Peter Tessier: 5 Year Anniversary- The Day the Jets Came Home It was 5 years ago today that it become officially official, the Atlanta Thrashers were moving to Winnipeg.

I cried that day! I was so happy....

I cried that day! I was so happy....
- TheUltimateJet

For many Winnipeggers it was a really emotional day. pt

i'd like to see what Jets expect opening nights lines to be, I'll share what I think they will be, and what I hope they'll be.

I think they will look like this,

Ehlers/Sheif/Wheeler
Laine/Little/Stafford
Perrault/Lowry/Dano
Burmi/Copp/Thorburn
*in this scenario Petan, Connors, Lemieux and Armia start for the Moose and Pelluso is in the press box. and we drafted Laine

I hope they look like this,

Ehlers/Sheif/Wheeler
Perrault/Little/Puljujarvi
Dano/Lowry/Stafford
Petan/Copp/Armia
*in this scenario, Thorburn and Pelluso are in the press box, Burmi is traded or sent down, only Lemieux and Connor start on the Moose and we have drafted Puljujarvi

I really wanted Rypien to be a Jet. What a fan favourite he would have been.

To Ross77
I have a sneaking suspicion that Armia and Dano have first dibs at that second RW spot. If neither of them steal it outright, it's Perreault. I trust him more with Laine than Stafford. No way they draft anyone but Laine. Armia makes the team over Burmi, whom I think will be traded.

To Ross77
I have a sneaking suspicion that Armia and Dano have first dibs at that second RW spot. If neither of them steal it outright, it's Perreault. I trust him more with Laine than Stafford. No way they draft anyone but Laine. Armia makes the team over Burmi, whom I think will be traded.
- Rexypoo

WTF?
What did either of them do for you to expect that.
Armia lacks the consistency to be top 6 and Dano will likely be 3rd line the rest of his career (on a good team) but may see spot duty in the top 6 with injuries.

i'd like to see what Jets expect opening nights lines to be, I'll share what I think they will be, and what I hope they'll be.

I think they will look like this,

Ehlers/Sheif/Wheeler
Laine/Little/Stafford
Perrault/Lowry/Dano
Burmi/Copp/Thorburn
*in this scenario Petan, Connors, Lemieux and Armia start for the Moose and Pelluso is in the press box. and we drafted Laine

I hope they look like this,

Ehlers/Sheif/Wheeler
Perrault/Little/Puljujarvi
Dano/Lowry/Stafford
Petan/Copp/Armia
*in this scenario, Thorburn and Pelluso are in the press box, Burmi is traded or sent down, only Lemieux and Connor start on the Moose and we have drafted Puljujarvi
- Ross77

I guessing scenario 1. Although opening night I expect Connor and Petan in the lineup. Burmi gone this summer as a throw in. Thorburn will be around but will spend most of his time in the pressbox.

I also think Tanev will be in the equation. I think he makes Armia expendable.

I guessing scenario 1. Although opening night I expect Connor and Petan in the lineup. Burmi gone this summer as a throw in. Thorburn will be around but will spend most of his time in the pressbox.

I also think Tanev will be in the equation. I think he makes Armia expendable.
- stormey

I forgot about Tanev, to be fair, he just didn't get enough games in for me to judge him. Armia is a mystery!! i worry about his off season as last camp he came in slow and obviously not ready for NHL but he did show signs of top 6 potential (at times) later in the year.

I also think Burmi will be a throw in, i guess I also didn't mention Teliguin who's stock is all of a sudden on the rise again? have no clue what happens there?

and your right, Petan, Connor and even Lemieux will be here at the beginning of the year but for how long?

did anyone else watch Dano at the Worlds? He looked way more comfortable at Center and was actually pretty good at faceoffs. He was drafted as a center.

To Ross77
I have a sneaking suspicion that Armia and Dano have first dibs at that second RW spot. If neither of them steal it outright, it's Perreault. I trust him more with Laine than Stafford. No way they draft anyone but Laine. Armia makes the team over Burmi, whom I think will be traded.
- Rexypoo

I hope your right and one of them wins it. Obviously if Stafford and Perrault are both on our third line then one has to assume it's because the Jets are a much better team

To Ross77
I have a sneaking suspicion that Armia and Dano have first dibs at that second RW spot. If neither of them steal it outright, it's Perreault. I trust him more with Laine than Stafford. No way they draft anyone but Laine. Armia makes the team over Burmi, whom I think will be traded.
- Rexypoo

I know I am in the minority but i am hoping for Puljujarvi over Laine at the draft

I forgot about Tanev, to be fair, he just didn't get enough games in for me to judge him. Armia is a mystery!! i worry about his off season as last camp he came in slow and obviously not ready for NHL but he did show signs of top 6 potential (at times) later in the year.

