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Jets have a test that starts in Dallas tonight |
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Jets Have a Test that Starts in Dallas Tonight
It’s only going to become a much harder road to navigate if the Winnipeg Jets don’t change some aspects of their game. In fact that change has to start tonight and there’s no better test than the Dallas Stars, who bring in a injury-depleted lineup to the game tonight in Dallas.
Why use the term ‘test’ and why would such a thing be happening now?
First the Jets are basically a two line team and if they hope to find greater success, i.e. more wins then it’s going to come from improved play elsewhere and that really means the bottom six forwards.
Fans need to be honest about what they are seeing now from the team, the Jets are failing in the one area that they were supposed to have improved greatly- the bottom forward depth. The play of Armia and Tanev has been nothing but positive however they are not contributing to the score sheet and that is hurting the team. It’s not their fault though, the seven players who have occupied the bottom six positions have contributed just four points in five games. That’s not going to cut it.
This group was supposed to be the most improved part of the team compared to previous years. The third line 5 years ago was Glass Slater and Thorburn. Now we have Connor, Burmistrov and Armia. That line gets even better if Little is healthy and Perreault drops down to anchor the centre position. Still though, with Mathias (he of two points) and Tanev and Lowry the Jets are still not generating the offence needed to help free up the other lines.
Here’s your Corsi info. While this is not being used conclusive as to a player’s ability here, it’s representative of what’s happening on the ice.
Tanev- 32.81%
Mathias- 38.64%
Burmistrov- 42.50%
Lowry- 43.56%
Connor- 48.89%
Armia 50.62%
But wait this is in all situations so far this year- let’s look at even strength 5v5.
Connor- 37.37%
Tanev- 42%
Burmistrov 42.25%
Lowry 44.07%
Mathias- 47.83%
Armia 53.23%
Just for mentions in this same condition he of the new contract for eight years, Mark Scheifele is getting hammered too at 47.48% with Stafford at 43%.
One could argue that with the bottom six not spreading out the offence or even being a threat it’s easier for the opposition to key in on the top lines, and that’s probably happening.
The difference between past years and this year is there is some depth in the AHL who is waiting to take over. Petan, Copp and Dano are all possible call-ups as is Lipon or De Leo. It might be time to use that option if another relative ‘no-show’ performance comes from the bottom six tonight or in the follow-up meeting on Thursday back in Winnipeg.
Don’t forget that Kyle Connor can stay up and go down at any time as was pointed out in the blog comments- there are no games left before they Jets must decide if they are burning a year on his entry-level deal at the NHL level. Basically they have to decide if they want to pay him to develop at NHL rate or AHL rate. In all honesty can anyone see Dano being a worse option right now? Dano, when not on the 4th line had some chemistry with a few Jets players last year, notably Burmistrov. The question becomes this: how important is change now for the sake of immediate improvement for the Jets compared to development?
That’s what gets bantered around social media so much- why not make moves to help now as opposed to always developing?
Think of a move like sending Connor down to AHL and bringing Dano up as doing both actions; trying to improve the team now will considering the best place for Connor to develop. This is what should come with depth in the system and right now the Jets have the best depth and options since them moved from Atlanta.
Sure there is a test for the players, particularly the bottom six group with these next two games against Dallas. The test is taken as a team but most will be looking for individual results as the pass or fail indicator. But the test also goes up to coach and management with the roster. Are they, Cheveldayoff and Maurice ready to make hard decisions for the team that don’t involve immediate NHL roles for development? That time might be coming very soon and we’ll see if they pass of fail on their test as well.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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