NHL Preview - Winnipeg Jets

Winnipeg Jets

2015-16 season: 35-39-8, 78 points Did not qualify for Playoffs	Head Coach: Paul Maurice (2014)
7th Place Central Division	General Manager: Kevin Cheveldayoff (2011)
11th Place Western Conference	AHL Affiliate: Manitoba Moose ECHL Affiliate: Tulsa Oilers
Cap Space: $6,919,209

Players Lost in the Offseason

POS.	Player	New Team	Contract
RW	Matt Halischuk	Free Agent
D	Grant Clitsome	Retired

Incoming Free Agents

POS.	Player	Old Team	Contract
RW	Shawn Matthias	Colorado Avalanche	2 years, $4,250,000
D	Brian Strait	New York Islanders	1 year, $600,000

2016 Draft Picks

RD	Pick No.	POS.	Name	Junior/College/Club Team
1	2	RW	Patrik Laine	Tappara (Liiga)
1	18	D	Logan Stanley	Windsor Spitfires (WHL)
3	79	D	Luke Green	Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL)
4	97	D	Jacob Cedarholm	HV71 (SHL)
5	127	C	Jordan Stallard	Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
6	157	G	Mikhail Berdin	Russia U18 (MHL)

Top Three Prospects

POS	Name	Draft Info	Current Team
G	Eric Comrie	2013 2nd RD (59)	AHL/ECHL
RW	Marko Dano	2013 1st RD (27)	AHL/ECHL
RW	Joel Armia	2011 1st RD (16)	NHL

Projected Lineup

Forwards

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
LW	Nikolaj Ehlers	20	Denmark	2018 (RFA)
C	(A) Mark Scheifele	23	Canada	2024
RW	(C) Blake Wheeler	30	USA	2019
LW	Drew Stafford	30	USA	2017
C	Bryan Little	28	Canada	2018
RW	Patrik Laine	18	Finland	2018 (RFA)
LW	Kyle Connor	19	USA	2019 (RFA)
C	Mathieu Perreault	28	Canada	2021
RW	Shawn Matthias	28	Canada	2018
LW	Alexander Burmistrov	24	Russia	2017 (RFA)
C	Adam Lowry	23	USA	2018 (RFA)
RW	Joel Armia	23	Finland	2018 (RFA)

Defensemen

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
D	Ben Chiarot	25	Canada	2017
D	(A) Dustin Byfuglien	31	USA	2021
D	Tobias Enstrom	31	Sweden	2018
D	Tyler Myers	26	USA	2019
D	Mark Stuart	32	USA	2018
D	Paul Postma	27	Canada	2017

Goalies

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
G	Ondrej Pavalec	29	Czech Republic	2017
G	Michael Hutchinson	26	Canada	2018

Extra Skaters

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
C	Andrew Copp	22	USA	2017 (RFA)
LW	Chris Thorburn	33	Canada	2017
D	Brian Strait	28	USA	2017

Inactive List

POS	Name	Age	Nationality	Free Agent Year
D	Jacob Trouba	22	USA	2016 (RFA)

Season Outlook

• Since returning to Winnipeg in 2011, the Jets franchise has only made the playoffs one time, in 2015, when they were swept by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round.  Last season, they were in the basement of the division and ended up finishing runner-up to the Maple Leafs for the number one pick in the Draft Lottery.  The Jets are pretty much a patented Western Conference team that is heavy and strong on the forecheck.  The Jets have really big forwards who are also talented - Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler, and Bryan Little lead the way.  Their defense also has the framework of a solid unit, especially the dynamic Dustin Byfuglien and the young, and talented, Jacob Trouba guiding them.  The Jets' struggle is in net, where Ondrej Pavalec has left much to be desired and is a major source of their struggles.  Last year, Winnipeg finished in the bottom half of the league in nearly every category and had a negative goal differential.  The only statistic where they weren't horrible was in Corsi For Percentage, where they finished 13th at 50.4%.

