WINNIPEG - This wasn’t part of a smear campaign, nor was it a public airing out. That’s not Paul Maurice’s style, especially when it comes to his top players.
Over the course of his time behind the Jets’ bench, Maurice has never been big on the blame game.
Even though he’s still got plenty of old school in his approach, throwing his players under the bus is more of a rarity, rather than a motivational tool he draws upon.
But when the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets was asked a direct question about the high number of five-on-five goals against that captain Blake Wheeler and first-line centre Mark Scheifele have been on the ice for this season, he gave a truthful answer.
Maurice didn’t go off on an angry tangent and directly point the finger, but he also acknowledged the issue - even if he chose a calm and measured approach.
“Well, it's a five-manner, right? We've got some guys on our back end that can be a part of that, too. I don't feel that they're cheating the defensive game to go on offence,” Maurice said after the Jets fell 4-1 to the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. “As a line, since they've been together, they’ve had stretches of pretty good hockey offensively but their defensive game hasn't been great yet.”
The first part of that answer offers a bit of deflection by way of spreading out the responsibility and is followed by an admission of the issue at hand, heading into Monday’s game against the Calgary Flames.
It was also a tough evening for the Jets' top defence pairing of Josh Morrissey and Dylan DeMelo, with Morrissey on the ice for all four goals against (including the empty-netter) and DeMelo on the ice for three.
On two of the three goals at even strength, there was an element of bad luck involved and the third was a redirection.
But Maurice wasn’t ready to let his top line off the hook entirely either. This wasn’t just a one-off, it was part of a difficult stretch.
The offensive track record of Scheifele, Wheeler and Kyle Connor speaks for itself and that is not under attack here.
But after the trio played such a pivotal role in the Jets reaching the Western Conference final in 2018, the discussion has always centred around the ability of the line to get more than it gives up.
When you play the most minutes, you get held to a high standard.
That’s part of the job description - and it’s not something that Wheeler, Scheifele or Connor shy away from.
When you often play against the opposition’s most skilled players, it can be a heavy burden and when things aren’t going smoothly, the puck can end up in the back of the net with greater frequency.
Lately, that line has been working through some defensive-zone challenges and on Sunday, Maurice broke out the blender in an effort to test out some new combinations as Scheifele lined up between Nikolaj Ehlers and Andrew Copp, leaving Wheeler and Connor to play with Paul Stastny.
“It’s also a place I know I can go back to if I need to and I don’t think it will take very long to rekindle that. But we’re always looking for more,” Maurice said on Sunday afternoon. “At the end of it, you have to have a balance on your four lines. I’ve been playing with these ideas. You’re doing it all the time, you’re always looking at what’s your next combination? How do you get a guy going? So, we just came to this.”
Scheifele took the decision in stride.
“It happens every year. I played 50 games without Blake Wheeler on my right side last year,” said Scheifele, referring to the time where Wheeler dropped down to centre the second line after the head injury suffered by Bryan Little. “The coach picks the lines and you go out and play. You’re going to be on new lines, you’re going to be playing with different guys all the time and that happens. You don’t really think about it too much; that’s the game of hockey and all I can do is keep working on my game and get better and that’s really [where] all the focus is.
“It’s a different look, but that’s hockey. We’ve got skill, we’ve got guys who are good on the fore-check and we’ve got speed. So, we’ve got it all and we just got to put it together and work together every single shift and it all starts in the D-zone.”
History has shown that nothing is permanent when it comes to the blender and by his own admission, after Game 3 of this season, Maurice reiterated that Connor-Scheifele-Wheeler is the Jets' “safe place.”
However, when it comes to that hotly debated topic of usage, this tougher defensive stretch for the top line provided Maurice with an opportunity to accomplish two things at once.
By juggling the lines going into this four-game set, Maurice has put himself into a position where he believes he can still manipulate a few of the matchups, but he can also find a way to elevate the ice time of Ehlers.
Sure, there’s some risk involved in breaking up the line of Stastny, Ehlers and Copp that has been so effective - but you can’t ignore the potential reward either.
Ehlers and Scheifele started the season together and had a strong showing against the Flames, while Copp brings an outstanding defensive awareness to go along with his recent rise in offensive production.
Mathieu Perreault earned the nickname of being the human-jumper cables a few seasons ago. When a line needed a spark, Perreault was there to move up or down the lineup to help provide it.
This move is similar in nature, though it’s Ehlers and Copp rolling and Scheifele looking for a bit of a boost.
“How two guys feel about each other, you would never make a lineup decision based on that. But it certainly would never hurt it. [Scheifele and Copp] are good friends. These two guys talk hockey all the time,” said Maurice, noting the strong chemistry between Copp and Adam Lowry has been a bit of a security blanket for the Jets during the past several seasons. “He's certainly earned it. And it's not a payoff. It's not like, 'Hey kid, you worked real hard and you're putting some points up so I'm going to throw you a bone.' It's, 'your game says now it can be really good with Mark. You can add something. Mark's not carrying you.'
“What Andrew Copp does, we're really hopeful it'll make Mark Scheifele's game better, and that's kind of what we're looking for in all these adjustments, is to make the players around you better. So he's most definitely played well enough, absolutely, to play there.”
Stastny and Wheeler played together during the lockout in Germany back in 2012, two cagey veterans with a long track record of success.
Connor’s finishing ability with those two elite-level passers could provide an additional spark for the Jets.
It’s important to remember that the arrival of Pierre-Luc Dubois, likely for the road game against the Flames on Feb. 9 once he completes his 14-day quarantine, will provide Maurice with another strong option at his disposal to work into that top-six.
No matter who moves to the wing or what the reconfigured line combinations look like, having another high-end, two-way forward to lean on should benefit Maurice as the Jets continue to work towards the goal of optimal utilization.
Scheifele, Wheeler and Connor will probably be asked to do plenty of the heavy lifting together this season, though splitting them up and sharing that load looks like the prudent thing to do at this time.
