The calendar turning over to September brings a shift in mindset among hockey fans. In August, it can feel like hockey season is a while away yet, but once September 1 hits, somehow it feels more like hockey season.
With a few weeks left until training camp, WinnipegJets.com’s Mitchell Clinton and Jamie Thomas sat down to discuss the team’s defence and goaltenders. It’s the second part of a short mini-series looking at the roster, with the forwards covered on Tuesday.
The Jets coaching staff didn’t weigh in on any discussions revolving around defensive pairs or the number of games each goaltender will play, so what follow is a conversation between the two writers, edited for clarity.
MC: Josh Morrissey exploded last year offensively. What do we think for an encore?
JT: He had 76 points. Almost a point-per-game guy. Teams know what to expect, but maybe Morrissey has something to say about that too. Teams were focusing on him, and then he changes things a little bit. I still think there is more. I’m not sure what it looks like, but I think he believes he can do even more.
MC: And even at 76 points, 28 were on the power play. That means he still did a lot of great things at even strength. I think if you look at the Jets power play - there is lots of time ahead for those previews - you lose Dubois and Wheeler, you’ve still got Mark Scheifele, you’ve got Nikolaj Ehlers, still have Kyle Connor, the list goes on, still a lot of weapons.
JT: Gabriel Vilardi too. As we know, Josh Morrissey will be working to get even better. You have to think he’ll be an All-Star candidate again in the Central Division and we’ll see how it goes.
MC: I think the battle for that sixth spot - that I think Dylan Samberg grabbed and made his own at the end of last season - I think it starts up again. I’m curious to see how that battle goes. Stanley signed for another year, Ville Heinola will have something to say about trying to earn that spot. There is Capobianco as well with another year left on his deal. Declan Chisholm, assuming the contract gets worked out, will also want to get his name in that battle.
JT: You have the same coaching staff. You only really saw change when the Jets were looking for offence and they’d put Neal Pionk and Morrissey together in that situation. We saw enough from the coaching staff last year that Morrissey-DeMelo, Dillon-Pionk, might be the way they start together. Nate Schmidt is on your third pairing, Dylan Samberg had a lot of experiences last year and could go into the top four. There were lessons he learned at the IIHF World Championship in the spring, where he had that green light to produce offence or take that role. The confidence he got out of that, hopefully that trickles over. In that conversation I had with him in the early summer, he understood what the coaching staff here was trying to drill into him - that he has to take more initiative offensively - hopefully that continues.
MC: Talking Hermantown products, Neal Pionk, he scored 10 goals last year. Talk about a guy who benefitted from getting up ice. His career high was six goals before that, points wise he ended up around the same as the last three years, but all of a sudden he seemed to have that offensive side to his game. Then in the playoffs, he puts up seven assists in five games in a huge role without Morrissey in the line-up.
JT: As for Kyle Capobianco, he seemed like a perfect fit at times. He’d play one game and you wondered when he was going to get a little bit more. Bowness always said that you knew what you were getting from Capobianco in your line-up. They had eight defence last year, and I don’t see how this changes.
MC: You can never have too many defencemen. It’s tough when there aren’t that many spots in the line-up, but players get hurt, players get banged up, and the same with forwards - sometimes you just need a different look.
JT: Logan Stanley signs the new deal, and he still has a role in this. We keep forgetting, or it’s easy to look past, where Stanley was depth chart wise in this organization two years ago.
MC: In the playoffs against Edmonton, he played every game. He scored in Game 1. I mentioned sometimes you need a different look, Stanley found himself often in those games. He can play physical. The team has a number of players that can play that type of game, but I think it’s something he wants to bring to the table, along with that long reach and the wicket shot he has.
JT: He’s always so good at getting pucks to the net. He’s good at that east-west move at the blue line and finding ways to get pucks to the net. In talking with him about last year, he missed 19 games due to injury, came back and was starting to feel good about his game, then he got hurt again two games later. Then at that time, the coaching staff has their mind made up and don’t want to break up the chemistry on the back end. I still think he has a big say in how this shakes out. A healthy year from Logan Stanley is a good year for the Winnipeg Jets.
GOALTENDING
JT: One year left on his contract, but this won’t be a distraction for Connor Hellebuyck. He’ll talk about it in the preseason, other media might ask about it on the road, but I don’t believe this will be a distraction.
MC: Also it’s in his DNA as a person. He’ll answer the question truthfully and honestly. If it’s not the right time to discuss it - he won’t. He’ll say ‘I’m not focusing on that, I’m more looking at this…’ That’s one of the things that makes him such an elite goaltender. He has the ability to compartmentalize and do what he needs to do. I’m sure we’ll see more of that from him with a familiar face in the crease with him in Laurent Brossoit. I’m curious what that means for the annual Hellebuyck question, his workload. His 64 starts was the most in the NHL.
JT: This is all familiarity. LB and Hellebuyck know each other. Wade Flaherty knows them too. The majority of the team knows what Brossoit is, and he said in his media availability he’s a better goaltender now than he was when he left Winnipeg. That only serves the Jets better. There are less back-to-backs this season, maybe the number for Hellebuyck comes down a bit and you get to 20-ish games for Brossoit. How those numbers shake out remains to be seen.
MC: What stood out to me from Brossoit’s availability in the summer was him talking about the position itself. It takes more out of you physically to play a 60-minute hockey game now than it ever used to - especially with how aggressive you have to be in your movements. Even someone like Hellebuyck, who always wants to be big and boring in the style, you’re still on your legs for 60 minutes and locked in mentally. There is a lot that goes into that.
JT: The most important part is you have a goaltender that has won the Stanley Cup. There is a lot of confidence, he knows the city, he knows the organization, so I think you’re in a great place by bringing Laurent Brossoit back into the fold here.
