Middle of Central the spot for Jets

Opinion

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This article was published 03/07/2019 (2262 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Nashville cobbled together enough money to land one of the biggest free-agent fish in Matt Duchene.

Colorado added to an already-potent forward group by bringing in Nazem Kadri, Joonas Donskoi, Andre Burakovsky and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare.

Dallas went surfing in California for some additional veteran scoring and leadership and came away with Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry.

Minnesota welcomed a couple of skilled, gritty forwards to the State of Hockey in Mats Zuccarello and Ryan Hartman. 

Chicago beefed-up its beleaguered blue line, improved the goaltending and brought back a familiar face in Olli Maatta, along with Calvin de Haan, Robin Lehner and Andrew Shaw.

And St. Louis added Stanley. As in, the big, shiny trophy they skated away with last month, capping off a truly magical season.

Yes, take a look around the Central Division and it appears an already competitive group in which every team finished above .500 last season just got a whole lot tougher in recent days thanks to a flurry of trades and free agent signings.

All of which could be bad news for the Winnipeg Jets.

Since we last saw them on the ice in April, the Jets have said good-bye to as many as nine players from a roster that wasn’t good enough to get out of the first round of the playoffs. Kevin Hayes, Jacob Trouba, Tyler Myers, Brandon Tanev and Par Lindholm have all found new homes. Ben Chiarot and Joe Morrow may soon join them. Matt Hendricks retired and Bogdan Kiselevich returned to Russia.

In their place, so far, are defenceman Neal Pionk, European free agent signings Joona Luoto and Andrei Chibisov, well-travelled centre Mark Letestu and journeyman defenceman Anthony Bitetto. There’s a chance that all of those players, save for Pionk, may start the season with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League.

Short of a blockbuster trade, what you see is what you’re going to get with this lineup for the 2019-20 NHL season.

It would appear Winnipeg’s biggest bet for improvement comes from within: namely, continued growth from young stars such as Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, Nikolaj Ehlers and Josh Morrissey; hope that aging veterans such as Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien, Bryan Little and Mathieu Perreault can all have a big impact and stay healthy; and a need for significant contributions from players who will likely be given ample opportunity, such as Jack Roslovic, Mason Appleton, Kristian Vesalainen, Sami Niku and Tucker Poolman.

Some people will take aim at general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff for not being more active this week, but the reality is he didn’t have a lot of choice in the matter given the fact the Jets are expected to be right up against the US$81.5-million salary cap ceiling when the dust finally settles and four big restricted free agents in Laine, Connor, Pionk and Andrew Copp eventually put pen to paper.

That’s not to completely excuse Cheveldayoff. Yes, much of the financial crunch is a result of solid drafting and developing, with several blossoming players needing to get paid. But it’s also a result of some contracts he handed out to the likes of Little, Perreault and Dmitry Kulikov that now appear to be questionable and have boxed him in a corner.

No, they won’t drop the puck on the 2019-20 season for three more months, so there’s plenty that could happen between now and then. But as things currently stand, here’s how I see the Central Division stacking up (2018-19 record, finish and playoff results in parentheses). 

1. ST. LOUIS BLUES (45-28-9, 99 points, third, won Stanley Cup): In order to be the best you’ll have to beat the best, and the Blues were clearly the cream of the crop down the stretch and throughout the playoffs. They’re going to be a tough out next season, returning almost the same lineup that got them to the promised land. They’ve been quiet so far in free agency, but that’s a good thing in this case. Forward (and Missouri native) Pat Maroon looks to be the only significant player who won’t be back. Good luck to the rest of the league, who will no doubt be hoping for a Stanley Cup hangover to bring the Blues back down to Earth.