I also think Burmi will be a throw in, i guess I also didn't mention Teliguin who's stock is all of a sudden on the rise again? have no clue what happens there?

and your right, Petan, Connor and even Lemieux will be here at the beginning of the year but for how long?

did anyone else watch Dano at the Worlds? He looked way more comfortable at Center and was actually pretty good at faceoffs. He was drafted as a center.
- Ross77

Saw today Telegen signing back in Russia. No big loss IMHO.

To stormey
Dano is already playing at the level of elite 3rd liner at 21, and Armia got better with every game.

To Ross77
I'd be okay with Laine or Puljajarvi (can't spell it), but I suspect Laine because he's a pure sniper. Both are great, Laine fits our needs a little more. What about:
Ehlers-Schiefele-Wheeler
Laine/Puljajarvi-Little-Armia/Dano
Perreault-Copp-Stafford
Tanev-Lowry-Armia/Dano
Thorburn.

Crazy how time flies. Remember the great excitement through Canada really at getting another Canadian team and the Jets back to Winnipeg. Of course it didn't take too long to go from feeling good for Winnipeg to treating them like any other opposing team

Still, crazy that it's already been 5 years since that point.

To stormey
Dano is already playing at the level of elite 3rd liner at 21, and Armia got better with every game.

To Ross77
I'd be okay with Laine or Puljajarvi (can't spell it), but I suspect Laine because he's a pure sniper. Both are great, Laine fits our needs a little more. What about:
Ehlers-Schiefele-Wheeler
Laine/Puljajarvi-Little-Armia/Dano
Perreault-Copp-Stafford
Tanev-Lowry-Armia/Dano
Thorburn.
- Rexypoo

thats what makes this year so damm interesting!! no one knows who will make it or who wont for the first time. Personally I think Petan is better than Armia, Dano, Tanev and Burmi. I also think Maurice is going to love Lemieux and one has to wonder if Connor was promised a spot on the Jets when he signed? I am one of the people who believe those types of promioses are made and followed through on

To stormey
Dano is already playing at the level of elite 3rd liner at 21, and Armia got better with every game.

To Ross77
I'd be okay with Laine or Puljajarvi (can't spell it), but I suspect Laine because he's a pure sniper. Both are great, Laine fits our needs a little more. What about:
Ehlers-Schiefele-Wheeler
Laine/Puljajarvi-Little-Armia/Dano
Perreault-Copp-Stafford
Tanev-Lowry-Armia/Dano
Thorburn.
- Rexypoo

Armia better with every game??? He got 2 points in his last 14 games and 10 points in 46 games as a whole? He shows stuff once in a while but lacks consistency and drive.

Dano had 8 points and was -7 in 21 games. That is not elite anything...not even third line.

To Ross77
I agree that Petan is better, but his style of play is kind of top 6 (maybe 3rd and PP time) or AHL. Armia has size and Dano is gritty enough to excel in the bottom 6, but id rather see Petan get big minutes in the A than be an overqualified 4th liner.

To stormey
Dano produces exceptionally well with the ice time he had and makes the players around him better (ala Matty Perreault)

Telegin just had the month of his career.
He has had 9 goals in 72 games in the KHL since bolting.
I think the WHC was a fluke.

Armia was inconsistent, but showed some real flashes. If you play him with guys like Lowry, Burmi, Thorburn, you won't see much from him.

Lets work out some details.

Armia is an RFA so if and when he signs he needs to be in the NHL because he will get claimed if we try and waive him through to the moose.
Same goes for Lowry so no moose stint this year for him.

everyone seems to agree with the top line being:
Ehlers-Scheif-Wheeler

and our 2nd line starting with Little at center with Laine or Puljujarvi but lets skip this discussion and go with Laine because c'mon it's gonna be him.

Laine-Little-???
Option 1: Now i'm not saying stafford is in anyway part of our future but hes only 30, he's still a 20 goal scorer in a contract year, and he can't really be worse than he was last year.. can he..? Not to mention if we can pump his value up on the 2nd line before the trade deadline he could net us a 2nd rd pick.
Option 2: Argument against stafford is of course that he's not part of the future. Who is part of the top 6 future in wpg? Kyle Connor. He's coming to the team much like Ehlers did last year, but instead of dominating the Q Connors did so against better competition in the NCAA. Maurice already admitted that young talented players (such as ehlers last year) need the chance to play with other talented players. Unfortunately he might not be ready for that top 6 role out of the gate and Perrault can off that talent as his 3rd line center.

So now we look at the bottom 6 puzzle:
Connor-Perrault-???
This means Lowry centers the 4th line and 3 winger spots left but armia has to fit somewhere so only 2 up for grabs.

3rd line RW spot looks like its going to come down to Dano or Armia. If Dano gets it Armia is 4th line RW. If Armia gets it Dano is likely 4th line RW but doesn't have to be since he's in the last year of his ELC..

When looking at the 4th line wing spots special teams has to be considered:
PP units look solid.
PK not so much. Little/Wheeler can be the first two off the bench but who else in the top 9 is going to kill penalties? maybe perrault? This is actually a good problem, far too often the jets best players wasted minutes killing penalties when we needed them scoring in 5on5 opportunities. I haven't seen his PK stats this season but in 2014-15 Lowry had arguably the best PK numbers albeit in limited minutes, so add him to the PK. That gives us pairs of:
Little/Wheeler
Lowry/???
Perrault - rotating

Back to the 4th line wing spots..

Petan - love him but we have 2 PP units in our top 9, i don't see him on the PK, and I think 18 minutes a game in the AHL is better for his development than 10 with lowry in the NHL so he's out.

Thorburn - if there was any doubt which way the league has been moving the penguins have shown this playoffs there is no room the "sand paper guy" anymore. Last year Slater played in Switzerland and Glass was banished to the AHL.. it's just time. Press box or captain of the moose but please no more nhl.

Burmistrov - Forget the expectations he came to winnipeg with. He won't be asked to score very much on the 4th line but he will be asked to be versatile and kill penalties and that's what he can do. Add him to 4th line LW and the PK.

So that leaves us...

ehlers-schief-wheeler (PK)
laine-little (PK)-stafford
connor-perrault (PK)-dano/armia
burmi (PK)-lowry (PK)-dano/armia

In the unlikely combination of events that Armia is 3rd line RW and Dano struggles in camp and starts with the moose then and only then do i see the door open up for Lemiuex, Lipon, or Tanev on 4th line RW.

Although, Tanev is an interesting choice for press box if Thorbs goes to the moose because his ELC last year was only a 1 year contract, i'm guessing this is due to his age (24). So he too is an RFA so if we re-sign him this offseason he will have to pass waivers to make it to the moose.

Teemu13
Love everything you put together there. But you're forgetting Copp. He should be with Lowry in the PK. He's essentially the same player defensively (which is a huge compliment to both 17 and 9), just smaller, faster, and with a higher offensive ceiling. He should be the 4C with Lowry on the left side and Burmi being better appreciated on another NHL team.

Ah yes what to do with Copp.. I agree he could be that PK regular and would pair nicely with Lowry. Could even be fighting lowry for that 3rd line center spot in a couple years the way the pipeline is shaking out. Really hope petan can grow in to the 2 by the time little is done. But ya back to burmi, im all for a burmi as a throw in piece to help move up in the draft or acquire an upgrade somewhere else but i just dont see it happening. Chevy makes deals when his hand is forced.. Kane, Ladd.. just dont see any urgency. Burmi is an rfa at years end so we control him and Copp has 1 more ELC year to burn.
Then again maybe we make a serious run at a goalie and burmi is included.. Wouldnt be the worst idea to have someone established with helley for a year or 2.

Teemu13
Can't get the quote feature to work. I really like Burmi, but not enough to keep him over one of the kids. What are your thoughts on the blueline?
Trouba-Byfuglien
Enstrom-Myers
Chairot-Postma
Stuart
That's how I'm hoping it comes together. If Morrissey or Kichton can make some noise, Stuart may have played his last regular season game as a Jet.

Ehlers - Scheifele - Wheeler
Laine - Little - Connor
Perrault - Lowry - Stafford
Tanev - Copp - Armia
pressbox: Thorburn, Burmistrov, Dano

Enstrom - Myers
Chariot - Buff
Morrissey - Trouba
pressbox: Stewart, Postma

Hellebuyck
Pavalec

Now we are not going to have (5) in the pressbox every night but with our 22nd overall pick, prospects or a veteran....we should be able to land a second pairing left handed D-Man .....(Alec Martinez? kings have no prospects?).

However it washes out I think the Jets compete for a playoff spot

Ehlers will wind up on RW with Laine. His vision, playmaking ability, and creativity are a perfect fit for Laine.