Training camp has come and gone as has the summer months of signings and trades. Surprisingly the Jets managed to pull of their first player for player trade this past off season where they moved defenseman Zach Bogosian and a 2nd round pick in 2016 for Luke Schenn and Matt Read. Much too everyone’s surprise the first ever player-for-player trade by Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff did not involve Evander Kane. Even though the player and GM both admitted during the training camp that the relationship was all but done and they had decided to respectively work towards finding a new home.

The defense corps for the Jets rounded out to look like this after training camp and the preseason evaluation.

Enstrom Schenn
Trouba Clitsome
Postma Stuart
Pardy

The group struggled with some of the tougher matchups they faced in the pre-season exhibition games. Without the large bodies of Bogosian and Byfgulien in the rear the Jets struggled to contain opposition forwards and move the puck out of their own end. The latter part being one of the key tenants that head coach Paul Maurice wanted to instill in the team, a fast transition to possession in the offensive zone.

Ondrej Pavelec posted a consistent 3.01 GAA in his appearances and an equally consistent .909 save percentage. Both coach and GM provided context for the re-occuring numbers saying that the defense had not fully learned and adopted the off-season adjustments and tactics. Furthermore, adding Luke Schenn he of the 3-year average 48% Corsi rating, has set the defense system behind schedule in Maurice’s view.

The bright spot for the Jets was Michael Hutchinson stepping right up to where he left off in the NHL season and AHL post-season. He posted a 2.5 GAA and .914 save percentage in his appearances. 41 year old Nik Khabibulin was brought in to see if he could compete and assist but that move was met with expected results.

The forwards fared a bit better in the pre-season as most were well prepared for the tough training camp that Paul Maurice had hinted at near the end of last season. After grueling fitness testing and scrimmages the Jets forwards came out fast and furious, just as Maurice saw them upon arrival last year in Winnipeg.

The lines looked like this as the pre-season finished.

Ladd Little Frolik
Kane Scheifele Wheeler
Byfuglien Perreault Read
Tangradi, Slater, Thorburn
Peluso

AHL farmhands Eric O’Dell, Karl Klingberg, Adam Lowry, JC Lipon all made strides but none were deemed ready for regular league appearance. Maurice admitted that the players impressed him but with contracts and experience he said he knew it would be hard for the youth to crack the lineup. He followed that statement up by saying he felt very secure knowing that they were players who he can rely on in call-ups when that need inevitably happens. Maurice also said he did not want young developing players sitting with the big club when they could be playing, much like the Redmond scenario last season.

One area of interest for fans was the play of Josh Morrissey, the Jets first round pick from the 2013 draft who played in the IceCaps Calder Cup run. Morrissey impressed but both coach and GM felt he would best be suited to hone his craft in the WHL so he could grow without the scrutiny and pressure that comes with being a top pick. Cheveldayoff cited the process for Mark Scheifele and how he progressed by being patient with him all the while reminding fans and media that ‘not everyone can be a Jacob Trouba’.

What failed to materialize was any meaningful change other than the moving of Bogosian, a draft pick between Drew Doughty and Alex Pietrangelo in 2008. With 6 years left on his deal at a cap hit of 5.14 million the Flyers added depth on defense at an affordable rate and saved 1.2 million in cap space by dealing Schenn and Read back, both of whom will need new deals as UFAs. Chevy’s logic was that having Schenn buys time for Morrissey and Matt Read with Perreault and Buff gives the Jets a deep third line capable of scoring and not being a soon to be extinct ‘checking line’. Cost certainty on Read’s deal was also a key attraction for the Jets

The 2014-15 NHL Jets sure look a lot like the 2013-14 NHL Jets, minus Jokinen, Bogosian, Wright, Ellerby, Setoguchi, Haslichuk, and Redmond in the organziation. For many fans it is a bit of a tough pill to swallow losing Bogosian when many feel that a bit more patience was due. To complicate matters they know that Kane is all but assured to be moved and after the return for Bogosian fans are cautious about what that deal might bring. A top defender perhaps?

As the Jets enter their fourth season since leaving Atlanta what remains of that inherited roster is the same core. Many around the league seem to think that it may be on the verge of spoilage yet the three best young pieces to build around are the ones sure to be no longer playing for the Jets again. Losing Bogisian, Burmistrov, and Kane seems an odd way to build a team when draft and develop is your bread and butter. However, this is Chevy’s ship and the faithful still feel that the five-year plan will materialize the results everyone dreamed of in May of 2011.

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