The kids are making a case for long stay on the Jets bench

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This article was published 13/11/2016 (3278 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

They were brought in to help fill the holes created by a wave of injuries to the Winnipeg Jets’ depleted forward group.

But the trio of call-ups from the Manitoba Moose are proving themselves to be more than just stop-gaps. Nic Petan, Marko Dano and Andrew Copp are making a strong case to remain with the big club when — or if — everybody gets healthy.

Petan, Dano and Copp have combined for five goals and seven assists over 20 games since being summoned from the Moose, including a key goal and assist in Sunday’s 3-2 shootout win over Los Angeles.

With the Jets trailing 1-0 and on a five-minute power play in the first period, Petan perfectly banked a shot off Kings goalie Peter Budaj, which led to a rebound cashed in by Adam Lowry. Moments later, Dano gave the Jets a 2-1 lead when he redirected a clever pass from defenceman Toby Enstrom into a yawning cage.

“Just trying to play a simple game and be around the net. That’s where I’m strong. Just trying to do my best every game and going up in the lineup. We battled hard as a team — it was a great win for us,” Dano said following the game.

Dano said the internal competition is healthy in the big picture.

“We have a young team and everyone wants to step up now when the guys are hurt. We have a good group of guys, we’re staying tight in the locker room and it helps on the ice,” he said. “That’s the biggest motivation, to play in the big league.”

Incredibly, the NHL production from Dano, Petan and Copp has actually exceeded what they were doing on the farm. The trio had combined for four goals and eight assists this season.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice praised their work earlier this week and said it’s a credit to the job Pascal Vincent is doing with the Moose. Vincent was an assistant coach with the Jets for their first five seasons in Winnipeg before taking the reins of the Moose this summer.

“To be honest with you, if you looked at the schedule, with the injuries we have, we’ve gotten far greater contributions from players in the American Hockey League who were really ready to come up when they came up, in terms of their training camp and their prep with the Moose, being able to mirror what we do here,” Maurice said Sunday.

It’s clear Maurice isn’t afraid to put these players in key positions.

Dano, for example, played Sunday’s game on a line with the NHL’s leading goal scorer in Patrik Laine and the NHL’s leading point getter in Mark Scheifele. He now has three goals and an assist over seven games.

Petan has been centring the second line with Blake Wheeler and Nikolaj Ehlers and has been the Jets’ most reliable faceoff man. He entered Sunday 24-for-40, and that 60 per cent success rate stands out against the team’s overall mark of 44.9 per cent, worst in the league. Petan also has four assists in six games.

Copp has played centre and the wing and has provided solid, two-way play that includes plenty of time on the penalty kill. He’s also chipped in two goals and two assists in seven games.

“I like Nic Petan, I like him at centre ice, with what he’s done, I really do. I really like Andrew Copp’s game on the wing. So now we’ve got some players to maybe flip positions, so we look at them a bit differently,” said Maurice.

Maurice said the roster will sort itself out should the Jets eventually find themselves fully healthy, but for now he’s simply enjoying the depth within the organization.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca