1. Cole Perfetti (needs to stay healthy, but whenever he is healthy Perfetti is normally consistent)
2. Rasmus Kupari (after a few seasons of being a fourth liner, Kupari should be getting more minutes with Winnipeg and could score more points)
3. Morgan Barron (after 2 full season, Barron should be the player that Winnipeg expected out of him when they acquired him: a middle 6 forward who could eventually move into the second line)
Top 5 Prospects Ordered by NHL Readiness:
1. Ville Heinola: NHL Ready (should be playing top 4 minutes by now, whenever he plays with Pionk he's looks good)
2. Chaz Lucius: 1 Year (needs to stay healthy, already has NHL ready shot and smarts, just needs to improve his skating, could be a mid-season callup)
3. Brad Lambert: 1 Year (last year was a confidence booster, needs a full year in the AHL, could be a mid-season call up)
4. Rutger McGroarty: 2 Years (committed another year in the NCAA, let's see how he does without Fantilli on his line, also needs to improve his skating)
5. Colby Barlow: 2 Years (already has NHL-ready size and shot, just needs to improve his 5 on 5 defense and agility, in the future will become a true leader for the Jets)
Line Explanations:
1st Line: This line was hard to predict. Ehlers could take Perfetti's spot, but I do have Perfetti above mainly because whenever he plays with Connor, he looks like a stud. And yes, Connor would be taking RW, he's an excellent sniper and Perfetti or Schiefele could feed him multiple one-timers. Schiefele is the obvious 1C as of now, all signs point to him starting the season with the Jets.
2nd Line: Ehlers is way too good to be playing anywhere lower. 1st or 2nd Line is the way to go with Ehlers, he just needs to stay healthy. I do have Vilardi as the 2nd Line center, he expects himself to play a bigger role with the Jets. The LW spot could be Nino, but Vilardi already has decent chemistry with Iafallo so that's why I put him there. While the first line is a high-powered offensive line, the second line is also offense, but can also play better defensively.
3rd and 4th Line: These two lines could look entirely different. In order to actually win more games, the bottom six needs to become more offensive rather than just be a shutdown group.
1st D Pair: Its obvious. JoMo and DeMelo looked great together.
2nd D Pair: I got a different take on the middle pair. During Dave Lowry's days of coaching, Heinola looked like a real NHL defender. He plays his best hockey with Pionk on his side. Grew two inches this offseason, hopefully that extra height could help the defensive side of his game, which is his only flaw. Heinola could also play with Samberg, but I think he's better playing with Pionk.
3rd D Pair: I think a trade needs to happen. There is a logjam at LD, and I think for cap reasons Dillon is the odd man out. You trade Dillon, Schiefele and Bucky will be easier to sign. For now, Dillon gets the 3rd D Pair with Schmidt. I do there is a chance that Schmidt does get dealt, but I love his playoff resume better than Dillon's. Plus he was decent with Samberg on his side. No matter who Bones puts on the 3rd pair, they will play a shutdown role.
7th D: It has to be Samberg, leaving Stanley as a scratch and Capo to the AHL or waivers.
Goalies: This is way too obvious. 50% chance Bucky resigns, 50% chance he gets traded. He isn't willing to resign as of now, but Brossoit should help out his workload. Delia is also a good third option, maybe Tomas Millic could surprise and be a mid-season call up. He isn't signed, but I could see the Jets signing him as he's ineligible to play in the CHL. Millic has to play in the AHL, I did watch a couple of games of him up close in the audience and he was lights out. Pretty much an NHL-ready backup, but needs to improve his size. The next Nico Daws is in the Jets hands.
McDavid, Connor
$250,000)
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