Scheifele situation shrouded in mystery

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This article was published 28/11/2024 (312 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LAS VEGAS — Mark Scheifele knew the questions were coming. The star centre for the Winnipeg Jets — who clearly hasn’t been himself in recent games — wasn’t about to let his guard down and offer up any clues.

Why hasn’t he been taking any faceoffs lately, deferring to winger Gabe Vilardi on nearly every single draw? Is he battling an injury that is prohibiting him?

“Gabe’s been doing well, so I’m just going to leave it at that,” Scheifele told the Free Press following Thursday’s practice at T-Mobile Arena. “I’m just going to leave it at that. He’s been awesome.”

The plot thickens.

As the 18-5-0 Jets prepare to face the 14-6-3 Vegas Golden Knights on Friday, here’s what the evidence tells us about the mysterious situation.

On Nov. 19 in Winnipeg, Scheifele recorded a hat trick against the Florida Panthers in a 6-3 victory and took 14 faceoffs that night to Vilardi’s five. That would be normal type of split, owing to the centreman getting kicked out of the dot a few times in a typical game.

However, in the four games so far on this season-long six-game road trip, Scheifele has taken a grand total of four faceoffs — and none in the last two outings. Vilardi, meanwhile, has taken 62.

That, folks, is a smoking gun.

“Obviously it’s an adjustment, but Gaber’s been great,” said Scheifele, who was clearly stickhandling around why the adjustment is necessary.

“Just want to keep helping him, and hopefully we can get this thing back on track.”

Scheifele is correct about Vilardi, who played centre in junior and a little bit when he first broke into the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings. He’s gone 38-24 in the last four games, for a 61 per cent success rate. That would have Vilardi fourth in the NHL in faceoff efficiency, behind Aleksander Barkov, Jamie Benn and Claude Giroux, if he manages to keep that pace.

You wonder if, at some point down the road, the Jets might actually consider a permanent shift to centre for Vilardi. Although he’s been a good fit with Scheifele and Kyle Connor on the top line, perhaps he could be the answer to the ongoing search for a full-time second-line centre behind Scheifele, a role currently occupied by Vlad Namestnikov.

Still, the fact Scheifele is deferring speaks to something obviously going on the player and the team don’t wish to discuss. Scheifele missed Winnipeg’s practice on Nov. 20, owing to what head coach Scott Arniel called maintenance. While he hasn’t missed a shift in any games, he’s not exactly producing at his previous rate on this road trip.

The Jets have gone 2-2 so far, scoring 10 goals and allowing 10, but Scheifele has just two assists and is a minus-four. For perspective, he had 12 goals and 12 assists and was a plus-six in the first 19 games.

He also has just five shots on goal in the four games, including none in Wednesday’s 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. Scheifele had 45 shots in the first 19 contests.

There’s also been a palpable sense of frustration, as proven by the four minor penalties he’s taken including three last Saturday night in Nashville. That’s the same number he’d taken in the first 19 games combined.

One theory is Scheifele may have tweaked something in the Nov. 16 game in Florida, a 5-0 loss to the Panthers which saw him drop the gloves with Aaron Ekblad during the third period.

In the rematch three nights later, Scheifele went five-for-14 in faceoffs. Was he playing through something at that point — a shoulder? a wrist? — and realized it was doing more harm than good in the dot? Vilardi went three-for-5, and essentially took over duties starting the next game in Pittsburgh.

One bit of speculation we can rule out: This is not a case of Scheifele trying to show Team Canada brass he can be flexible and play the wing if necessary. The rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off will be revealed next week, and Scheifele’s way on to the national squad would likely mean shifting off centre.

There’s no chance — none — what we are currently seeing with Scheifele and the Jets is somehow a bit of message-sending to the Canadian brass.

If Scheifele has an ailment, the good news is he was a full participant at Thursday’s skate. Like his teammates, there’s an obvious sense of motivation to right the wrong after a tough outing in Los Angeles.

“Obviously, it’s been a long road trip so far, but it’s not over. We have two tough tests and have to be on our a game for both of them to have a chance,” said Scheifele. “Hopefully we can come back with a rebound game (Friday) and get going.”

Scheifele was in good humour as he discussed getting a two-minute coincidental roughing minor on Monday night in Minnesota which ended up turning into an eight minute, five second stint in the sin bin. That’s how long he ultimately served due to continuous play without a whistle that prevented him from leaving the box.

“I was just praying for an icing to get out of there,” said Scheifele. “There were three that got waved off. It felt like forever.”

Other than goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, there’s no player more important to Winnipeg’s fortunes than Scheifele. So seeing him return to previous form sooner than later — including taking faceoffs, shooting the puck, putting up points and staying out of the penalty box — would be welcome developments.

Scheifele admitted there’s always a bit of extra motivation in coming to Sin City, where the ghosts of playoffs past are all around them. Vegas ended Winnipeg’s bid for a Stanley Cup Final appearance in the spring of 2018, then quickly ended a once-promising campaign in 2023.

“Obviously we have a sour taste in our mouths from losing to them twice in the playoffs,” said Scheifele.

“But it’s a great building to play in. They’re always a good team. So it’s always a tough test. You always have to get ramped up to play Vegas, and in Vegas.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @mikemcintyrewpg