Jets Training Camp Preview: Can Winnipeg take that next step?

It’s not quite deja vu all over again for the Winnipeg Jets, but — just like 12 months ago — there’s an air of uncertainty around the team as it prepares to open training camp ahead of the 2024-25 season.

In 2023, two monster contract situations hung over the club as stud goalie Connor Hellebuyck and No. 1 centre Mark Scheifele entered camp on expiring deals. While we all wondered if they’d eventually depart as UFAs or be traded before that could happen, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff emphatically answered all questions on the eve of the season by inking both to monster, eight-year extensions.

So while the situations of restricted free agent Cole Perfetti and pending-UFA Nik Ehlers may seem like small potatoes relative to last year’s speculation, their contract issues still very much colour the conversation around a Jets squad coming off an impressive 110-point campaign.

The status of Ehlers and Perfetti can obscure the fact this team will have its fourth head coach since the start of the 2021-22 season, as Scott Arniel takes the reins from retired veteran Rick Bowness. It’s easy to say Arniel’s job will be getting the Jets deeper in the playoffs — Winnipeg was bounced in Round 1 last season by the Colorado Avalanche and has made the second round just once since 2018 — but first things first; just getting into the top eight clubs in the West again will be a serious ask for a Winnipeg squad that has to deal with Colorado, Dallas and a loaded-up Nashville Predators team just in its own Central Division.

Of course, the fact Cheveldayoff did get Scheifele and Hellebuyck inked one year ago means there are still two strong pillars in place, especially the baseline support provided by last year’s Vezina Trophy winner in the crease.

When coach Paul Maurice — who spent close to a decade in Winnipeg — won the Stanley Cup with Florida last year, he hadn’t even departed the confetti-covered ice before looking into a Sportsnet camera and saying, now that he had his title, he hoped the Jets got theirs.

It’s a wonderful thought, but there’s a lot of work to be done between here and there.

Salary cap space: $5,776,309
GM: Kevin Cheveldayoff
Head coach: Scott Arniel
Assistant coaches: Marty Johnston, Davis Payne, Dean Chynoweth
Unsigned players: Cole Perfetti
Key additions: Eric Comrie, Kaapo Kahkonen, Brayden Yager
Key subtractions: Sean Monahan, Tyler Toffoli, Brenden Dillon, Laurent Brossoit, Nate Schmidt, Rutger McGroarty
PTOs: None

CAMP BATTLES

Second-line spots: Sean Monahan seemed like a nice fit at 2C for the Jets, notching 24 points in 34 contests with the team after arriving from Montreal in a swap just before the All-Star Game. However, Columbus jumped up and offered Monahan — who has an extensive injury history and turns 30 in less than a month — a five-year, $27.5-million UFA contract. His departure leaves a clear need for a second-line pivot, which is likely what both the team and Perfetti hope he can eventually be. With Perfetti’s contract status — and playing potential — still an unknown, though, Winnipeg will likely go with imperfect in-house options. That means bumping up natural bottom-sixers like Adam Lowry and Vladimir Namestnikov to the second unit.

One wild card to consider is Brad Lambert. The 20-year-old Finn had a strong rookie season in the AHL last year and, if he lights it up in the pre-season, could push his way into a scoring role with this club.

Backup goalie: Hellebuyck may be the best in the business, but he wasn’t the only puckstopping savant in Manitoba last year. Laurent Brossoit had the highest save percentage (.927) of any goalie in the NHL who played at least 20 games. He parlayed that showing into a tasty UFA contract with the Chicago Blackhawks, leaving a hole in Winnipeg’s crease. Enter old friend Eric Comrie, whose best NHL showing came two years ago when he posted a .920 save percentage in Winnipeg before a couple years of scuffling in Buffalo.

The Jets also signed Kaapo Kahkonen, who’s been pelted with pucks the past few seasons while playing for the lowly San Jose Sharks. Kahkonen actually had a .923 save percentage in a short, six-game stay with the New Jersey Devils at the end of last season and was a .907 goalie in 54 games at the start of his NHL run in Minnesota.

Defence: Brenden Dillon’s departure as a UFA this past summer is a ding, but righty Colin Miller — acquired from the Devils at last year’s trade deadline — did stick around on a new two-year contract and will be a presence on the third pair. Last fall, 2019 first-rounder Ville Heinola was dealt a huge blow when he broke his ankle in a pre-season contest. The heady Finn returned to play half the AHL season with the Manitoba Moose and may finally be ready to push his way onto the big club for good five years after being taken 20th overall.

ONE PRESSING QUESTION

It’s easy to say Perfetti’s predicament is the most pressing because he won’t be at camp until he signs a new deal. If you were to put a nickel down, though, it still seems his situation will be resolved well before opening night versus Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 9.

The real intrigue is how things play out with Ehlers.

Speaking at the team’s annual golf tournament on Monday, Ehlers said his representation did talk turkey with the organization over the summer, but didn’t exactly sound like a guy who was on the verge of putting pen to paper on a deal that would extend the marriage between player and team.

“I’m at the same point that I was at the exit meetings,” he told reporters. “I have nothing new to tell. There’s obviously a reason I’ve been here for nine years, but, again, there’s nothing new to tell.”

Cheveldayoff has a long history of taking situations that don’t seem favourable for the Jets and finding good — and, in some cases, very good — solutions for the team. He didn’t get jumpy with Hellebuyck and Scheifele and both wound up signing long-term deals. He’s traded disgruntled players like Jacob Trouba and Pierre-Luc Dubois for strong returns in the past. And, just a few weeks ago, he sent prospect Rutger McGroarty — a 2022 first-rounder who did not intend on signing an entry-level deal with Winnipeg — to Pittsburgh for another first-round talent in Brayden Yager.

‘Chevy’ has come through before, so whether it’s finding common ground with Ehlers or recouping a good return for a 28-year-old pending-UFA with 30-goal potential, the GM has earned the benefit of the doubt.

PROJECTED LINEUP

Forwards

Kyle-Connor - Mark Scheifele - Gabe Vilardi

Nik Ehlers - Adam Lowry - Alex Iafallo

Nino Niederreiter - Vladimir Namestnikov - Mason Appleton

Morgan Barron - David Gustafsson - Rasmus Kupari

Axel Jonsson-Fjallby

Defence

Josh Morrissey - Dylan DeMelo

Dylan Samberg - Neal Pionk

Ville Heinola - Colin Miller

Logan Stanley

Goalie

Connor Helleybuck

Eric Comrie

Kaapo Kahkonen