Player Discussion: Winnipeg Jets Defense

[Bladerunner62]

Everyone cleared because most teams have player and salary caps.

and no one needs an 8 or 9 PB guy who they would most likely send down to the A.

 

[Whileee]

When Samberg returns, I think the Jets should try the following configuration:

Morrissey-Miller
Samberg-Pionk
Fleury/Heinola-DeMelo

44-6: Miller is having a strong season, which shouldn't be much of a surprise. He's mobile and more of a threat on offense to complement Morrissey. That pair has been good in limited minutes.

54-4: This pair was strong before Samberg's injury. Samberg's solid D gives Pionk more latitude to be aggressive on offense. They deserve a longer run.

24/14-2: DeMelo has slipped this season and is a bit of a drag on the top pair. It's strange; he's missing on simple passes, getting blown by on rushes, and even blowing tires from time to time. He needs a reset and could be a good complement to Fleury or Heinola in a more sheltered role. I actually expect Stanley on this pair, and maybe DeMelo can handle sheltered minutes with him 5v5.

Jets still need a top-4 RHD IMO, but they can maybe stabilize the D with a bit more support for Morrissey and sheltering for DeMelo in the short term.

 

[Adam da bomb]

When Samberg returns, I think the Jets should try the following configuration:

Morrissey-Miller
Samberg-Pionk
Fleury/Heinola-DeMelo

44-6: Miller is having a strong season, which shouldn't be much of a surprise. He's mobile and more of a threat on offense to complement Morrissey. That pair has been good in limited minutes.

54-4: This pair was strong before Samberg's injury. Samberg's solid D gives Pionk more latitude to be aggressive on offense. They deserve a longer run.

24/14-2: DeMelo has slipped this season and is a bit of a drag on the top pair. It's strange; he's missing on simple passes, getting blown by on rushes, and even blowing tires from time to time. He needs a reset and could be a good complement to Fleury or Heinola in a more sheltered role. I actually expect Stanley on this pair, and maybe DeMelo can handle sheltered minutes with him 5v5.

Jets still need a top-4 RHD IMO, but they can maybe stabilize the D with a bit more support for Morrissey and sheltering for DeMelo in the short term.

I agree team will probably shoe stan in. In my mind bottom pairing should go to Fleury based on what he has shown in NHL via sample size. Heinola will probably only have played 10 games before team is healthy.

 

[Crocket]

When Samberg returns, I think the Jets should try the following configuration:

Morrissey-Miller
Samberg-Pionk
Fleury/Heinola-DeMelo

44-6: Miller is having a strong season, which shouldn't be much of a surprise. He's mobile and more of a threat on offense to complement Morrissey. That pair has been good in limited minutes.

54-4: This pair was strong before Samberg's injury. Samberg's solid D gives Pionk more latitude to be aggressive on offense. They deserve a longer run.

24/14-2: DeMelo has slipped this season and is a bit of a drag on the top pair. It's strange; he's missing on simple passes, getting blown by on rushes, and even blowing tires from time to time. He needs a reset and could be a good complement to Fleury or Heinola in a more sheltered role. I actually expect Stanley on this pair, and maybe DeMelo can handle sheltered minutes with him 5v5.

Jets still need a top-4 RHD IMO, but they can maybe stabilize the D with a bit more support for Morrissey and sheltering for DeMelo in the short term.

Agree. Heinola is playing better every game, his two passes last game ended up as goals for the Jets. He's doing little things well.

Miller is a little more rugged than DeMelo too

 

[gojetsgo]

 

[KingBogo]

Hopefully later today we get an update on a timeline for Sammy’s return.

 

[gojetsgo]

 

[Adam da bomb]

Agree. Heinola is playing better every game, his two passes last game ended up as goals for the Jets. He's doing little things well.

Miller is a little more rugged than DeMelo too

Which goals? I only saw the third period so I’m guessing the first 2 goals?

 

[gojetsgo]

 

[gojetsgo]

 

[surixon]

Tough loss

 

[voyageur]

I thought we might see Miller time in the top 4. Go with the experience.

With a PKer out not surprised another one goes back in.

Jets going with a bigger lineup on defense against a team that will bring it physically up front.

Coghlan got a weekend to play so he should be more game ready. Be interesting to see what his impact is with opportunity.

 

[KingBogo]

I thought we might see Miller time in the top 4. Go with the experience.

With a PKer out not surprised another one goes back in.

Jets going with a bigger lineup on defense against a team that will bring it physically up front.

Coghlan got a weekend to play so he should be more game ready. Be interesting to see what his impact is with opportunity.

It looks like Arniel doesn’t trust either Stan or Heinola any higher up the lineup than the 3rd pairing. Also Stan is above Villie in the pecking order.

 

[DRW204]

i liked coghlan's 1 game vs Vegas this season.

should really be no surprises with heinola at this point. 1) he's not that good and 2) they clearly like stanley for whatever reason more than him.

 

[voyageur]

It looks like Arniel doesn’t trust either Stan or Heinola any higher up the lineup than the 3rd pairing. Also Stan is above Villie in the pecking order.

