It's not easy trying to find interesting takes and angles as a team that many felt had promise before the start of the season only has a bit of hope for the draft lottery left at the end of the season. It sounds bleak but that's the reality facing the Winnipeg Jets. The situation is not all bad but for fans the excitement and interest in the season now rests upon where the Jets may fall with the draft lottery.
The coach and players are saying the right things and by and large those players left on the roster, vets and youth, are playing the right way as they wind it down. There is still hope Mark Schiefele can score 3 goals to hit 30 and that Blake Wheeler can build upon his best career point total to date.
But what can Jets fans think about as they watch from the sideline again as the playoffs begin? Perhaps they can reminisce about 5 years ago as rumours swirled and the belief that an NHL team was coming to Winnipeg was inevitable. There will be time to review what has happened in 5 years since the Jets returned and you an bet the blogs and papers will run amok with pontification and sentiments. This space will be no different.
But consider this as the Jets face the Ducks tonight, did anyone believe in 2011 that Mark Scheifele would be the player he is right now? I will do a review about #55 soon, closer to the draft but I will leave you with two tweets I put out yesterday to consider.
2011 Draft F in top 10 picks pts/gm
— Peter Tessier (@Teddier) April 4, 2016
RNH- .710
Scheifele .696
Landeskog .685
Huberdeau .630
Zibanejad .532
Strome .510
Couturier .449
and...
2011 Forward Draft picks P/60 @ even strength
— Peter Tessier (@Teddier) April 4, 2016
Sheif- 1.96
Huberdeau- 1.82
Strome- 1.8
Zibanejad-1.8
Landeskog- 1.78
RNH 1.6
Coots- 1.56
Those are the other forwards taken in the top 10 of the 2011 NHL draft. Scheifele has come a long way since many of us went 'who?' when Sean Couturier was not taken.