This does really help the jets defence but I think trading Ehlers is a really bad idea. Laine, Scheifele and Connor are all pretty terrible defensively. Ehlers is the only one who can put up points and still play great defensively.

Everything looks good except boychuk with Greene. That would be the worst pairing in the NHL. I’d rather have hickey or just let Aho play

Really, I thought Connor was good defensively?

Idk Greene was a really good puck mover in the playoffs. Although I do agree aho deserves a look, maybe sub Boychuk out for him like every other game

Oh no, he’s bad, like really bad. Like top 3 worst forward in the league bad defensively.

Greene was decent at moving the puck against slower teams like Philly and Washington, but he really got exposed in the TB series. He also had Leddy to get him out of trouble.

Boychuk made leddy look like a liability, I don’t want to see him with Greene.

Hickey-Greene or
Aho-Greene

I think the Kings can get a better deal to take on cap space especially if they are the team losing a pick in a cap dump.

what about Johnson-Matheson?

It’s close. I think boychuk was worse than Johnson this season. Trotz loyalty to boychuk put our season on life support before the pause.

He’s not that bad. He’s below average but he isn’t that bad lol. But yeah I agree, other than wheeler, scheifele, and ehlers, no one really plays defence in the top 6 in Winnipeg. Laine is starting to though which is nice..

The young guns in the top 6, Connor, Ehlers, Scheifele, and Laine, all on the weaker side defensively so this is a reason why we need to get Cirelli or another defensive 2C. If Lundell is available then he would be a welcomed addition to the top 6 when Wheeler is moved down to the 3rd line or is traded.

Ehlers is actually good defensively, the others are very bad though. Wheeler is average as well

No he is that bad. If you turned on a jets game this season, 81-55-29 were most likely hemmed in there own end, they are all very bad defensively, ehlers is good and Wheeler is at least average defensively

I watched almost every game this season and the main reason they were hemmed in in their own zone was due to all three, but not because they were bad defensively.

Wheeler has really slowed down otherwise he was one of the best 2 way wingers in the game a few years ago. It’s expected though considering he’s 34 now. But the Maine reason that line was hemmed in was because he doesn’t accelerate fast enough to do a zone breakout like he used to. Considering scheifele isn’t an excellent skater and is a centre and Connor is the first to exit the zone (more on that later) wheeler was forced to do them which really hurt that line. They were still excellent in the offensive zone, however, I think wheeler’s time at 1rw is (or at least should be) over.

Scheifele is much better than most give him credit for. He generally handles his own end very well. It’s the turnovers in the neutral zone which make him look bad defensively. When he’s supposed to get the puck deep, he often tried to do too much which hurts the jets (he doesn’t this especially in big games like playoffs). Other than that, he is one of the jets best forwards defensively. His positioning, board battles, net front presence, etc are all on point imo.

As for Connor, where do I start. He exits the zone way too early, doesn’t block shots, and doesn’t go to the dirty areas of the ice). He has decent positioning with his stick which allow him to be below average (and also give him pk time). If it wasn’t for his positioning, yes, I would agree that he is one of the worst defensive forwards in the nhl. However, he isn’t bad enough to be top 3 on that list because of his positioning.

I personally think that a line of ehlers-scheifele-Laine is the future top line of the jets. Laine would replace that power forward that wheeler used to be and ehlers and laine just work so well together it’s tough to ingnore. Add in the chemistry scheifele and laine have and i think it’s a sure bet.

Yeah I really struggle to understand why Paul doesn't want to try 27-55-29 again, when they were together in Laine's rookie season, they were great. I am not sure what Maurice sees. there is some obvious chemistry between Laine and Ehlers, and the other duo that works off great from one another is Connor and Roslovic. That one pretty much is a sure thing to not happen because Paul just doesn't seem to trust Rosy even though he is pretty solid.

Maurice has been playing laine and ehlers together for the majority of Laine’s career so he obviously sees the chemistry. As for scheifele between them, laine’s game wasn’t developed enough before this season to play on the top line so I agree with maurice not playing them together before. Now however, they should be playing together.

As for roslovic, he proved earlier this season that he wasn’t ready for top 6 minutes. Now with Roslovic’s play in he might be, but he definitely wasn’t before that so Maurice’s deployment makes sense once again. Maurice has given Roslovic minutes as he’s earned them and I think we might see a breakout season next year if the jets don’t get a bonafide 2c or the wingers stay healthy.