WINNIPEG — Now the enjoyable begins.
After wrapping up exhibition play with a gown rehearsal in opposition to the Calgary Flames — which they gained 5-2 — the Winnipeg Jets’ pre-season has lastly concluded.
With just some cuts left to be made, the workforce’s roster is virtually set 4 days out from Wednesday’s season opener in opposition to the Edmonton Oilers. Whereas the pre-season is commonly seen as a snoozefest to many, we certain realized so much about these Jets over the past two weeks.
So, earlier than we bid adieu to the pre-season, let’s unpack some takeaways.
No youth motion….For now
After failing to re-sign Brenden Dillon and Sean Monahan on July 1, Jets GM Kevin Chveldayoff hinted at probably filling these voids internally with younger expertise.
“If I’m a younger participant within the Jets group at this time, I’m fairly excited in regards to the alternatives in entrance of me. I’m working exhausting within the low season to ensure I can take full benefit,” Cheveldayoff informed reporters after the primary day of free company. “If you wish to try to transfer ahead on this league, you must take completely different alternatives which might be in entrance of you – whether or not you’re a workforce or whether or not you’re a participant. It’s about seizing that second. All people talks about wanting extra. That is the chance for a few of them to get that.”
Naturally, these feedback had followers considering — or quite, anticipating — that the likes of Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov and Elias Salomonsson had been due for big-league promotions.
However regardless of displaying promise throughout coaching camp, these three — who had been wholesome scratches on Friday — will possible be among the many Jets’ last cuts forward of Monday’s roster deadline.
Lambert, 20, was the principle draw at coaching camp. The lightning-fast skater has displayed super progress since being drafted thirtieth general in 2022 however as of proper now, he’s higher off going again all the way down to the AHL’s Manitoba Moose and being the workforce’s number-one centre. Whereas he held his personal throughout practices, Lambert struggled to make an impression throughout five-on-five play — significantly on Wednesday night time in opposition to Calgary — in opposition to NHL competitors.
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Chibrikov, 21, is arguably NHL-ready. Nevertheless, on condition that Nino Niederreiter, Mason Appleton, Morgan Barron and Alex Iaffalo have a agency grasp on Winnipeg’s bottom-six wing spots, there’s merely no room for the 5-foot-9 Russian winger. Chibrikov — who performs with ‘chew’ and has a howitzer of a shot — is first in line to be recalled, ought to the Jets have an damage on the wing
Salomonsson, 20, ignited a ‘hype prepare’ on the prairies however the smooth-skating Swedish defender by no means was going to leapfrog Dylan DeMelo, Neal Pionk or Colin Miller on the proper aspect. Whereas he acquired loads of reps on the left aspect, the Jets need him to develop at his pure place — thus making it a no brainer to assign him to the Moose, the place he’ll log large minutes.
New-look particular groups
It’s hardly shocking that particular groups was a prime precedence for Jets coach Scott Arniel throughout coaching camp.
Since relocating from Atlanta, the Jets have solely completed within the prime 10 in energy play proportion thrice over the past 13 seasons. And so they’ve solely had a top-10 penalty kill twice.
Winnipeg boasts a brand new look on their first energy play unit, which incorporates Nikolaj Ehlers — who former coach Rick Bowness hardly ever had on the primary unit— within the bumper function. Alongside Ehlers within the 1-3-1 formation is Gabriel Vilardi, who posts up internet entrance, Josh Morrissey on the purpose and Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor on reverse flanks.
The penalty kill, alternatively, has additionally added a brand new wrinkle. The primary unit will likely be comprised of Dylan DeMelo, Dylan Samberg, Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton, whereas Scheifele and Connor will make a cameo on the workforce’s second unit. That will sound loopy, however there’s no want to fret — the Jets aren’t asking two offensive studs to go on the market and block pictures.
“With how good these guys are and their reads, oftentimes they’ll get within the strains, or they’ll intercept passes,” Lowry defined on Monday.
Assistant coach Dean Chynoweth has expertise with weaponizing expert gamers on the penalty kill, having overseen the Carolina Hurricanes’ penalty kill from 2018-19 to 2020-21 — a span by which they ranked second in PK% (83.4) — the place Sebastian Aho was a key cog.
“You generally is a little extra opportunistic,” Lowry stated. “A bit of extra fast within the transition [and] you’ll be able to catch guys flat-footed on the blue line and go the opposite method.”
Winnipeg nonetheless wants a second line centre
Right here we go once more.
In what has turn into a recurring theme, the Jets nonetheless have a obvious gap between Scheifele and Lowry on the depth chart. It’s no slight on Vladislav Namestnikov — a beneficial swiss-army knife in his personal proper — however he’s higher suited in a bottom-six function and that’s why Cheveldayoff went out and acquired Monahan final winter.
Will the Jets exit and commerce a first-round choose for a stop-gap centre resolution, as they did with Paul Statsny, Kevin Hayes and Monahan? They don’t have many choices internally. Arniel has confirmed that they’ll be deploying Perfetti as a winger, and there’s no signal that Vilardi, a pure centre, will likely be shifting to the center anytime quickly.
With Lambert and Brayden Yager within the pipeline, the Jets possible gained’t be searching for a centre with time period. But when Winnipeg plans on advancing previous the primary spherical — not to mention make it to the playoffs within the first place — they’ll should make an improve, one way or the other.
