No role Copp can’t fill

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/01/2021 (1755 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

One moment he’s on the third line with Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton. The next he finds himself on the top trio with Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler. That’s followed up by a second-line tour of duty with Paul Stastny and Nikolaj Ehlers.

Just three games into the new NHL season and Winnipeg Jets Swiss Army knife Andrew Copp has already taken an extensive tour through the lineup. Such is the way of life for the team’s most versatile player, a defensive dynamo who has also added to his offensive arsenal and seems to make everyone around him better.

“Yeah, we got a big taste of this last year when the line combinations seemed to be different every game. So nothing that I’m overly uncomfortable with. I think I’m comfortable in that situation of kind of moving up and down, and kind of going where I’m needed on special teams, power play and PK (penalty kill). And then getting some three-on-three action (Tuesday) night, too,” Copp, 26, said Wednesday.

That three-on-three action produced the game-winning goal, as Copp fed a perfect pass to a streaking Ehlers, who went in alone and beat Matt Murray for a 4-3 comeback victory. Just another day at the office for Copp, who can play multiple positions, too.

“Comfortable kind of being used in all sorts of different fashions. We haven’t seen me go to centre, yet, but I’m sure that’ll happen at some point just with how this year’s going to go,” he said.

“Obviously it was a good pass to Nicky on the goal. I’m still finding that rhythm and that groove, though. You get that first one out of the way and you can kind of have a snowball effect. Hopefully we can kind of continue on and start finishing on those chances and continue to create for whatever linemates I have.”

Until last season, Copp had been cemented in a checking role, along with Lowry. Brandon Tanev was the other part of the notorious “TLC” line that did such an effective job in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. After Tanev signed a free agent deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins, there was a rotating cast of teammates paired with Copp and Lowry. Most recently it had been Jack Roslovic, but the restricted free agent remains at home hoping for a trade.

Mason Appleton has filled that role early in the season, but Jets head coach Paul Maurice doesn’t hesitate to move Copp up when he thinks his lineup needs a spark, as has occurred during the first two games of this road trip.

“With Andrew, he’s almost kind of a player in reverse of what you typically see. You typically see very offensive players come in and they add defensive awareness to their game. He came in and his defensive acumen is really, really good. Not a lot of those players develop their offensive game, but Andrew has,” said Maurice.

He cited a power-play goal Copp scored in the Edmonton bubble last summer, in the playoffs against Calgary, when Scheifele and Patrik Laine were knocked out of the series and his role suddenly increased.

“Really good hands goal there on his off side. We think he’s really improved in that area. (Tuesday) night he was going, and he was kind of the reason for the line shifting,” said Maurice.

“I didn’t want to break up Lowry’s line. If you think of the very first shift of the game, we liked it an awful lot, and then the next shift (the line of Stastny between (Kyle) Connor and Mathieu Perreault) came out and we gave up six shots on it. I was robbing Peter to pay Paul and it worked well. I thought we got to be a pretty tight team after the adjustment.”

Lowry would love to stay with his familiar wingman, but recognizes how a move is often for the greater good. He ended up finishing Tuesday’s game with Appleton and Jansen Harkins, who came up from the fourth line. Perreault went from the second unit down to the fourth line, with Trevor Lewis and Nate Thompson.

“You look at the role Copper plays on our team. He’s such a versatile player. Whatever line he goes on he makes such a positive impact. You look at the pass he had in overtime, the kind of spark he was able to generate for us,” said Lowry, who scored his first goal of the season to get the comeback started by cutting the Ottawa Senators’ lead to 2-1 late in the first period.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

He’s trying to follow in Copp’s multi-faceted footsteps.

“If you continue to play the same way it makes it easier for the guys coming in on your lines to know what to expect, to know where you’re going to be, and that’s what I try to be, just a reliable guy that the guys on my wings know where I’m going to be and they know what I’m going to do. It makes their reads easier and makes them coming on to the line easier,” said Lowry.

“I think that’s important, that you can be able to play with other guys. It gives some flexibility to the lineup and makes it easier for Paul to run the bench.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.