Player Discussion: Winnipeg Jets Defense

[Buffdog]

Possibly classic HF overestimating a prospect on one hand while underestimating him on the other?

Maybe rushing him to the top 4 too quickly but I wonder if Jets are penciling him in at 3RD for this year. Based on his relatively steep trajectory and the high praise from his SHL coach he may be NHL ready this year. Its not like he will be right out of this year's draft class. He will be in D+3 and the first 2 post draft seasons have been spent in a very good men's pro league.

For the record I had Salo on the second pair in 2025/26 after a year of the AHL

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

For the record I had Salo on the second pair in 2025/26 after a year of the AHL

yeah, and I am just wondering if the Jets see him spending that 1st year at 3RD in the NHL instead.

It skips giving him that year to adjust to the NA game/ice size. But if they are having difficulty acquiring a top 4 RHD (DeMelo included), they just might be planning on going that route.

To my eye, he looked NHL ready last year. But that is on the larger ice where there is quite a bit more space/time. I don't know how well or quickly he could adapt. I'm sure Jets scouts have a feel for that though.

 

[WolfHouse]

yeah, and I am just wondering if the Jets see him spending that 1st year at 3RD in the NHL instead.

It skips giving him that year to adjust to the NA game/ice size. But if they are having difficulty acquiring a top 4 RHD (DeMelo included), they just might be planning on going that route.

To my eye, he looked NHL ready last year. But that is on the larger ice where there is quite a bit more space/time. I don't know how well or quickly he could adapt. I'm sure Jets scouts have a feel for that though.

Might as well wait a couple weeks and see who's left in our Dcore before speculating too much... I have a hard time seeing a scenario where one of Heinola or Samberg don't shift over to their off-side by 2025 season

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Might as well wait a couple weeks and see who's left in our Dcore before speculating too much... I have a hard time seeing a scenario where one of Heinola or Samberg don't shift over to their off-side by 2025 season

I'm beginning to wonder if I imagined it because no one seems to acknowledge it here anymore. I thought Heinola had played a lot of RD, and successfully. Samberg hasn't done it much that I am aware of and not successfully.

Am I wrong?

If not, then Heinola is the obvious one to play the right side. I have only recently started penciling him in on the left since it appears that Dillon is gone.

We could just wait 3 months and have a much better idea of who is and is not available. Speculating is what we do here.

With Chisholm gone and now Capo and Dillon apparently gone also, our left side depth is almost as bad as our right side depth. Stan appears to be full time 3LD and there is no one immediately behind him.

Meanwhile it looks like we go with DeMelo, Pionk, Schmidt again - IF we retain DeMelo.

 

[Board Bard]

What a contract-year bounce-back from Pionk accomplishes more than anything (or less than anything depending on how you look at it) is Chevy giving him a new contract (which could very well happen in any case). In the first year of that contract the bouncebackitis will be magically cured, he will revert to the familiar persona of Donkeypionk, and the team will be stuck with his amusing cartoon antics for another 4 or 5 years. Maybe that does equate to "fine" in Chevy's mind, especially in the likely event he's left with only scraps from the free agent market. Of course, a scrap might still be better than Pionk, and a helluva lot cheaper.

Playing Heinola on the right side kinda gives the coaches a built-in excuse to say, "He wasn't quite doing the job so now he's 7D." Playing him on the left gives him his best chance to succeed. They probably already have an extra-tall chair in the pressbox for Stanley so no adjustments would be needed there.

I saw somewhere (maybe here) that one of the new assistant coaches was director of analytics at one of his NHL gigs. Hopefully it wasn't just a figurehead position and that he actually learned a great deal about how to compile, understand and use the numbers.

 

[voyageur]

well yeah, idk who else is really set for a huge bounceback... morrissey, samberg? what are they bouncing back too, they were great again last year. schmidt was solid in his role too. maybe stanley to the Cdn division year.

at the end of the day, the hope is every off-season for the players & ultimately team to play well. Pionk has not lived up to that supposed hope the last 3 years. fortunate for him. he's not in the same tier or level of polarity as Helle or Ehlers so his PO performance has been less criticized, when effectively the season was over because of his game-5.

I mean you look at playoff stats and other than on the PK Pionk has had as much success as De Melo...people will remember Pionk's own goal but not De Melo's wobble that cost us dearly in a one goal game...no one will remember Pionk needing oxygen after 20T game 3 against Vegas where Morrissey went down, and he was arguably the best d-man in that whole game, playing every other shift.. Schmidt had easy shifts that's why his regular season metrics were so good...-5 in the playoffs in 3 games...there's a reason he got benched both regular season and playoffs...he's lost a step so I'm not sure how he can improve that. But I'm ok with Pionk being the whipping boy. Hopefully he proves himself next season and gets rewarded for it...

 

[voyageur]

What a contract-year bounce-back from Pionk accomplishes more than anything (or less than anything depending on how you look at it) is Chevy giving him a new contract (which could very well happen in any case). In the first year of that contract the bouncebackitis will be magically cured, he will revert to the familiar persona of Donkeypionk, and the team will be stuck with his amusing cartoon antics for another 4 or 5 years. Maybe that does equate to "fine" in Chevy's mind, especially in the likely event he's left with only scraps from the free agent market. Of course, a scrap might still be better than Pionk, and a helluva lot cheaper.

Playing Heinola on the right side kinda gives the coaches a built-in excuse to say, "He wasn't quite doing the job so now he's 7D." Playing him on the left gives him his best chance to succeed. They probably already have an extra-tall chair in the pressbox for Stanley so no adjustments would be needed there.

I saw somewhere (maybe here) that one of the new assistant coaches was director of analytics at one of his NHL gigs. Hopefully it wasn't just a figurehead position and that he actually learned a great deal about how to compile, understand and use the numbers.

Who's your PK2 LD Morrissey or Heinola...if you choose Morrissey are you ready for lower 5 on 5 totals from wear and tear, if you choose Heinola do you really think he can kill penalties at the NHL level? That's the kind of decisions a head coach and assistants will have to make?

 

[Crocket]

If I had to call an opening day defense group, my prediction would be:

Morrissey - DeMelo
Samberg - Pionk
Stanley - Heinola

#7 a UFA signing or waiver pickup. I'll go out on a limb and say Kovy after he gets waived by the Habs at the end of camp. Dillon gone to free agency and Schmidt bought out. Obviously DeMelo re-signed, but with a contract many will complain about.

Heinola is not playing behind Samberg, he had a spot last year before breaking his leg. VH is much better than Sammy, who is a decent 3rd pair guy.