CAT.	Goals For	Goals Against	PP %	PK%	PDO	Corsi For	Corsi Against	Corsi For %	oZS%	dZS%
Stat	215	239	14.79	78.37	99.2	4539	4463	50.4	51.4	48.6
Jets’  Rank	22nd	23rd	30th	26th	26th	15th	18th	13th	13th	13th

PDO= Even Strength Shooting Percentage + Even Strength Save Percentage

Corsi For= Shots + Blocks + Misses while in possession of puck

Crosi Against= Shots + Blocks + Misses while not in possession of puck

Corsi For %= Corsi For/(Corsi For+Corsi Against) -> Above 50% means that team controls play

oZS% = Offensive Zone Start Percentage

dZS% = Defensive Zone Start Percentage

• The Jets' best offseason move occurred in the NHL Draft when they took Patrik Laine with the 2nd overall pick.  Laine is already a capable NHL goalscorer who will certainly help their scoring issues.  He will immediately become a top-six winger who will make the loss of Andrew Ladd much more manageable for the Jets.  They still have to re-sign Jacob Trouba to a contract for this year.  Originally, it was thought to just be a contract dispute, but in the past week or so, news has come out that Trouba has requested a trade out of Winnipeg.  The reasoning for this is apparently his displeasure with his limited role behind two other right-handed defensemen in Byfuglien and Tyler Myers.  The Jets currently have the money available to sign Trouba to a big contract worth north of $6 million, but the question will be whether or not Trouba wants to re-sign.  If he doesn't, they'll have to find a trade partner to hopefully get a defenseman in return - Boston, Detroit, Arizona, and Edmonton could all be good fits. Regardless of what happens, this team should be better this season than they were last year and just continue getting better in the years to come.  They currently have the third-ranked farm system according to The Hockey Writers and have several high-end prospects.  The Jets are also in an enviable salary cap situation, with most of their younger players already locked down to contracts for the future.  After this season, Drew Stafford, Ben Chiarot, Paul Postma, and Ondrej Pavalec are all free agents and Alexander Burmistrov will need a new contract as well, but is a restricted free agent.  Most of these players aren't really vital for the Jets' long-term success and could be let go without much issue.  Even letting Pavalec go would be alright for the Jets as they have prospect Connor Hellebuyck in the minors waiting to come up.  In his 26 games in the NHL, Hellebuyck has been solid, posting a 2.34 GAA and a .918 save percentage; Winnipeg appears to be in good hands for the future.  For this year, however, the Jets are still probably not a playoff team and Paul Maurice's job security could be reflective of how good the team does this year.  Other than the year they made the playoffs, his first year as coach of the Jets, they haven't been very good and Winnipeg will be looking for more.

Breakout Candidate

• RW Patrik Laine - Laine was taken with the second overall pick in this year's draft and will step right into the NHL this year.  He already has the body of an NHLer, standing at 6'4" and  over 200 pounds.  He is a true goalscorer who played well for the Finnish team at the World Cup of Hockey.  He will be a vital part of the Jets this season and I think he will come through, possibly scoring 25 goals this season.

Regression Candidate

• LW Drew Stafford - Stafford only put up 38 points last year in nearly a full season.  He has regressed quite a bit from the player he was in Buffalo when he was putting up nearly 50 points each year.  I think he'll continue to regress and may not even reach the 30 point mark this season.

Bounceback Candidate

• G Ondrej Pavalec - I'm not sure if picking Pavalec for this will actually come true.  He posted a 2.75 GAA last season, which was significantly higher than he had in 2014-15, when it was 2.28.  His career average is a 2.85 GAA, so he could either bounce back to like a 2.40 GAA or it could continue regressing to the norm.

*All statistics and information come from: rosterresource.com, thehockeywriters.com, hockeydb.com, hockey-reference.com, and generalfanager.com