Having cut down day after an 8-1 preseason loss is probably as good as any time to do it and for Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice, that’s exactly what he did.
Losing by seven goals to the Minnesota Wild certainly wasn’t great but the Wild dressed close to what their regular season lineup will look like while the Jets dressed quite a few of the guys that are moving their equipment to the Manitoba Moose dressing room on the other side of the MTS Centre. It was a preseason mismatch and hardly anything to get too worked up about.
We could talk about evaluating some guys from last night, but how do you in a game like that? Michael Hutchinson and Connor Hellebuyck let in a combined eight goals but had a group of youngsters and AHLers trying to defending the Wild’s top forwards. It’s really hard, even close to impossible, to get a good look at guys on the fence of making the Jets when they take on an opponent that’s that much better.
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But with 16 cuts today, the Jets have pared down their roster significantly today. Josh Morrissey is one of the few guys of note that has been reassigned to Moose camp. Morrissey is a skilled defenceman as we’ve noted but has looked green in the preseason so far. Starting the year in the American Hockey League is what’s best for him at this point. A few guys in contention for the Jets fourth line, Joel Armia and Brendan Lemieux, have been reassigned – the former to the Moose and the latter back to junior.
Four players sent back to the AHL today will have to clear waivers – Patrice Cormier, Matt Fraser, Juilian Melchiori, and Matt Halischuk, who hopefully somebody will grab before the Jets promote him later in the season. Notably absent from the waiver list is Anthony Peluso, who is being given another chance to make yet another team.
As far as the guys sticking around, Nic Petan and Thomas Raffl are two guys to keep an eye on the rest of the preseason. Petan had clearly passed many of the departed forwards on the depth chart and Maurice’s willingness to try him on the wing makes him a possibility to open the season with Winnipeg. Raffl is on a professional tryout offer and has looked intriguing so far and has been earning playing time with guys like Mark Schiefele as Maurice tries to find out what player he has on his hands.
With the roster reduced, much of the noise has cleared the room and there are just now a few battles of note from now until Opening Day, for which another post is forthcoming. The Jets host Ottawa on Tuesday.
Next: Ain't The First Preseason Loss...
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