NOTE: I had Winnipeg finishing 5th, but with the Oettinger signing, I've changed it to 6th. Dallas will finish 5th.
Winnipeg will finish 6th in the Central. As a Jets fan, I do think they will be near the bottom. Luckily for them, they have Arizona and Chicago in their division, so they will be near contention. The Jets probably had the worst offseason out of any team, nothing much changed about their team. I see this being Chevy’s last season as GM, he has drafted well, but hasn’t made any impactful moves. They did bring in Rittich as the backup, but I think Salminen will beat him for the job. The last two seasons for Rittich weren’t great. Forward wise, a full season of Perfetti and Barron should be impactful. Winnipeg could potentially get Lucius in their lineup, mainly in the top nine. Gustavsson will finally make the team, giving the Jets a solid penalty kill option, something that was really bad for them last season. This is also the year where Heinola or Samberg should get a top 4 role, at times they showed that they can deliver in that role, especially Heinola. With Lucius now in the lineup, Wheeler should be moved down to the bottom 6, he isn’t getting much younger. Hellebuyck is poised for a bounce-back season, last year wasn’t great for him. Though that was mostly because the defense wasn’t great, the wrong guys were playing. Its unknown whether Salminen can handle the backup role. If he doesn’t Rittich will take his spot. Also, it will be interesting to see how Bowness will do as the new head coach. Overall, it won’t be a good season for Winnipeg, but I think under a defensive core that has Heinola and Samberg in it, Hellebuyck will bounce-back.
For young players, Chevy should play BOTH Heinola and Samberg. If Heinola ends up not making the team, he will immediately request a trade. Samberg is a solid defenseman that could play in all situations. I traded Schmidt away to make room for both Heinola and Samberg. Stanley did not do well last season so I traded him away as well. Lucius will at least get a nine-game trial, if he doesn't do well, Harkins will replace him. Barron will be moved to Lucius's spot.
I could see a situation being possible Edmonton could be in on stanley come deadline. Will be getting looks at niemelainen and samorukov first but if they don't appear to cut it size would be a big component in a deadline target for the blueline. Likely be to cap strapped to aim for much better but as a 6-7 guy could do much worse based on what projecting the needs to be.
I think jets surprise some people and end up in 2/3 with St. Louis in first round, lots of 2year deals in Winnipeg, semi contract years in Winnipeg, because they can’t afford to let anyone walk for nothing, hopefully brings out a healthy and hungry group. They had a lot of ot and shootout losses last year, if they can flip half to the win column, could make my prediction, not too out to lunch, Calgary type run from last year, then get smoked by colorado.
Other than Colorado and the two bottom teams the rest are pretty even though the Blues are a bit better so I think they grab 2nd in the division, Jets could grab 3rd if everything goes right or they could finish in 6th, seems like 2nd to 6th could go to any of them, even the Avs have some questions with their lineup like will Goeorgiev and Francouz provide good enough goaltending and will Newhook take the step into 2C.
McDavid, Connor
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