he doesn’t need waivers and the Jets might go with the other two who do. With both Cheveldayoff and Maurice heading into their final year of their contracts next summer, they’ll play the best goalie.

The coaching staff has a couple of additions. Former assistant coach Pascal Vincent is now head coach of the Moose. I wrote about Maurice needing to get his own hand-picked assistants last season and it sounds as though he had a large say in these new choices (Jamie Kompon and Todd Woodcroft). That they are “his” guys is key, although if they are special-teams gurus it would certainly help. There was an obvious disconnect in that area last season from what Maurice was preaching and what actually happened on the ice.

I started writing here last January and there were so many things that were upside down it was hard to be positive about the Jets, other than individual performances. It was all built on hope, with substance very questionable. Today, they seem to have some bite behind their bark.

Where they go from here will be fascinating, but they have some cards to play this year. We’ll dig into that soon.

Chosen ninth overall by the NHL’s St. Louis Blues and first overall by the WHA’s Houston Aeros in 1977, Scott Campbell has now been drafted by the Winnipeg Free Press to play a new style of game.

Twitter: @NHL_Campbell