Jets Name Wheeler As Captain

As was expected, the Winnipeg Jets management (along with the players vote in the dressing room) have named Blake Wheeler as the new captain of the Winnipeg Jets.  Dustin Byfuglien and Mark Scheifele have been named as alternates.

New Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler

This was a no-brainer as far as I'm concerned.  Other had said to put the "C" on Scheifele, but as much as I believe Scheifele to be a future Hall of Famer and a otherwise great pick, I think that may have to wait for the next selection, either when Wheeler retires or has moved on from the Jets for whatever awful reason.

This was not just the right selection for the Jets, but the perfect one.  Along with Andrew Lad, when the Jets were not playing up to par, it was Blake Wheeler that stood up and held others accountable.  It was Wheeler that made himself accountable when the politically-correct thing to do (even in professional sports for some reason) is to throw someone else under the bus and high-lite your own performance.

This will see dividends paid.

Jets/Oilers Reveal Heritage Classic Jerseys

The Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers have revealed the jerseys both teams will be wearing for both the Heritage Classic game on October 23 and the alumni game the day before.

I've stated before in a previous post about how much I hate the Oilers.  In case I didn't, I hate the Oilers. Again, this rivalry goes back to when I was even too young to appreciate hockey in general, much less the Jets in particular.  My first Stanley Cup Final was between the Vancouver Canucks and New York Islanders in 1982.  From 1972 with the establishment of the World Hockey Association until the WHA-NHL "merger" in 1979, the Jets and Oilers have been at war on ice.  The Winnipeg Jets dominated the Oilers in the WHA era, winning three Avco Cups between 1976 and 1979; including the Wayne Gretzky-led Oilers in the last Avco Cup championship.

             

The Jets made five finals appearances, while the Oilers had that one.  The Oilers had not one championship in the WHA to speak of, the Jets had three in five appearances.  The Jets were the class of the World Hockey Association...until the "merger" (which was just an expansion that let the NHL take back all the players that defected to the WHA.  Not only that, but all the former WHA teams, Winnipeg, Edmonton, Quebec Nordiques and Hartford Whalers, had to pay a $6 million expansion fee and picked last in the NHL's entry draft in 1979)  Because of this, the once mighty Winnipeg Jets' roster was decimated and an embarrassing 20 win season resulted in the 1979-80 season.  By comparison, the Oilers made the NHL playoffs in their first season.  Perhaps an omen of things to come.  The next season was even worse for the Jets as they were only able to protect two goalies and two skaters (the Jets chose to protect Scott Campbell and Morris Lukowich as well as goaltenders Markus Mattsson and later drafting Pierre Hamel) with the result being the Jets winning a paltry nine games all frustrating season long.  This mark still stands as the second-worst outcome in history by an NHL team.  Only the lowly 1975 Washington Capitals were technically worse, winning nine games, but ending up with less points than the 1981 Jets.  So, we're not the worst!!

Maybe wearing the WHA throw-back jerseys will help stir up some historical good luck for the Jets and the hockey gods will come to their senses and realize, "Hey.  Wait a minute.  They're wearing those jerseys again?  Well, the Jets have to win this one.  What a shame to lose in front of 40,000 of your own fans to your most historically-hated opponent.

 I'm fully expecting the Jets alumni game to go no different than other historic run-ins with the Oilers in the NHL.  I mean, have you seen the alumni roster they have available?  What has changed?  Other than the Jets having Teemu Selanne in the line-up, what extra weapons will the old-timers have?  However, as for the Hertige Classic game itself, I think CAptain Wheeler and company will do all right.  I expect Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor to be in the line-up and to do well.  I'm sure Mark Scheifele and Dustin Byfuglien will be firing on all cylinders as well.  As will Brian Little and Nikolai Ehlers.  So I say the Jets win 4-3.  An overtime win would be a nice capper too.

Free Agency Frenzy

Or not.  This year's National Hockey League free agent signing blitz that began on July 1st wasn't exactly that, a frenzy.  At least not for the Jets, which has been typical of General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff's draft and develop style since he was hired by Jets owner Mark Chipman.  The Jets didn't sign any big-name, big-contract players due to their prospect cupboard  filling up nicely since the first time Cheveldayoff walked up to the podium in 2011 in St. Paul, Minnesota to select Mark Scheifele.  Not to mention the acquisition of prospects such as Joel Armia and Brendan Lemieux in the Evander Kane/Zach Bogosian trade that saw Tyler Myers and Drew Stafford come to Manitoba's capital.  They also have in their possession goaltenders Eric Comrie and  Connor Hellebyck, defencemen Josh Morrisey and Tucker Poolman as well as forwards Jack Roslovic, Scott Kosmachuck and Michael Spacek.

The Jets signed the players they needed and did not waste a pick.  This year saw Cheveldayoff sign forward Shawn Matthias from the Colorado Avalanche, center Quinton Howden from the Florida Panthers and defenceman Brian Strait from the New York Islanders.  Travis Harmonic, a Manitoba native and someone who up until recently wanted out of New York to be closer to his family in St. Malo would have been a nice fit in the Jets organization, but he rescinded his trade request and has elected to stay with the Isles.

A complete rundown of the Jets signings as of July 30, 2016 are as follows:

• RFA forward Brandon Tanev signed a one-year, two-way contract worth an AAV of $874,125 in the NHL on July 21, 2016.
• 2015 first-round pick Jack Roslovic signed a three-year entry-level contract ($1,137,500 AAV) on July 18, 2016.
• RFA forwards Adam Lowry and Joel Armia signed two-year contracts on July 14, 2016.
• RFA forward Mark Scheifele signed an eight-year contract ($6.125M AAV) on July 8, 2016.
• Defenceman Brenden Kichton signed a one-year, two-way contract ($600,000 AAV in the NHL) on July 8, 2016.
• Forward Mathieu Perreault signed a four-year extension ($4.125M AAV) on July 7, 2016.
• 2016 first-round pick Patrik Laine signed a three-year entry-level contract ($3.575M AAV) on July 3, 2016.
• Goaltending prospect Jamie Phillips signed a two-year entry-level contract ($675,000 AAV) on July 2, 2016.
• RFA defenceman Julian Melchiori signed a two-year contract ($625,000 AAV) on July 2, 2016.
• UFA forward Shawn Matthias signed a two-year contract ($2.125M AAV) on July 1, 2016.
• UFA forward Quinton Howden signed a one-year, two-way contract ($650,000 AAV in the NHL) on July 1, 2016.
• UFA defenceman Brian Strait signed a one-year contract ($600,000 AAV) on July 1, 2016.

The big news of course is Mark Scheifele's signing for eight years at 6.125 million annually.  Scheifele is the future of the franchise and one that has been slowly and methodically groomed by the Jets organization since 2011.  Former Jets great and Hall of Famer Dale Hawerchuck who coached Scheiefele while with the Ontario Hockey League's Barrie Colts has from day one said this kid is going to be something special.  So far, Hawerchuck has been prophetic in his appraisal of the young center.

The other re-signing of note would be that of Matthew Perreault.  The former Anaheim Duck saw his numbers increase over the 2015-2016 season and how can anyone forget his four-goal performance against the Florida Panthers?

The signings of Howden, Strait and Matthias may be just fodder for the NHL's upcoming expansion draft set for next summer to fill the roster of the incoming expansion Las Vegas team.  It remains to be seen how Cheveldayoff will handle the expansion draft.  Who will he protect?  Who will he let go?  Will he make more trades to accommodate the situation?  Time will tell.