The Perfetti solution? Jets top draft choice from 2020 could provide club with boost it so desperately needs By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 7:30 PM CDT Thursday, Apr. 29, 2021 Last Modified: 10:52 PM CDT Thursday, Apr. 29, 2021 Updates

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This article was published 29/04/2021 (1946 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The contrast was striking. As the Winnipeg Jets boarded a charter on Thursday afternoon, along with all the emotional baggage of an ugly five-game losing streak, their brightest young offensive prospect was lacing up his skates for a matinee contest about 12 km away at Bell MTS Iceplex.

And I couldn’t help but wonder why the red-hot Cole Perfetti wasn’t joining them on the flight to Montreal. 

The Jets, after all, are like so many Manitobans right now in that they could really use a shot in the arm as they begin their final road trip before the playoffs. They have just six goals in their last five games, all regulation defeats, and the club is currently without flashy high-scoring forward Nikolaj Ehlers, who is done for the rest of the regular-season with a shoulder injury. Shutdown centre Adam Lowry is also recovering from a concussion.

We know help didn’t come by way of the trade deadline, with general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff only adding journeyman defenceman Jordie Benn to the fold while electing to keep the status quo with a forward group believed to be among the deepest in the NHL. When pressed about why he didn’t make other moves, Cheveldayoff implied that perhaps some reinforcements were already in the fold, just waiting for a chance to make an impact.

Since that intriguing statement nearly three weeks ago, the only such opportunity afforded to anyone has been a one-game look at 20-year-old defenceman Ville Heinola, who had a nice showing in Winnipeg’s 5-2 victory over Toronto back on April 15. He was back to the taxi squad the very next game, and the suddenly anemic Jets have come up empty after since.

Heinola deserves another look, starting with tonight’s game against the Habs. But that wouldn’t be the only roster change I’d make during this final stretch.

Which brings me to Perfetti. The 19-year-old, selected 10th overall during last year’s draft, is having a hell of a rookie pro season with the Manitoba Moose. Perfetti has eight goals and 15 assists through 29 American Hockey League games this season, which has him second in team scoring, third in overall rookie scoring and tied for 21st in overall league scoring.

If only he belonged to an organization that is desperate for offence, one that has a pair of injury-related openings among the ice-cold forward group. Oh wait. He does. 

Perfetti was held off the scoresheet in Thursday’s 2-1 overtime victory against Stockton, which snapped a seven-game point streak in which he’d put up four goals and nine assists. That production is even more impressive when you consider the teenager wouldn’t even be allowed to play in the AHL if not for the fact the Ontario Hockey League went dark this season due to COVID-19. A special exemption was made for underaged players, such as Perfetti, who would either have to be in the NHL or back in junior.

The NHL is a young player’s league, and the Jets don’t have to look far to find an example of another team hoping the injection of a young phenom named Cole might get them back on track. That would be the Canadiens, who will have 20-year-old Cole Caufield in the lineup when they host their Prairie visitors Friday night. Caufield, the 15th-overall pick in the 2019 draft, made his NHL debut earlier this week to great fanfare. The 2021 Hobey Baker award winner as top U.S. collegiate player will be looking for his first career point as he plays in his third game.

The Jets aren’t quite as desperate as the Habs, who are trying to hold off Calgary for the final Canadian division playoff spot. Despite their worst slump of the season, Winnipeg is well-positioned to qualify, so they have a bit of extra rope to work with.

Perfetti projects to be a future top centreman for the team.

All of which makes this a great time to give someone such as Perfetti a brief look. He doesn’t have to swoop in to save the day like some kind of hockey superhero. Rather, he could be brought into the lineup in a more sheltered role, on the third or fourth line, and perhaps even on the wing to really keep it simple for him off the hop.

Perfetti projects to be a future top centreman for the team, and he’s mostly played up the middle with the Moose this year. But given the state of flux right now with the roster due to the Ehlers and Lowry injuries, this wouldn’t be the case of trying to fix something that isn’t broken by sticking him in for a game or two, just to see what happens.

Heck, I’d add 21-year-old David Gustafsson to that mix as well. The 2018 second-round pick scored the overtime winner for the Moose on Thursday afternoon, driving hard to the net and roofing a shot just under the crossbar. It’s his fifth goal, and 14th point, in 15 AHL games this year.

So far, Jansen Harkins has stepped in for Lowry during the past three games and hasn’t recorded a point, while Kristian Vesalainen has two pointless outings since taking Ehlers spot. Right now, Marko Dano, Dominic Toninato and C.J. Suess are the three extra forwards taking up space on the taxi squad. And while I understand the logic — it makes more sense to have kids like Perfetti playing somewhere rather than sitting idly — I’d say he’s earned a shot.

What’s the worst that happens? He’s overwhelmed and overmatched and clearly isn’t ready for the big leagues just yet? That’s fine. No harm, no foul. But what if the skilled, cerebral player steps right in and looks pretty darn comfortable playing with the likes of Paul Stastny and Mathieu Perreault, for example, on a third line, which is where Vesalainen began Wednesday’s game. (Pierre-Luc Dubois shifted to centre on that unit during the game, while Stastny was promoted to play with Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler).

Perfetti is doing pretty well for himself right now in the second-best hockey league in the world, where his linemates Thursday were Kristian Reichel and Bobby Lynch. You could see his terrific patience, vision and passing on a first-period power play that nearly ended in a goal. And he showed he’s perhaps tougher than his 5-11, 177-pound frame might suggest when he was rocked by a bit of a blindside hit early in the second period, but immediately bounced back up and was none the worse for it.

There’s no question getting some unexpected pro seasoning at such a young age is going to serve Perfetti, and the Jets, very well in the future. But who’s to say it can’t give them a much-needed boost in the present, as well?

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg