It took the young Finn a while to get going, but in the third period, when his team needed him, he unloaded a wicked wrist-shot on the power-play to help the Jets reduce the Hurricanes lead to 4-3 about 30 seconds after captain Blake wheeler scored a short-handed goal to make it 4-2. A couple of minutes later and Matthew Perrault scored with just over a minute remaining in the third period, with an assist from Laine, to tie the game and allow Blake wheeler to feed Mark Scheifele the cross-crease pass for the win in overtime.
Starting Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was weak in net. There was two goals he should have had and even Ondrej Pavelec would have made those saves. I'm afraid without the comeback by the Jets and timely goals by Laine, Perrault and Wheeler, this would have been an embarrassing loss.
But as it is, Patrik Laine has his first NHL goal out of the way with many more to come, I'm sure. The more he gets comfortable with his new teammates and his role, the Alexander Ovechkin comparisons may continue.
This has been something Jets fans have been clamouring for for some time now. With the youth movement in full swing in Winnipeg, compounded by Pavelec's dwindling save percentage and increase in his goals against average, not to mention his $4 million cap hit; the Jets finally demoted their long-time go-to guy in net.
This will not be a permenent stay for Pavelec. Although he is being a total professional and is carrying himself as the team player he always has been, Pavelec will be called back when one of the young bucks taking his place falters. And it will happen. Micheal Hutchinson may stay in the show with the big club for the long haul, but Connor Hellebyuck will need some seasoning and isn't quite the saviour in goal everyone seems to be making him out to be. At least not in this early phase of the new season.
The wins should go up for the Manitoba Moose now that Pavelec is there. He surely is meant to be a mentor to Eric Comrie, the real goalie of the Jets future. Pavelec is not there to gain experience or to get himself back into game-shape. He's there because he's just not good enough to help the Winnipeg Jets achieve their goals. Pavelec may be draft fodder for the new, and as yet unnamed Las Vegas team. Come next June, don't expect Ondrej Pavelec to be employed in any way, shape or form by the Winnipeg Jets. His contract is up at the end of this season and with his $4 million and change salary, no other team wanted to claim him off waivers. If he doesn't go to Las Vegas, the next time you hear the name Ondrej Pavelec (if at all) it may be in the KHL, or the Czech elite league.
Quinton Howden, Eric Comrie, J.C. Lipon, Jack Roslovic and Logan Stanley highlight the names of nine Jets prospects that have been re-assigned to the Manitoba Moose or sent back to their junior teams.
So now that Winnipeg Jets defenceman Jacob Trouba has made a public request for a trade, what would be the value of a 22-year-old right-handed shooter that is projected to be a top-four defender?
Mind you, Trouba can still sign with the Jets and this all goes away. However since he has made his feelings known to the Jets brass since May, I doubt this will turn out right for Jets fans. Unless of course Kevin Cheveldayoff can make the right deal that would have a similar player coming back to the Jets.
What would a deal that would benefit the Jets look like?
Lets see...
Teams that come up in the scenario so far (at least theoretically) are:
Edmonton Oilers - Does Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli have an interest in Trouba? Well, judging by the fact Oilers coach Todd McLellan who was the bench boss for Team North America for the World Cup of Hockey tournament and he didn't insert Trouba into the line-up until Aaron Eckblad went down with a neck injury says a lot about how he feels about Trouba's talents. if they were to do a deal with the Jets, Darnell Nurse or or Oscar Klefbom would have to be in the discussion. However, in a few years when the Oilers re-sign Connor McDavid and other up-and-comers such as Leon Draisaitl, Trouba's salary could be the deal breaker here.
Philadelphia Flyers - The Flyers do have a couple of left-handed defencemen in their system. Russian junior Ivan Provorov and another Manitoba native, Elkhorn-born Travis Sanheim. Provorov is a Western Hockey League defenceman of the year with the Brandon Wheat Kings, so the Flyers would probably balk at him being part of any trade anyway. However Flyers GM Ron Hextall must have watched the World Cup of Hockey and had visions of sugar plums in his head at the thought of pairing up Trouba with Calder trophy finalist Shayne Gostisbehere. The down side to this deal is that the Flyers are already hard up against the cap, so the Jets would have to take a substantial salary in return. Colorado Avalanche - Back in the summer, there were rumblings of a possible straight-up player-for-player trade of Trouba for Matt Duchene. That may be still in the works, as long as Cheveldayoff doesn't show all his cards and try to deal Trouba too quickly, as I suspect he won't as time is on the Jets side right now. Duchene is under contract to the Avs for three more seasons at $6 million annually. No team really wants to trade within their own division, especially if the player going the other way may come back to bite you in the behind in a tight divisional race. But if this is the right deal for the Jets, Cheveldayoff won't hesitate in pulling the trigger.
