Team: 2021-22 Winnipeg Jets

Initial Creation Date: Jul. 26, 2021

Published: Jul. 26, 2021

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

With the re-signing of Stastny and the acquisition of Dillion, the Jets only have a few holes left to fill: three bottom six forwards, and a strong bottom pair RD to pair with Stanley/Heinola.

Hakanpaa is a reliable d-man with strong analytics that can kill penalties with low expected cap hit, should be a good fit (especially with Heinola).

Armia has pre-existing chemistry with Lowry, he knows our system, cap hit should be reasonable, he's a great PKer, and is overall a great fit in our bottom six.

My rationale for the lines are as follows:
- Wheeler cannot play with Scheifele anymore. Neither play defense (anymore at least), so when they play together as a first line, they get beaten up in their own end 5 on 5.
- If Perfetti can make the team, he needs to play on a scoring line and ideally with one of Wheeler or Stastny (or both) for veteran leadership. I like Perfetti - PLD - Wheeler as PLD is trustworthy in his own end, and Perfetti brings some speed and shooting ability to match PLD and Wheeler's more heavy games. It's worth noting that last season PLD and Wheeler had like negative chemistry together lol, but I'm hoping that with a full training camp and off-season that a) PLD will be much more comfortable in our system and b) Wheeler should be healthy and play better overall than he did last season.
- I know PoMo kind of loves having Lowry run the third line, but we have too many scorers and offensive players to continue running a forward group with two checking lines. Lowry mans the checking line with young Harkins who's shown he's capable of succeeding in that role, and Armia who's a great bottom-six checking forward with chemistry with Lowry.
- Copp can play anywhere in the lineup, but because you'd like to prevent having multiple rookies on the same line (and you can't put Connor on the 3rd line), Copp is left to play on an elite third line with Stastny and Vesalainen, who should fit in very nicely.

Also I have Pionk and Dillon as the first pairing because I think they are ultimately more capable of first line production long-term than Morrissey and DeMelo. IMO Morrissey and DeMelo can work as a first pairing when called upon, but I'm much more comfortable with them as a second pairing.