Welcome to the first edition of JWO’s Winnipeg Jets mailbag!
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I have a lucky seven questions queued up for this week, so let’s get to ’em.
Jessie asks: Are you concerned about Patrik Laine not having what it takes to perform in the playoffs? He looked terrible the whole time and couldn’t skate it seemed.
Five goals is not what you want from your team’s top scorer. Patrik Laine is a sniper, through and through, and if he can’t squeeze shots through in the playoffs, he’s always going to face criticism.
That being said, he looked awful in the last series against Vegas. Like he was skating through tar. That doesn’t seem like trepidation to me, that smacks of fatigue. Remember, he’s only 20. Never played that far into a season before.
However, he’ll need to perform in the future, and soon, if he wants to shake that label. Things like bad playoff performances are the types of things fans harp on for ages. Alex Ovechkin dealt with it, and his numbers are good. I doubt he’ll have to deal with it much longer.
But I’m not concerned about Laine. The kid’s bound to get tired. He’ll get used to it, and he’ll be fine in the playoffs the next time around.
Mark asks: With his explosive postseason, do you think Mark Scheifele ascends to stardom next season?
No. I don’t. I think he was already doing it. His postseason was banging, no doubt. The playoffs were Mark Scheifele‘s coming out party on the biggest stage. Fourteen goals and twenty points in 17 games will do that for a player.
He lead the circuit at that time in goals, and I guarantee you nobody would have picked Mark Scheifele to do so. I doubt anyone would’ve picked him to lead the Winnipeg Jets in goals. He flies under the radar, but he’s really, really good.
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- A Patrik Laine Trade Redux Prior to Winnipeg Jets vs. Columbus
- Winnipeg Jets Doppelgangers: Look-A-Likes PART II
- Can Josh Morrissey of the Winnipeg Jets Actually Win the Norris?
He’s been a point per game center the past two seasons. He finally upped his faceoff% over 50 last year. His Cosi% is a career plus. The 25 year old will eventually put together one of those seasons that makes the entire league take note of how good he is, but he’s a top 10 NHL center already.
Ray asks: Where do you see the Winnipeg Jets sitting on the NHL’s Power Rankings entering next season?
Well, we can eliminate the top two spots. Those will go to the Capitals and the Golden Knights. After that, I’d think the Lightning, Penguins, Predators and Jets will make up the next four spots.
I’ll wager the Lightning and Penguins will be ahead of Winnipeg on pedigree. Nashville might be ahead based on season record, even though they were ousted from the playoffs by the Jets. This is a prediction, not a note of what already happened, so that makes sense.
If you use the Simple Rating System on HockeyReference, which uses goal differential and strength of schedule, the Winnipeg Jets were the best team in the NHL this past season. That’s a boring take.
The Jets are also a boring team to most of the nation. I hope the deep playoff run would change that, but I’d wager to see them in the back half of the top ten in most PR next season. I personally would have them fifth, behind all those teams mentioned save for the Penguins.
For what it’s worth, (and before all the offseason moves), ESPN has them at three! I guess their core is more respected than I would have thought.
Robert asks: Build your all-time NHL teams. One based on skill, and one based on your favorite players.
Woo, this a fun question. Well, the first version, the skill one, is kinda staightforward. I’m just gonna pick nine forwards, four defenseman and a goaltender.
Forwards, I’ll take Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Mark Messier, Teemu Selanne, Brett Hull, Phil Esposito, Sidney Crosby, Reggie Leach (I know, I know) and, of course, Steve Yzerman.
Defense, I’ll go Bobby Orr, Chris Chelios, Ray Bourque and Brian Leetch. Real straightforward.
Goalie, woo. Dominik Hasek, Martin Brodeur or Patrick Roy are all great calls, but give me Hasek.
The second half of this question is the more fun part. I just get to make my own NHL18 team, but I get all-time players. Fun fun.
Forwards, give me Theo Fleury, Jesper Fast, Peter Forsberg, Sean Avery, Keith Tkachuk, Vlad Tarasenko, Nikolaj Ehlers, Derek Boogaard and Brian Boyle.
Defense? I’ll take Chris Pronger, Ulf Samuelsson, Dustin Byfuglien and Dan Girardi.
In net? In a huge surprise, I’ll take Cam Talbot. Can you tell I grew up a Rangers fan?
Mort asks: Are you bitter about the expansion draft? Seems like if they had two expansion teams, things would be a lot better in Winnipeg right now.
Well, there’s a few ways to look at this. One, the expansion draft affected Winnipeg a lot. They were ousted by Vegas in the playoffs, first and foremost. Second, the Jack Adams award and NHL Executive of the Year awards might look more toward the Jets.
Instead, it’s a mortal lock that both of those go to Vegas. Not a huge deal, but whatever. The Jets lost Chris Thorburn in the expansion draft, who probably wouldn’t have played a lot. He never suited up for Vegas, either.
But then there’s the whole fallacy of the predetermined outcome bit. You can’t assume the Jets go into the playoffs and blast someone else if the Golden Knights are garbage because they had to split the draft process.
Moving forward, I can’t imagine the NHL will add two more teams next time around. I think they’ll stick to one more, and I doubt that team will have the same success Vegas did. They didn’t fall into this backwards. They did a hell of a job.
Anon asks: If you’re Cheveldayoff, do you buy out Bryan Little?
Obviously not yet. I wouldn’t do it this offseason. This was the first year of his six year, $31.75mm deal. Not a great time to inexplicably decline. Essentially a $5.3mm cap hit until 2024. That has a modified NTC in the last four years. The first two are with a no move clause.
Little, of course, went from 47 points last season to 43 this season. In 23 more games. Yikes. He’s only 30, and hey, maybe he played hurt. Give him time to figure it out, but soon, you’ll need the cap space. It’s an option if he doesn’t improve.
For fun, if you buy him out, you’re taking a $1.8mm cap hit from 2024 until 2030. Not great. I’d hold off.
Wasteworld asks: If you could clone any player on the Jets to play all the positions, who would you choose. What about the entire NHL?
Uh, wild. This is challenging, but for the Jets, you’d have to go Dustin Byfuglien. He has plenty of experience on the wing and on the blueline. You wouldn’t field the fastest team, but they’d all be big, fierce and have a hell of a shot.
Plus, you wouldn’t lose a whole lot in technique when it comes to playing both positions. Other options are…Laine, I guess? Having a bunch of him would score you plenty of goals. They would do little else.
In the entire NHL, you have a few options. Sidney Crosby comes to mind, just because he’s the best. Can he play the blueline? I doubt it, but he’s so, so good. Defensively and offensively. It would be such a good forward group.
Next: Season Review: The Bruiser
Maybe Brent Burns? He’s a great defenseman and he has forward experience as well. But his cave person beard is a detriment. Crosby it is.