Winnipeg Jets going into the 24/25 season

What do you feel is the top Priority for 2024-2025?

  • New Special Team Coach (replace Lauer)

    Votes: 33 21.2%
  • New Head Coach (replace Bowness)

    Votes: 14 9.0%
  • Replace both coaches (replace Bowness and Lauer)

    Votes: 68 43.6%
  • New General Manager (replace Cheveldayoff)

    Votes: 16 10.3%
  • Trade Forwards/picks for improved Defense core. (Replacements for Pionk & Stanley)

    Votes: 49 31.4%
  • Improved process to integrate youth (mostly our prospects) into the NHL club and give longer leash

    Votes: 33 21.2%
  • Ensure strong Back-up Goalie (like Brossoit) and give MINIMUM of 30 games (Load Mgmt for Helly)

    Votes: 4 2.6%
  • Trade Vezina Helly if we get a great offer

    Votes: 2 1.3%
  • Create time travel (or borrow this current tech from the CIA) and bring back Prime Byfuglien

    Votes: 17 10.9%
  • Trade multiple Players for picks - start mini Re-build

    Votes: 6 3.8%

  • Total voters
    156
  • Poll closed .

voyageur

Hockey fanatic
Jul 10, 2011
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Nope, 5.

Flames would need to retain some. The last 2 years could be bought out.

Why would you say "IF Pionk struggles"? Is there really any doubt that he will?
There are a lot of people who hope he does struggle...however a good season from Samberg too might make Pionk a candidate for being re-signed, and I can already read the reaction that would cause.

I wonder if Laine going to Montreal puts Ehlers on their radar.

Is the Jets target to sign 40% of their impending UFAs like last year?

Losing all of Ehlers, Pionk, Appleton,
Namestnikov and Iafallo without significant adds would put the team a step behind...unless there is Miracle Grow in our prospect pool.
 

Mortimer Snerd

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There are a lot of people who hope he does struggle...however a good season from Samberg too might make Pionk a candidate for being re-signed, and I can already read the reaction that would cause.

I wonder if Laine going to Montreal puts Ehlers on their radar.

Is the Jets target to sign 40% of their impending UFAs like last year?

Losing all of Ehlers, Pionk, Appleton,
Namestnikov and Iafallo without significant adds would put the team a step behind...unless there is Miracle Grow in our prospect pool.

I think those people, myself included, expect him to struggle. If being paired with Samberg makes him better, it can only be so much. If that is enough to get Chevy to extend him it should be the last straw for Chevy. SMH

Reuniting Batman and Robin might have some value. Can't see what they would give up for Ehlers though.

Losing 5 UFAs might sound bad but Ehlers is the only one there that really matters. The rest are depth players, fairly easily replaced.
 

voyageur

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Jul 10, 2011
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I think those people, myself included, expect him to struggle. If being paired with Samberg makes him better, it can only be so much. If that is enough to get Chevy to extend him it should be the last straw for Chevy. SMH

Reuniting Batman and Robin might have some value. Can't see what they would give up for Ehlers though.

Losing 5 UFAs might sound bad but Ehlers is the only one there that really matters. The rest are depth players, fairly easily replaced.
The Jets don't easily replace anyone. It's nice to think that are prospects are golden, and that vets can be replaced seamlessly. But that isn't usually how it works...Very rarely will you find a successful rookie laden team. It's a process to develop into a pro and then learn the pro game, process it at a higher speed. Usually has highs and lows. Think of Ehlers first season where he looked great and then went into a 30 game scoring drought.
 
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lanky

Feeling Spicy
Jun 23, 2007
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The Jets don't easily replace anyone. It's nice to think that are prospects are golden, and that vets can be replaced seamlessly. But that isn't usually how it works...Very rarely will you find a successful rookie laden team. It's a process to develop into a pro and then learn the pro game, process it at a higher speed. Usually has highs and lows. Think of Ehlers first season where he looked great and then went into a 30 game scoring drought.
Ehlers was 19 y.o. to start that season and had only 11 games of pro experience in the Swiss league.
Chibrikov, for example, is now 21 and has 186 games under his belt, across the VHL, KHL, AHL and NHL. He's ready to contribute.
The downside to integrating him now instead of later is that he's a lightweight LW and our roster is already full of those.
 
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MelikeJets

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Feb 18, 2019
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Crazy to think that Jets management is content with an undersized D corps without a legit. top 4, no quality 2C and no proven backup netminder.....gonna be a long season!
I mostly agree with you Sip except I think Morrissey is a top 4 d man.

Crazy to think that we're roughly 4 weeks from the start of training camp
I hope time flies...I'm in NHL withdrawal.🤣
 

ps241

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Crazy to think that Jets management is content with an undersized D corps without a legit. top 4, no quality 2C and no proven backup netminder.....gonna be a long season!

In mid season form I see Sip. :laugh:

At this point last summer who was predicting a 110 point season and a 4OA finish?

Every season is a box of chocolates and I have kind of given up trying to figure out how this will unfold.
 

Mortimer Snerd

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The Jets don't easily replace anyone. It's nice to think that are prospects are golden, and that vets can be replaced seamlessly. But that isn't usually how it works...Very rarely will you find a successful rookie laden team. It's a process to develop into a pro and then learn the pro game, process it at a higher speed. Usually has highs and lows. Think of Ehlers first season where he looked great and then went into a 30 game scoring drought.

Pionk has only had 1 good season, his last contract year. He has been bad every other season. Losing him would be addition by subtraction unless playing with Samberg suddenly turns him into a 2nd pair NHL Dman. Extending him would be a near disaster.
 

voyageur

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Pionk has only had 1 good season, his last contract year. He has been bad every other season. Losing him would be addition by subtraction unless playing with Samberg suddenly turns him into a 2nd pair NHL Dman. Extending him would be a near disaster.
Bad is a relative term. Compare him to Beaulieu for instance. If he was bad he wouldn't have played all those years behind Adam Lowry's line, d-zone starts...he'd be sheltered like Heinola and Stanley were. Our coaches aren't idiots they played in the Show they can obviously judge good and bad players. He's inconsistent, I'll give you that.

What I wonder this year is if Arniel favours vets over young players. Does AJF get the first callup if a player goes down? Because he knows the systems/head coach? That's what I am waiting to see if things are different.
 

voyageur

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Jul 10, 2011
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Ehlers was 19 y.o. to start that season and had only 11 games of pro experience in the Swiss league.
Chibrikov, for example, is now 21 and has 186 games under his belt, across the VHL, KHL, AHL and NHL. He's ready to contribute.
The downside to integrating him now instead of later is that he's a lightweight LW and our roster is already full of those.
I can't say the Jets did anything wrong with the way they developed players last year. All the AHL/pro rookies got an entire year to develop, find their roles. It was a talent poor team that Ehlers graduated into. I think Lambert, Chibrikov, Ford and Lucius all are competing while growing as teammates. I hope every one of them gets a chance at some point during the season to make an impression. The best should rise, and then the next tier is still in position to compete for spots next year.

Chibrikov for me isn't a top 6 player, and with the Jets top 6 that doesn't kill penalties, unless KC gets in there, and with Nino being a PP guy, maybe he needs a player like Namestnikov to hold down a top 6 position and PK so that he can get into the lineup. But who can predict injuries? I do have to say that the line of Nino-Gus-Chibrikov showed some spark in the one chance they got last year, and with a firebug player, in the NHL, that seems like a good fit, two guys who can work the boards and win battles in the neutral and d-zone.

With Lambert I wonder if there is any imperative this season, after a strong offensive output last season on the farm, to give him more PK reps, which strengthens his potential to be the future 2C.
 
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Mortimer Snerd

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Bad is a relative term. Compare him to Beaulieu for instance. If he was bad he wouldn't have played all those years behind Adam Lowry's line, d-zone starts...he'd be sheltered like Heinola and Stanley were. Our coaches aren't idiots they played in the Show they can obviously judge good and bad players. He's inconsistent, I'll give you that.

What I wonder this year is if Arniel favours vets over young players. Does AJF get the first callup if a player goes down? Because he knows the systems/head coach? That's what I am waiting to see if things are different.

