Are you an optimist or a pessimist when it comes to the Jets. There are reasons to be both but the divide between the two is almost as severe as what we see in politics. You are either with us or against us. It's not a harsh attitude and peppered with underlying issues and angst but this divide is quite noticeable with the Jets fan base. As we inch towards next season what can be the realist perspective that might bridge that middle ground?
The goal, and it appears to be within the team and up to ownership, is to make the playoffs this year, (as it should be every year). The Jets seem to always have something go wrong in that regards and this offseason has seen Kevin Cheveldayoff the GM do as much as he's every done to shore up holes and build a team that will make the post season. In fact Chevy may have been trying to do more but was not able to pull the trigger on more significant moves.
Gone are Mark Stuart and Chris Thorburn, two the pessimists biggest thorns. In comes Kulikov and hopefully a healthy Myers to shore up the defence which is one of the most expensive in the league. As well, Toby Enstrom was protected via trade with Vegas so as not to be lost for nothing.
With the forwards little changes aside from adding depth player Micheal Sgarbossa but having a healthy Matthias and a stable group of youthful forwards to use could also pay off.
The goaltending situation, the obvious achilles heel of the Jets, has been addressed in what many believe is a positive manner with the singing of Steve Mason. Connor Hellebuyck has changed his personal goalie coach and has been working all summer in Kelowna on his game. He has signed a new deal that being only one year long has huge implication on his next deal.
Thus when looking at the team in either a pessimistic or optimistic view how can the realistic view be seen given the state of the team?
Forwards
The pessimist would say that not enough has been done to establish a true direction for the bottom six group. They are not a third scoring line nor do they offer a true checking line or 'energy line' in a traditional sense.
The optimist would suggest that the youth movement from all the draft picks is here and that between Copp, Dano, Tanev, Connor, Petan, Lowry, and Armia there is more than enough talent to improve. Take away the limited ability of Chris Thorburn and there is a major chance of improvement from the bottom.
Realistically speaking
Though this group still could face some challenges. Tanev is a limited player and Armia certainly has some development needed in his game within his own zone. If players like Dano, Copp, Petan and Kyle Connor all take a step in their development this group could be very dangerous given the right usage by the coaches.
The other aspect that should be noted is how likely are Laine and Scheifele to continue their ascent up the scoring ladder? Laine certainly has room to grow as a player but that shooting percentage?? That should fall. Is Scheifele going take another step as a point producer or will his game improve more in the defensive side? There could be questions about production with Ehlers and Perreault, Little, and Wheeler too but those three seem to be a steady ship.
The Jets had the 7nth most goals scored in the league last year and would anyone make the bet they will do it again? That could be a tough feat considering considering the Jets had 9 players shooting over 10% on net last year.
The change or the support to maintain this pace for the Jets forward group will come from the bottom six group. They need to be able to take the step in development that can alleviate pressure on the top six thus making the forwards a deeper and more difficult group to play against.
The simple truth is that the biggest factors that will affect the Jets are more likely in other areas of the team/roster. However, the Jets do not want to give up ground in their one key area of obvious strength and that's goal scoring/offence. This is the area fans have to look at realistically and accept that some of the good luck this group had might not be there come this season so how does the team compensate. More on that with defence and goaltending plus on other variable.