Boston Bruins - The Bruins pretty much started this whole thing when rumors started circulating that the Bruins were considering an offer sheet for Trouba that would have had the Bears give up their next four first-round picks in the Entry Draft until 2021. That would have been the very best case scenario for the Jets and not much of a decision for Kevin Cheveldayoff. I mean, who wouldn't take that deal? Bruins GM Don Sweeney would have to be the first in line, kicking the tires, sort of speak, wouldn't he? One would think Torey Krug would have to be part of this deal that would have to include a draft pick or prospect. The Bruins however, would have to consider the salary cap as due to past deals in the last two seasons, they don't have much leeway in that department.
Arizona Coyotes - Mike Stone might be an interesting trade for the Jets as well as the Coyotes. Stone is a native-Winnipegger which True North always finds appealing, and he is entering his final year in his current contract with Arizona as he will become a unrestricted free agent come July 2017. The Coyotes also have a number of prospects, but not many left-handed defencemen the Jets would fit into their needs right now. Perhaps a trade package with a pick and a prospect might interest Cheveldayoff, but this seems to be a player-for-player now situation.
Detroit Red Wings - This one makes the most sense geographically speaking for Trouba. Not that he has much control in where he gets traded, but being from Michigan, this could be the best projected destination for the young blue-liner. Trouba would certainly be paired with and work well with Mike Green. How about a package involving Danny DeKeyser? The Jets have an obvious interest in DeKeyser as they tried to sign him as a free agent out of college. His cap hit is $5 million per for the next six years.
Toronto Maple Leafs - The Leafs have more than a few prospects in their cupboard, in fact judging from the list of "experts" that rank the NHL's best prospect pools, the Leafs are in the top three most times. One name that stands out is Jake Gardiner. Throw him in a package for Trouba and Lou Lamoriello may just bite.
The Rangers and Canucks are also said to be interested in making a deal with Winnipeg for Trouba, but they have issues with cap space as well.
An article by Lyle Richardson over at The Hockey News has more.
The Winnipeg Jets have cut their roster down from approximately 60 invitees to 43 after re-assigning 17 players to the American Hockey League's Manitoba Moose or back to their respective junior teams.
Jacob Trouba has requested a trade out of Winnipeg. As it stands right now, Trouba is unhappy with his minutes and his position on the right side. Apparently the Jets 2012 first-round pick wants more of an opportunity to play on the left side. At least that's what he claims through his agent.
This isn't a complete shocker as Trouba has been without a contract since July and with no real progress in that area, the rumors have been in full swing since then. Apparently, Trouba and his agent have made their feelings clear about his position on the ice since May.
Trouba's agent, Kurt Overhardt said in a statement:
“Our client, Jacob Trouba, will not be attending the Winnipeg Jets NHL training camp. Since May, we have been working with the Jets management in an effort to facilitate a trade of Jacob’s rights. Both parties continue to work on this matter.
There has been no negotiation regarding the terms of a contract between our client and the Jets over the course of the last several months. The situation is not about money; it is solely about our client having the opportunity to realize his potential as a right shot NHL defenseman.
To the Jets credit, the club has two outstanding right shot veteran defensemen and our client simply wants the opportunity to have a greater role. As a consequence of the Jets depth on the right side, we believe it is in both parties’ best interest to facilitate a mutually advantageous trade.
Our client has nothing but respect for the people and City of Winnipeg, the Winnipeg Jets, its fans, management and ownership – our desire to get him moved has everything to do with opportunity. We will continue to work with the Jets in good faith to achieve this end.”
Well joy of all joys, hockey season is upon us again. How do we know? You mean other than the fact that the World Cup of Hockey is almost concluded, it's October, and members of the most awesome hockey team have flooded back into town? Yep. Those are sure signs alright.
The Winnipeg Jets have officially opened their training camp for the 2016-2017 NHL season and once again, due to this past summers entry draft and signings of Patrik Laine and Kyle Connor (not to mention the upping of Mark Scheifele's eight-year, $6.125 million contract) expectations are high in River City.
Of course I suppose all fans say that about their team upon the dawning of a new season. New players, new opportunities, new dreams. Not that too much stock is put into this, but The Hockey News did in fact name the Winnipeg Jets the 2019 Stanley Cup champions. Hey, a guy can dream can't he? So what if that article was meant to salivate Jets fans in two seasons, the dreaming starts now!
But as for the present, will the Jets measure up this season to what expectations were for 2015-2016? If so, who will lead the way and bring the excitement of the NHL playoffs back to the Manitoba capital? The core players will obviously carry the mantle as expected. So for now, we'll ignore players like new captain Blake Wheeler, Dustin Byfuglien, Brian Little and Ondrej Pavelec.
What Jets fans really want to know is how many goals will Patrik Laine score? Will he challenge the Maple Leafs Austin Matthews for the Calder trophy as the NHL's rookie of the year? Will he seize the brass ring as another Teemu Selanne or will he *GULP* be a bust?
With all eyes on Laine, will college stand-out Kyle Connor slip in under the radar and turn some heads as I believe he will, or will he be a regular scorer with the Manitoba Moose? Will Josh Morrisey finally make the big club? Will he be able to let Jets fans exhale a collective sigh of relief and ask Jacob who? Who will win the back-up position to Pavelec, who is in the final year of his five-year deal? Or will it be Pavelec fighting to retain his starter job? Will Micheal Hutchinson continue his wonderful play from last year or will newcomer Conner Hellebyck outplay them both and start the season between the pipes for the Jets? Will Nikolai Ehlers continue his break-out that he began last season?
Bobby Hull, one of the most dominant and respected players ever to don a Winnipeg Jets jersey, who was to be honoured by True North Sports & Entertainment and the Winnipeg Jets along with "Hot Line" line mates Ulf Nilsson and Anders Hedberg; has decided to pass on being present to accept the induction.
Why? It's simple really. With all the controversy surrounding his induction, due to many Winnipeggers not at all thrilled about honouring a man who had allegedly beat his wife during their marriage of 20 years; Hull has decided to take himself out of the equation. He's still going into the Hall, he just won't be there in person to accept. I'm sure having to field personal questions that I'm sure he has had to answer numerous times before isn't the funnest thing he can think of doing. But also, taking the rightful spotlight off of his former line mates isn't something he's very much interested in either. Call it what you will. Avoiding the elephant in the room or whatever. He's doing the right thing by by-passing the sure-to-be media circus of matters time past.
Not to minimize domestic violence, and I totally understand why people would not support anyone of that caliber of character, but is this induction about his accomplishment on the ice, or what he did in his private life? It certainly is about the accomplishments of his teammates, Nilsson and Hedberg. No one is going to be asking them about their personal life. Don't think they won't have to attempt to answer questions about Hull either. That shouldn't be put on them, but it will be.
Len Kropioski, otherwise known to Winnipeg Jets fans as "Kroppy," has died. He was 98. Kropioski was a World War II veteran and a life-long Jets fan. Well as long as the Winnipeg Jets existed, both now and between 1972 and 1996. He had been a season-ticket holder since the inaugural 1972 World Hockey Association season and again since 2011, when the Atlanta Thrashers were re-located to Winnipeg. He was also a Manitoba Moose season-ticket holder since 1997.
He was first introduced to the Winnipeg public back in 2011 at the Jets first game back against the Montreal Canadiens on March 9th. The cameras caught him saluting and singing his heart out to O Canada. Since then he became a game-day tradition with his image on the scoreboard every night at the conclusion of the national anthem. He was an advertising gold mine for the Jets as Kroppy showed (and the Jets brass hope he showed) what a die-hard Winnipeg Jets fan was made of. Kroppy epitomized what it was (and is) to be a Winnipeg Jets fan. Being there for your team through thick and thin. Showing up and cheering your heart out when you know that the team may not be very good and may disappoint you every season; only to show up the next year for a guaranteed 42 more games.
With the Jets donning their WHA-style jerseys of the 1970s for the Winter Classic as well as a couple of other regular-season games, plus the White-Out that returned to Winnipeg for the 2014-2015 playoffs, perhaps another long-standing, but slightly different tradition may be introduced. Why not replace the old portrait of Queen Elizabeth II that hung at the south end of the old Winnipeg Arena with the same such honour for Kroppy? I don't think one Winnipeg Jets fan would complain. If they did, simply rescind their season's tickets.
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.
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.
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.
True North Sports and Entertainment and the Winnipeg Jets have finally started to recognize and honour Winnipeg Jet players of the past in a new Winnipeg Jets Hall Of Fame. TNSE Chairman and President Mark Chipman had said repeatedly during the last five years that at the right time, the Jets 2.0 would honour key players that wore a Winnipeg Jets jersey between the years 1972, the birth of the original WHA franchise and 1996, the year of the Jets terrible, terrible relocation to Arizona. It has been announced that Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson will be the first inductees into the Hall.
This a total no-brainer. Starting with the 1974-75 World Hockey Association season these three men, known as the Hot Line, put Winnipeg on the international hockey map. Period. The Winnipeg Jets broke the ceiling when they introduced the European style of hockey to North America. Hull, Hedberg and Nilsson (along with another Swedes, defenceman Lars Eric-Schoberg and later forward Willy Lidstrom) showed the hockey world (and with great ease, I might add) the results of what gritty, tough, in-your-face Canadian style of hockey mixed with quick, concise, disciplined European hockey looks like. Goals in the back of the net, that's what.
Not long after, even the NHL noticed and followed suit. Soon came Borge Salming, Inge Hammarstrom, Sergei Priakhin and Veli-Pekka Ketola. In the 1980s came Jari Kurri, the Stastnys, Esa Tikkanen and Hakan Loob. In the 1990s there was Teemu Selanne, Saku Koivu, Peter Forsberg, Daniel Alfredsson, Mats Sundin and Nikolas Lidstrom. The former Czech Republic gave us Jaromir Jagr and Dominic Hasek, plus numerous former Soviet and Russian players over the years. Of course, the Hot Line wasn't the first European influence in the National Hockey League. There was Ulf Sterner and Lennart Svedberg. But it was Hedberg and Nilsson along with Hull that really anchored themselves to the North American style of play and produced...huge.
The Hot Line produced nothing but offence during their time together. When Hedberg and Nilsson were brought over from Sweden in the fall of 1975, they book-ended Hull for a combined 1287 points until the end of the 1977-78 season. That's 1287 points between three players. One line. One.
Did I mention these selections for induction were a no-brainer?
As a life-long Jets fan, it's awesome to see my heroes of the past being recognized. Not just the Hot Line, but Jets of the 80s and 90s as well. The next class is sure to be Dale Hawerchuck, Teemu Selanne and Thomas Steen.
So it's been almost two full years since I last blogged about my hometown and favourite NHL team, the Winnipeg Jets. That includes the franchise's second-ever playoff appearance in 2014-2015, which saw them have the exact same outcome as their first NHL playoff appearance when the team was located in Atlanta, Georgia, losing to the New York Rangers in four straight, when the team was known as the Atlanta Thrashers. The 2015 outcome was no different, being a first-round 4-0 sweep at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks. That means in 17 years of existence, the Thrashers/Jets have appeared in two playoff series and won 0 games. Not exactly something that instills pride in your team.
But pride is what it was. I hardly cared the Jets were a mediocre team at best throughout their first incarnation in Winnipeg. It didn't matter to this young Jets fan that his heroes didn't hoist hockey's holy grail once in 17 years in the NHL. All that mattered was that I had a team to cheer on. A team to argue with Oilers fans about (that one didn't go too well for very long) A team to compare stats with among other hockey fans, especially Canadian ones. In short, I had an National Hockey League team to adore. That all changed in June 1996. The last ever Winnipeg Jets 1.0 game was played on April 28, 1996. A 4-1 playoff loss to the Detroit Red Wings that ended an era.
That blog mentioned above can be found at www.thenewwinnipegjets.blogspot.com. However, I had some personal issues come up which prevented me from posting as much as I wanted, then eventually things got hay-wire enough where I didn't post at all and just let the blog fall into obscurity.
However, that doesn't mean I wanted to lose interest in the team or interest in blogging about the Winnipeg Jets. I was a little too young to appreciate and enjoy the likes of The Hot Line of Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nillsson. I grew up watching Dale Hawerchuck, Thomas Steen, Laurie Boschman, Dave Babych, Dave Ellet and the like. I loved my Jets and was heartbroken and angry when they left to the hockey dead-zone of Arizona in 1996.
Before I go on with the "new" Jets, for the benefit of anyone out there who doesn't know what I'm talking about, like say any 10 to 15-year-old hockey fans, here's a quick look back at what happened.
Then, joy of all joys, a miracle happened:
And here is every moment of "The Return," May 31, 2011. Now, I don't expect anyone to watch every second of this, as it is a lot of regional pride and probably only exciting to Jets fans.
And of course the first draft in 2011 to name the team and the pick of Mark Scheifele.
And just for fun (really fun for me at least) is some of the first game back against the Montreal Canadiens. Not the outcome we were looking for, as the Habs spoiled the party 5-1.
So since a lot has transpired since that day, including being placed in the Thrashers old position in the NHL's south-east division (why not just swap out with the Nashville Predators who were in the central division where the Jets are now and are geographically close to all the teams that were in the south-east anyway. But that's neither here nor there now.) and not making the playoffs until 2015 I'm going to continue from here in the present starting with the 2016 NHL Lottery.
When the Jets went into the NHL Draft Lottery on April 30, they went in with a not very enviable chance of only 7.5 percent of walking away with the top pick. Much was made in Winnipeg and by Jets fans throughout the country that they should have tanked the last week of the season, thereby improving their chances of capturing the number one pick; most pundits assuming it would be the 19-year-old phenom Austen Matthews. But as it turned out, the hockey gods smiled very pleasantly on the Jets as not only did they win their last four games of the season (in doing so, winning their first three or more games consecutively in the whole 2015-2016 campaign) on a very tough California road trip; the points accumulated allowed them to be in the perfect numerical position for those ping pong balls to fall their way and be the lucky team that jumped up no less than four spots in the lottery from sixth to second. Of course this allowed them to select Patrik Laine (pronounced LIE-NAY) and very quickly change the fortunes of the franchise for years to come.
Although only 18 years of age, Laine is expected to carry the Jets into the future along with Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Jacob Trouba. He has been compared to his idol, Russian superstar and sure-fire Hall-Of-Famer Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals. With a comparison like that, one would have to wonder a) is it a fair and accurate description, and b) can Laine not only produce what is quickly being expected of him, but can he handle said expectations. Is he a big fish in a little pond? Or will the small market Winnipeg media not be as unforgiving to a "white night" as say the hockey writers in Toronto, Montreal or New York? Make no mistake, Patrik Laine has the tools. The guy can put the puck in the net as this highlite reel demonstrates:
But he is only 18 after all. He is one of, if not the most talented and NHL-ready 18-year-old on the planet, but he is 18 and bound to make mistakes. The Jets realize this and will not do as their predecessors did in Atlanta and that is rush a potentially game-breaking young player if he's not ready. The Atlanta Thrashers did exactly that with the likes of Evander Kane and Alexander Burmistrov. They were young. talented players that the Thrashers organization rushed into the NHL too quick and it cost them. You can be sure the Jets will do no such thing. I fully expect Laine to crack the Jets roster next season, but I would not be shocked to see him spend a couple of months or more with the Jets American Hockey League affiliate, Manitoba Moose just to get him comfortable with the North American-style game and dimensions of NHL-sized rinks. It may not seem like much on that end, but developing your skills on international-style ice surfaces, then to ply your trade across the pond in smaller ones would take some getting used to I imagine. Not to mention, although he did do very well in Tampara in the Finnish elite league with players older and stronger than he, he still has to get used to the rough and tough style of the National Hockey League where it is a nightly grind. Will he burn out, or will he show Winnipeg fans and the rest of the NHL that he is indeed
the second coming of Teemu Selanne? The knock on Laine is that he may be a tad too arrogant. Some may call that confidence. He did say that he should be the number one pick ahead of Matthews who went to the Toronto Maple Leafs and that he should be able to crack the Jets first line, but ultimately of course, that decision falls to head coach Paul Maurice. Laine will have the opportunity to prove it, as Maurice has said that he will have "the opportunity to excel."
Having said all that, I have no doubt that Patrik Laine will be the player the Jets have been waiting for. Will he be the number one, most productive guy? Probably not at first, but eventually he will carry this team. I predict he will be the Calder trophy winner ahead of Austen Matthews (that's if the media is fair to him and not the typical all Toronto, all the time articles we will no doubt read about)
Along with Laine, the Jets managed to acquire 6'7 defenseman Logan Stanley by trading the 18th (the position the Jets held from the Andrew Ladd trade) and 79th overall picks to the Philadelphia Flyers' for their 22nd and 36th overall picks. The Jets had been in need of another left-shooting defenseman for some time. Stanley is said to have been someone the Jets had coveted since the draft season began a few months prior.
Starting Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was weak in net. There was two goals he should have had and even Ondrej Pavelec would have made those saves. I'm afraid without the comeback by the Jets and timely goals by Laine, Perrault and Wheeler, this would have been an embarrassing loss.