I don't think he has been all that inconsistent. He has been pretty consistently bad.

Coaches playing him is not much of an endorsement if they don't see a better option. Like you said, it is relative. Who else could the coaches have played at 2RD? Schmidt? Lundmark? Kovacevic?

Yes, use of young players will be a tell.
 

hockeyarena

Registered User
Aug 11, 2011
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www.hockeyarena.net
Ehlers - Scheif - Vilardi
Connor - Yager - Barlow
Lambert - Lowry - Perfetti
is a verrry interesting top 9 down the road. lil size, lil speed, lil skill. i like. the question would be does connor want to stick around, but even if you flipped him for a D that doesn't seem like a huge loss with those other 8.
 

Whileee

Registered User
May 29, 2010
46,526
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Something else I liked from Chevy's PC the other day is he said Cole was skating a lot with JoMo and Mark. Glad to see he's continuing to integrate himself with the leaders.
I noticed that, too. Interestingly, he didn't sound all that positive about a quick resolution to Perfetti's contract renewal. I expect that there is some real negotiation grinding going on there.
 

surixon

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Jul 12, 2003
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I noticed that, too. Interestingly, he didn't sound all that positive about a quick resolution to Perfetti's contract renewal. I expect that there is some real negotiation grinding going on there.

I mean both he and KO are grinders. Doesn't surprise me it's going to drag on. He usually doesn't get his top RFA's inked until September anyhow.
 
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CanMerc

#FIRECHEVY
Dec 7, 2023
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So far this offseason has been about fixing past bad moves…they got rid of Monahan, Schmidt, and now McGroarty…now they need to flip the switch and bring in some actually needed players…2C and top 2/4 RHD.
They also need to move out Iafallo for cap room
 
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voyageur

Hockey fanatic
Jul 10, 2011
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So far this offseason has been about fixing past bad moves…they got rid of Monahan, Schmidt, and now McGroarty…now they need to flip the switch and bring in some actually needed players…2C and top 2/4 RHD.
They also need to move out Iafallo for cap room

I think it's easy as fans to say the Jets should get rid of this guy or that guy, to get this guy.

But the real way a team like the Jets works, that doesn't have any allure for a lot of players, is the family model.

Monahan joined the Jets because Scheif knew him from past hockey experiences, and they hoped that he would spark the team's PP. Toffoli and Monahan, Ottawa 67s.

Schmidt joined the team because Stastny knew him from Vegas, and recommended him, and even convinced him to waive his NTC to come here, when Chevy needed d-men badly. Stastny only waived his NTC to come here because of past experiences with Wheeler.

Out of the package of Valardi, Kupari and Iafallo in the Dubois trade, I think Iafallo is the only one who knew anyone on this team coming in, as a former teammate of Pionk's and Samberg at UMD.

Then you have to account for players wives, and the role they have...This is a team that by and large is not living the single party life, in a city where they aren't recognized. It's built like a family team.

Occasionally you look outside the circle from someone to bring in, like Nino, when it's a move that helps your hockey team.

Prospects who grow through development camps and the process can become friends off the ice like Nikkanen and Torgersson, Julien and Levis, Ehlers and Laine, or the foundation of the team, Scheif and Morrissey...

Mc Groarty seemed like he would have grown with Lucius through the process, but you win some you lose some. At least it wasn't a distraction like Kane, or Trouba holding out, with a spot already on the team.

Jets have more than enough Cap space to sign Perfetti, call up prospects with the slightest of injuries, if they don't like a player's game. And make moves during the season when more players become available.

The flip side is this could be a firesale year, with the Cap floor reachable, if things go wrong.
 
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Buffdog

Registered User
Feb 13, 2019
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So far this offseason has been about fixing past bad moves…they got rid of Monahan, Schmidt, and now McGroarty…now they need to flip the switch and bring in some actually needed players…2C and top 2/4 RHD.
They also need to move out Iafallo for cap room
Which assets are you willing to part with that have enough value to bring in a 2C or top 4 RHD?

I'm assuming that you want players with term rather than rentals

People talk like Chevy should "go get guys" like they're in stock at Costco lol
 

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