2. COLORADO AVALANCHE: (38-30-14, 90 points, fifth, lost in second round to San Jose):What’s not to love about this group? They already have perhaps the most potent line in hockey in Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen (an RFA who needs a new contract). And now they’ve added plenty of scoring and two-way help to the lineup in the likes of Kadri, Burakovsky, Donskoi and Bellemare. They lost Tyson Barrie on the blue line, but the emergence of young stud Cale Makar and No. 4 selection Bowen Byram at the draft last month gives them a potent one-two punch for years to come, along with other key pieces such as Samuel Girard and Nikita Zadorov. They did ship Carl Soderberg and Alex Kerfoot in trades, and Semyon Varlamov, Patrik Nemeth, Derick Brassard and Sven Andrighetto left in free agency, so there was plenty of turnover to the roster. But overall, this seems like a team that still has its best years in front of it. Perhaps the only real question mark is whether No. 1 goaltender Philipp Grubauer can continue carrying the load.

3. NASHVILLE PREDATORS (47-29-6, 100 points, first, lost in first round to Dallas): 

Don’t sleep on the Predators, who are coming off back-to-back division titles only to fizzle out in the playoffs. Duchene gives them another major scoring threat down the middle along with Ryan Johansen, along with the likes of Viktor Arvidsson and Filip Forsberg on the wings. Obviously the blue line took a hit with the trade of P.K. Subban to New Jersey in what was essentially a salary dump, but they still have one of the best defensive trios in the league with Roman Josi, Mattias Ekholm and Ryan Ellis. And perennial Vezina candidate Pekka Rinne — at least the regular-season version — makes Nashville a legitimate contender. Other than Subban, they only lost a few replaceable parts in Wayne Simmonds, Brian Boyle and Cody McLeod.

4. WINNIPEG JETS (47-30-5, 99 points, second, lost in first round to St. Louis):  Some will say I have them ranked too high, while others may claim it’s too low. I think this is about right — a team that will be in tough to compete for the division crown that will likely be fighting to the finish line for a wild-card spot. I believe this group will still score enough to be competitive, but the state of the blue line is a major question mark. Perhaps Pionk will be a revelation, and Niku and Poolman can thrive with increased opportunities. Connor Hellebuyck and Laurent Brossoit are probably going to be very busy on many nights and will need to steal some games for the Jets to remain in the race.

5. DALLAS STARS (43-32-7, 93 points, fourth, lost in second round to St. Louis): I love the Pavelski signing, and he’s going to fit in perfectly with the likes of Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and Alexander Radulov. I’m lukewarm on the Perry addition, but perhaps he can stay healthy and find a way to contribute in what will surely be a more protected, less-heralded role. Dallas will be one of the oldest teams in the league, which seems to be working against the trend of getting younger and faster. They lost Zuccarello (Minnesota) and Jason Spezza (Toronto) in free agency, but I still expect them to compete for a playoff spot and be a dangerous squad — especially if Ben Bishop can continue to shine in goal.

6. CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS (36-34-12, 84 points, sixth, missed playoffs): Like St. Louis, they got off to an awful start last season. Unlike the Blues, they never fully recovered, although they were much-improved as the year went on. Keeping pucks out of their net was the biggest challenge, and the additions of Maatta and de Haan in trades, and the signing of Lehner, would appear to address those issues. The return of Shaw shouldn’t move the needle very much, but Chicago hasn’t lost much in free agency (backup goalie Cam Ward, bottom-six forward Marcus Kruger). If Patrik Kane and Alex DeBrincat keep doing their thing, Jonathan Toews can come close to repeating his tremendous 2018-19 season and Dylan Strome and Brandon Saad can provide depth scoring, the Blackhawks will make some noise. 

7. MINNESOTA WILD (37-36-9, 83 points, seventh, missed playoffs): This group isn’t getting younger, that’s for sure. And while adding Zuccarello and Hartman should help, I’m just not sure they have enough scoring to do a lot of damage. They’ll be competitive, sure, and a grinding, low-scoring style will win them some games. They look to bring back much of the same roster as last season, with free agent Eric Fehr being the only notable deletion. Aging core pieces such as Zach Parise, Eric Staal, Mikko Koivu and Ryan Suter, plus goaltender Devan Dubnyk, have their work cut out for them. A return to health for defenceman Matt Dumba should help the cause.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg