Winnipeg Jets: Thoughts Just Before the Start of Training Camp

The Winnipeg Jets open training camp today, and preseason hockey starts on Monday, the 17th. That’s a good enough reason for me. Is preseason hockey enjoyable? Not really. But it’s hockey, and that’s all I need.

The Winnipeg Jets had a medium off-season. They didn’t do a whole lot of adding, but they extended a few players. They took care of their own, with the exception of Josh Morrissey. We’ll see how that situation plays out.

Hopefully he’ll have a contract any day now. Not really I want to see this go much further. Either way, there doesn’t seem to be any animosity, so I’ll assume everything is fine.

I have some training camp thoughts/notes to pass along, so here we go:

A defensive dream is gone.

I don’t want to give too much away, as I’m working on something related to this already, but the Erik Karlsson trade really stinks.

Yes, I know the Jets weren’t in there at the end. Nobody expected it to be them anymore. I am okay with them passing at this point, though I’d like a little more certainty with the Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey situation.

But defensive questions remain.

The Jets defense will have Dustin Byfuglien. Tyler Myers, too, who is pretty good. Jacob Trouba is under contract, but that’s a whole thing. Plus, can he stay healthy?

Josh Morrissey, I’ll assume, will be around. That’s a top four, and a really good one. So, the defense will be fine. But who will fill the remaining two spots (and be the seventh defenseman)?

Ben Chiarot, Dmitry Kulikov, Tucker Poolman, Joe Morrow. The list goes on. The Jets clearly like Morrow. They got him from Montreal last season, and they plugged him in a decent amount.

Oh, and he scored the game winner in the franchise’s first playoff victory. That’ll get you some fans. I wonder if Kulikov is a lock for a spot. He suited up in 62 of the Jets games this past season.

He missed the others due to back surgery, which also cost him time the previous season. Kulikov has two years remaining on a three year, $13MM contract. A little steep, but I like Kulikov.

He’s a former first rounder, although he never quite lived up to that billing, but he’s a steadyish defensive presence. Him on a third pairing with a young guy (Kulikov is just 27, but still, he’s a vet)? Sign me up.

We’ll be able to tell a lot from Kulikov’s play this season. He could be just easing his way into the regular season after surgery, or he could be busting it as he competes for playing time. Poolman played 24 games with the big club and has some upside, wonder if it’ll be him.

Other options include the aforementioned Chiarot and Morrow, as well as giant Logan Stanley, Luke Green and Simon Bourque. Stanley was a first round pick that has already been called a bust and the other two are marginal depth players. Count on the first group, although it would be fun to see what Stanley can do.

Show me what kind of damage these young forwards can do.

I will have my eyes glued to Kristian Vesalainen during the preseason. Ditto Mason Appleton, Jansen Harkins and even Jack Roslovic, Brendan Lemieux and Nic Petan.

They all had some sort of prospect shine. The best of the bunch, though, is Vesalainen. But they’re all unproven to some degree at the NHL level. The bottom three all have experience at the highest level, but are unproven.

Roslovic looks to be a lock for a role, unless he has a horrendous camp. I’m excited for that. I’ll keep an eye on what looks good out of the others. I expect to see Lemieux and Petan get in some games this year, but I don’t think either will be regulars.

This team is just so deep and talented, it’ll be hard for guys like that to stick. Eventually they’ll get pushed out by Roslovic / Vesalainen and the like. And if they’re faring decently, but are the Jets best options, they’ll probably get their spot taken by a trade acquisition.

The Jets are in no place to wait for growing pains. They’ve got to put the best people on the ice, all the time. I suppose for a premium prospect they might excuse a bit of pain now and hope for the best later in the season, but the leashes won’t be long.

This isn’t the New York Rangers. Which is an odd twist of fate, considering these two team’s position just a couple seasons ago. C’est la vie. But yeah, let’s see what these youngsters can do.

Will their be a hangover effect?

Let’s hope not. But the Winnipeg Jets played deeper into a season than they had in some time. Oh, and they were clearly fatigued against Vegas in the WCF. Some players were just plain out of gas, Patrik Laine included.

After ousting the league’s best team (by record), the Jets were flying high. Until they weren’t. Maybe the letdown against Vegas was due to the team underestimating them a bit. I know I did. I still do, and they made it to the SCF.

Regardless, the Jets are going to be motivated. But they might be tired. Hockey is hard, and takes a long time to recover from a long season. The Jets just had the least amount of time to do so than most of the roster has ever had.

Next. #NotMyJersey. dark

I’m worried, I really am. The championship hangover is real, even if you don’t win the championship sometimes. Just hope it doesn’t get our boys.

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