WINNIPEG - There was plenty for the Winnipeg Jets to look at this summer.
They didn’t need to spend months obsessing over individual losses or trying to explain away what happened.
They needed to figure out how they could be better.
That was the focus of Scott Arniel’s offseason review, and after a short training camp, the Jets believe they have made meaningful changes — particularly in the areas of speed, structure and defensive responsibility.
And sitting at the centre of that plan is a line that may have to do some heavy lifting.
Adam Lowry knows it.
So does the coaching staff.
And with a new-look group around him, Lowry’s line needs to be one of the important pieces of Winnipeg’s attempt to take a step forward especially in the matchup game.
“It's important that we're able to kind of smother those top guys defensively, and then you know, not just go out there and play defense. Yeah, we got to get the puck in the other end,” said Lowry on Thursday.
“We got to create some chances, and we got to chip in. I think that was something that was certainly missing last year. It was depth scoring.”
Brad Lambert should help in the scoring department and has added some more speed to the Lowry unit along with Morgan Barron. Lambert can do some great things when he has the puck as he is a dynamic player, but the trust has to be there to help stop the other team’s best forwards.
“I think it's going to be a learning curve. There's going to be some nights where the reads aren't necessarily there, but it's about working with him,” said Lowry.
“Making sure he's comfortable, making sure he understands the responsibility, but it doesn't take away from his game as well. You have to go out there and impact the game, and one of the ways he can do that is offensively.”
Meanwhile, Arniel spent part of the summer studying teams that excelled in specific areas rather than simply dissecting the games Winnipeg lost.
The Jets looked at teams that defended the rush well, teams that were effective on the forecheck and teams that consistently created offence through their zone attacks.
The idea wasn’t to reinvent everything especially since they won the Presidents’ Trophy just two seasons ago.
“We certainly watched a lot of those playoff teams and where they were. But there's still a lot of foundation here from two years ago that we have to just get back to,” said Arniel.
“I think that, for me, our team is younger, it's faster, and it allows us to get back to playing that game that we kind of played post-Olympics. We were doing it, and we were doing it at a time in the year when it was fast-moving water and it was tough hockey.”
The Jets are younger.
Faster.
Veteran defenceman Josh Morrissey sees it, too.
“We’ve looked in my opinion in practice really quick, and in some of our preseason games. It’s exciting and I think it’s a good mix of guys,” said Morrissey.
“We had a great weekend last weekend doing some team building. We get along really well and now it’s just about preparing for tomorrow and then building our game from there.”
Speed is great, and so is the infusion of youth into the lineup. But when the Jets have been at their best, it has started with solid team defence. That will be especially important this season with new goaltenders Stuart Skinner and Clay Stevenson getting comfortable behind a different group of players. The better Winnipeg defends in front of them, the easier that transition should be.
“In the simplest forms, it’s giving up less – high danger chances, goals against, all those things. Shots. It’s probably the most basic answer I can give you,” said Morrissey.
“We still have to make good decisions, be able to handle the puck, make good plays and that allows you to play faster. I think that kind of plays into the defensive side as well. If you’re always in your end, I don’t care how good of a team you are, you’re always going to give up more shots, more chances against.”
