Cheveldayoff hoping Jets pick up where they left off as camp begins

WINNIPEG - Kevin Cheveldayoff is used to taking it easy at this time of year.

But like everyone else taking part in Phase 3 of the NHL's Return to Play Plan, the Winnipeg Jets general manager is busy and ready to watch how this will all unfold.

"It's been anything but normal. It's interesting because you've had all this time since your last game and you've been focusing on the same thing on a daily basis and that's been the resumption of play," said Cheveldayoff.

"Knowing in the background they (the NHL and NHLPA) were trying to do a CBA and come up with some different things. So from a planning perspective you couldn't really go "I've got X amount of cap space and how is free agency going to work' because you don't even know when free agency is going to happen."

With the Jets training camp underway, Cheveldayoff, along with his fellow general managers will be up at night hoping everyone stays healthy and COVID-19 free before the teams fly off to their respective hub cities in Edmonton and Toronto.

"We've tried to talk about a bunch of things virus related, different planning things trying to kind of stay ahead of what might be in front of you from the planning and logistics side of things." said Cheveldayoff.

The unique 24-team tournament which will have 12 Western Conference clubs in Edmonton and 12 Eastern Conference teams in Toronto is only 19 days away. A lot can happen between now and then especially with a pandemic. Cheveldayoff is interested in seeing what his group can accomplish starting August 1, when the Jets open their best-of-five qualifying around series against the Calgary Flames.

"It was exciting to see the team play the last couple of games there before the pause. I thought there was some good chemistry that was being developed and we were starting to get healthy. A lot of the players that we had missed for periods of time were starting to come back and integrate," said Cheveldayoff.

"So you were seeing some combinations that maybe had been up on (head coach) Paul (Maurice's) board for a while on the wish list type of thing. What you were doing back in March, I don't know if it has much relevance right now. You got to develop new chemistry here and you have to do it quickly and efficiently."

The Jets have been through almost every bump in the road possible for a team in one NHL season. From the Dustin Byfuglien situation to the injury issues they ran into and that was all before coronavirus.

"There has been numerous dips and dives and curveballs and injuries, you name it that we've had to deal with and our guys have dealt with it well," said Cheveldayoff.

"For me and with talking to Paul, this is another chapter in the book that we've been in this year. This is just another chapter of it."

The core group of Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, Josh Morrissey and Connor Hellebuyck are entering their third straight postseason. Two years ago, the magical run ended in the West Conference Final against the Vegas Golden Knights and last spring an early exit came at the hands of the eventual Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues. Those experiences along with what the Jets have gone through this year could help them in a made for TV tournament especially with a short series to start against Calgary.

"I think it's going to be important that the players realize one game doesn't make it or break it here. Whether you win or whether you lose a game, you have to be able to park it quickly," said Cheveldayoff.

"You're not going to live off the win and think that the other team is going to have adequate pushback and on the flip side, if you don't win that first game you have to be able to park it and be ready for that next scenario. It's one of the most important things in the playoffs in any series but certainly in a shortened sprint type of series like this it's even more important."

ICE CHIPS

The Jets had two sessions on Monday to start off camp with 33 players invited. One notable player from the blueline that didn't come to Winnipeg was 2019 first round selection Ville Heinola. The Finnish defenceman played in eight games in the NHL and three more with the AHL's Manitoba Moose before he was sent back to Finland.

"We believe the future is the most important thing for him right now. We felt that given the fact that he came over here, went back, went to World Juniors, went back to his team that if we weren't going to be able to put him in a certain situation where he was absolutely going to be playing on a nightly basis that it was going to be best for him that we don't interrupt his summer training regime," said Cheveldayoff.

"So that he's ready to provide some regular opportunities for him next season."