To many, it comes as no surprise that the Winnipeg Jets were all but eliminated from the NHL postseason on Tuesday. A 3-0 loss to the New York Rangers felt apropos considering no goals were scored by a team many believed would, one day, become one of the better offensive clubs in the NHL. After all, how could you deny a club that had Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Blake Wheeler, Nikolaj Ehlers, Patrik Laine and others?
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But, multiple changes to the blue line in the past few seasons, Laine being shipped out and a coaching change were just a few of the reasons the Jet fell off the carrier.
Realistically, the Jets’ chances ended a couple of weeks ago but the team was holding onto hope that some sort of miracle might happen that would let them squeak in. From there, anything can happen when you have talent and an elite goaltender. However, a decimated blue line and a lack of team chemistry helped point out that this Jets roster just isn’t as good as it thought it could be when a group of young and talented players drew some attention and looked like a potential powerhouse.
The need for change probably became crystal clear when head coach Paul Maurice stepped down out of nowhere. Saying he just couldn’t keep coaching and the message wasn’t getting through, the writing should have been on the wall at that point.
The question now will be, how deep do these changes go? Will the club make subtle changes to their blue line? Will they go as far as trading Mark Scheifele? Dave Poulin of TSN said during a recent interview, “If you want to stay together, you need to win.” He added that Pierre Luc-Dubois and Josh Morrisey are core pieces that likely aren’t going anywhere, but the defense wasn’t better despite the changes that were made this past summer. He noted that the defensive play of the entire team (not just the defensemen) has been the big problem.
So What Has to Change?
Could that mean better defensive forwards? Could it mean different blueliners? Poulin said, “You do have to look at changing the core of the team.” He also mentioned the team has multiple options with their blue line corps and because there are multiple pieces on decent contracts with term, the Jets could make a variety of moves. At the forward corps, the trick is seeing which pairs and who doesn’t fit. Poulin suggests the Jets might ask where a player like Nikolaj Ehlers fits.
Consistency has been the issue in Winnipeg, which could explain why the team didn’t dramatically improve when a new coach came in.
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