How are Players from Winnipeg Jets 21′ Roster Performing in 22′ Playoffs?
It has been half of a decade for Winnipeg Jets supporters since the last time they watched the Stanley Cup Playoffs without the Jets competing for the Stanley Cup.
Now that we are in the second round of the playoffs, there are still some members of the Jets roster from the 2021 season competing with their new teams in a quest for the Cup.
Eight players from the Jets roster that was eliminated at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens in the second round of the 2021 Playoffs did not finish the 2021-2022 season with the Jets. Out of those eight players, five made the 2022 postseason, but only two are currently playing in the second round.
Two players from the Winnipeg Jets 2021 roster are currently competing in the second round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs with their new teams
First, we will take a look at the players who were eliminated in the first round:
Jordie Benn (Minnesota Wild) and Nathan Beaulieu (Pittsburgh Penguins)- Did not Play
In the offseason prior to this season, Benn signed with the Minnesota Wild. He went on to play 39 regular season games with the Wild but did not feature in any of the six games in the Wild’s 4-2 series loss to the St. Louis Blues.
Just like Benn, Beaulieu also did not feature in the first round. Beaulieu was traded at the 2022 trade deadline to the Pittsburgh Penguins for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
At the time of the trade, Beaulieu was on the long-term injured reserve and was activated just before game two in Pittsburgh’s series against the Rangers. The veteran defenseman did not play in any games throughout the series after being activated.
The Jets will not receive the conditional pick from the Beaulieu trade because the Penguins did not win three playoff series.
Derek Forbort (Boston Bruins)
The defensive defenseman played extremely well in the Bruins’ seven-game series loss to the Carolina Hurricanes.
Forbort was among the top ten in the NHL and led the Bruins in blocked shots with 18, and had the second most amount of ice time among Bruins’ penalty killers.
Forbort finished the series with one goal and averaged more than eighteen minutes of time on ice per game.
Who is Still in the Playoffs?
Trevor Lewis (Calgary Flames)
The two-time Stanley Cup Champion left the Jets as an unrestricted free agent and signed with the Flames during the offseason.
Lewis has become a mainstay in the Flames’ fourth line and has been a consistent performer for Darryl Sutter’s team.
Besides featuring in 80 regular season contests, Lewis has played in all nine of the Flames’ postseason games.
In a low-scoring first-round series, that went seven games, against the Dallas Stars, Lewis had two goals and one assist and finished the series with an even plus/minus.
So far in two games during the second round in the Battle of Alberta versus the Edmonton Oilers, the thirty-five-year-old has no goals, two assists, and an even plus/minus. Currently, the series is tied at one game apiece after two games.
Andrew Copp (New York Rangers)
The Jets may have a particular rooting interest in the Rangers and Copp. As part of the deal that sent Copp to the Big Apple at the most recent trade deadline, one of the conditional second-round draft choices the Jets received will turn into a first-round pick if the Rangers beat the Hurricanes this round and Copp plays in 50% of the games.
Copp had a great first round and he was one of the leaders who led the Rangers’ charge to complete their comeback from down three-games-to-one to win the series in seven games.
In the first round, the pending free agent had four goals, three assists, and a plus-four rating. Copp was second on the Rangers in shorthanded time on ice and scored a shorthanded goal in the Rangers’ game three loss to the Penguins.
After two games into the second round, the Rangers are down two games to none to the Hurricanes. During these two games versus Carolina, Copp has only had one shot on goal and has not registered a point, also he has a minus-two plus/minus.
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