30 in 30 Defense in review
We’ve looked at the bottom and we’ve looked at the top but there is still no clear understanding as to how Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff and head coach Paul Maurice will manage the depth of bottom pairing talent.
Is it possible a trade is made? Of course and the logical target would be Byfuglien but what if that does not happen, and it probably won’t by the start of the season. The Jets need to ice a team of 12 forwards, 6 defence and 2 goalies while carrying spares for line up shuffling and injury. This means the minimum is 20 and the maximum amount of active players is 23 with all others being either waived to the AHL affiliate or sent back to junior.
Enstrom Myers Byfgulien Trouba Stuart Chairot
Clitsome Pardy Harrison Postma Macwilliam
It’s too many and only Macwilliam has a two-way deal. One or two of Pardy, Harrison Clitsome or Postma will have to be sent down. It’s also possible that some one is Ben Chairot depending on how his camp goes. The kicker here is how much money do the Jets want to be paying for AHL help? Aside from Clitsome who is just over 2 million per season, any combination of two of those players will mean almost 1.8 million on the Moose.
So what is the best move?
Cheveldayoff does not have to rush into anything as he and Maurice will want to see what develops at camp but it’s reasonable to suggest there must be some conversations happening. The good news is that this is not a salary cap problem, it’s an expense problem.
Figuring out who works well with whom makes sense and in the above list it would appear based on how the season finished that Trouba is uncoupled from Stuart and given time with Byfuglien. Harrison is likely staying put and the rumours around Paul Postma will heat up. Why?
Postma is a decent player by the numbers who can’t seem to earn a regular spot on the roster.
But what about Clitsome? The player has battled through some harsh injuries the past two seasons and some, yours truly included, wonder if he can ever be healthy again. Perhaps he is trade bait to another team who wants cap relief?
In fact packaging Clitsome, in the final year of his deal, with a draft pick, could be an interesting way to acquire help at another position. This is similar to trading Buff but you still get to keep him, it’s just switching the possible trade partners because you are likely taking salary back not shedding.
Doing this would likely slide Postma up the depth chart and push Harrison down, not a bad thing.
The basic fact remains that unless Cheveldayoff is bowled over by an offer for Buff he’s not likely to be moved this early in the season or before it even starts. It would not be surprising to see one of the lesser defence moved and Clitsome seems like a prime option healthy and perhaps more so if not.
The question now is where do the Jets spend all their salary dollars for this many players? Remember, they have to have options for call-up forwards as well. That’s the tricky part- salaries and players have to go somewhere due to roster size, the cap space is there.
And thus, the trade speculation cycle will continue because the math does not add up, at least where the expenditures will be.
As a group the success of the Jets defense may life with father time catching up to one or more of Enstrom, Byfuglien or Stuart with Myers and Trouba being the anchoring youth. Of those five the key, as stated yesterday, will be what Myers becomes as a Jet under Paul Maurice for a full season in this system.
The other factor for the Jets is Jacob Trouba. He is coming into the last year of his entry level deal and while it’s too early to speculate on the next contract to be negotiated, the play of any key player in a contract year is intriguing. Trouba has had two things going against him these past two seasons, injuries and his primary partner Mark Stuart.
Stuart
Trouba
While the sample size with Trouba is difficult because he has only played two full season and it’s hard to predict a trend one can see that with Stuart things are not grand. What is happening is it appears Trouba maybe shouldering the work and doing great things but his true value is being hampered but grit and character.
While his rookie season was not as noticeable in terms of effect this past year is when it could be said ‘Trouba felt the wrath of Stuuuuu’. When on the ice together Trouba’s CF% was 54.4% but when apart It jumped to 56.8% and Stu’s fell to 46.6%. That is simply a snapshot of possession and not proof that Stuart is the anchor I so often refer to him as but this is something the Jets need to learn about. Trouble has spent a bit of time the last two season with Enstrom, and both times the two have had consistent possession numbers- is it worth seeing if they could make a number 1 pairing?
The challenge with that pairing is it places an awful lot of mobility on one line leaving the others vulnerable. Perhaps it’s a situational thing and the Jets need to try the pairing based on score and opportunity.
Whatever the case the Jets defence will require some balancing act work by Paul Maurice to ensure the right players get the proper ice time and opportunity. There’s also likely some work to be done by Chevy but he’s got the luxury of training camp to learn and make decisions with his roster. Those decisions might also depend on what a few other GMs do as well.