I think the top 4 now comes down to the 4 best players left on the roster.

It's also a reaction to the opponent.

Then Fleury was top unit PK without Sammy. Stanley was #2 before his injury. Probably on the top unit now. Be interesting to see who moves up to the 2nd unit. Could be any 3 of Miller, Morrissey or Coghlan.

I think Ville's one professional PK rep isn't enough to convince anyone he's going to successful there. In the hard matchups.

I still think he's a player you matchup with better skating teams, and less physical ones.

Arniel is a very cerebral matchup coach from what I've heard on his interviews. Wouldn't be surprised if he thinks Ottawa isn't the right one for Heinola.

Watching them play Vancouver there was some heaviness and grit in their game, which is unsurprising given their coach. Nolan Baumgartner too, as an assistant, might outline some weaknesses in Ville's game, as one of his former Moose coaches.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Tough loss

In hindsight, it is a good thing we kept so many LHD around. We've had a lot of LHD injuries and it doesn't stop.

 

[surixon]

It looks like Arniel doesn’t trust either Stan or Heinola any higher up the lineup than the 3rd pairing. Also Stan is above Villie in the pecking order.

Agreed.

Stanley is still going to be given every opportunity possible and then some to win that third pairing slot.

My guess is they try to move Ville in a package at the deadline. I think it's clear that he's not cracking the org's LD depth chart if everyone is healthy. JoMo and Snerg are the two best d on the team and the org has thrown there lot I with Tree.

 

[KingBogo]

Agreed.

Stanley is still going to be given every opportunity possible and then some to win that third pairing slot.

My guess is they try to move Ville in a package at the deadline. I think it's clear that he's not cracking the org's LD depth chart if everyone is healthy. JoMo and Snerg are the two best d on the team and the org has thrown there lot I with Tree.

Moving Heinola at the TDL seems likely to me as well. It looks like the organization has him as the #5 LHD behind Morrissey, Samberg, Fleury and Stan. I think Arniel likes what Stanley brings but knows he can’t handle anything above the 3rd pairing. I wouldn’t be surprised if Chevy adds a veteran D with size by the TDL.

 

[Howard Chuck]

Agreed.

Stanley is still going to be given every opportunity possible and then some to win that third pairing slot.

My guess is they try to move Ville in a package at the deadline. I think it's clear that he's not cracking the org's LD depth chart if everyone is healthy. JoMo and Snerg are the two best d on the team and the org has thrown there lot I with Tree.

Agree with the line of thinking here and what the org thinks, but it makes no sense to me not to find out what we have in Ville. There have been a lot of good hockey minds raving about the guy over the past couple of years.

But I’m not privy to what the org knows, so I defer to what they know and what they do with that knowledge.

 

[Cnile]

Stanley the golden child.
Was.
Is.
And will always be.

 

[WolfHouse]

the concerning thing here is both that the jets still dont trust stan to play second pairing... though he is the natural fit there and then heinola-miller

Then calling up coghlan over heinola would be another huge red flag... not dumping on coghlan but hes play two nhl games in the last two years... not a.good sign for ville

 

[KingBogo]

Stanley the golden child.
Was.
Is.
And will always be.

Stanley has played 161 games over the last 4 1/2 seasons. That is an average of 36 games a season. He has been used as a typical bottom pairing PB player. He would likely get similar usage on most teams.

 

[roccerfeller]

i liked coghlan's 1 game vs Vegas this season.

should really be no surprises with heinola at this point. 1) he's not that good and 2) they clearly like stanley for whatever reason more than him.

I thought Ville was pretty good last two games

 

[voyageur]

the concerning thing here is both that the jets still dont trust stan to play second pairing... though he is the natural fit there and then heinola-miller

Then calling up coghlan over heinola would be another huge red flag... not dumping on coghlan but hes play two nhl games in the last two years... not a.good sign for ville

I think neither of Heinola or Stanley fit the top 4 criteria for Arniel.

From what I have seen the worst game Heinola played this season was against Vegas, a heavy forecheck team. Playing against smaller soft forwards, Heinola can outskate them, but this isn't that game. Hard to the net the Sens will go. Hard in the corners. Maybe Arniel wants to avoid the breakdowns he saw against Vegas, where there was some difficulty moving the puck out of our own end. Ottawa isn't as aggressive on defense as Vegas, but they can all play the boards. Which was a problem in that game, moving the puck up the boards.

Coghlan might be able to absorb a few more hits to make plays. Got a nice rush goal on the Moose which probably helped his cause. Let's see what he can do before we criticize the coach and management for having no sense.

Because to me every opponent is different and should be approached differently. So far Arniel is getting more success out of Heinola than any other previous coach has, so maybe he's pushing the right buttons.

 

[Jets]

I still like Heinola, but I think if the Jets want to make any real noise in the playoffs, at minimum they need to have a 7 of

Morrissey - Demelo
Samberg - Pionk
xxx - Miller
Fleury

and Heinola (not in his current unproven state) and Stanley (never) be anywhere near the lineup. Plus Demelo and Pionk need to find their consistency again. That involves at least 1 upgrade on LD as a rental and also potentially a RD upgrade as well.