Depth
One thing Jets fans are aware of is the concept of depth of a roster. More often than not, the passionate fans are defending the teams depth and presenting the ‘eternal optimist sentiment; things are not always as bad as outsiders make it out to be. Now with Zach Bogosian out for an indefinite period of time, in Winnipeg that’s what ‘not day-to-day’ means when it was said by Claude Noel yesterday after discussing his team’s shoot out win yesterday.
Now Melchiori has been called up from St. John’s and Zach Redmond is ready to suit up tonight in Minnesota. As reported by Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun today, Jacob Trouba is with the team to partake in the game day skate but is not expected to suit up. The status of the rookie defenseman remains that he is still preparing participate in full contact practices. When that return happens is still unclear but the Jets do not like giving out firm details about anything so one day expect him to simply ‘be ready’.
So the six defense now look as follows:
Byfuglien, Enstrom Clitsome, Ellerby Pardy Redmond
and not necessarily in those pairings or that order. Think about this Jets fans, imagine if Ellerby had not been claimed? Think about where this team would be in their bottom four defense tonight in a key division matchup- it’s not a pleasant thought.
So what does the loss of Bogosian and other roster changes mean for the game tonight? First and foremost the Jets have to play a style of game that is not hesitant or reactive. Regressing into that mode of play is a natural consequence when a roster filled with replacements is iced. In fact hesitant play is often the case after letting in a bad goal with this group and obviously not a situation they want tonight.
Numbers
Here’s some numbers for tonight’s game to consider
In 5 vs 5 play on the road the Jets are:
26th in the NHL in Fenwick at 44.2% 26th in the NHL in Corsi at 44% 22nd in the NHL in Goal For at 42.3%
At home the Wild in 5 vs 5 play are:
8th in the NHL in Fenwick at 54.3% 5th in the NHL at Corsi at 53.4% 3rd in the NHL in Goal For at 66.7%
If you look at the above comparison it’s easy to see that there is an uphill climb for the Jets tonight so how do they overcome the obvious long odds against them.
If you are a statistically inclined person you may want to question some of the player usage stats and how Noel doles out his assignments. Take a look at James Wright, Tangradi and Thorburn and see how that jibes with your line of thinking.
Looking at the drop in production, or relative invisibility of second line players might be a start for some. While Ladd, Little and Wheeler line are heating up where are Kane and Scheifele, the former has 3 assists in the last 5 games and the latter has zero points. It’s not good enough. Jokinen, 4 points in 5 games, and Setoguchi, 3 points in 5 games, have stepped up but it comes as two other fade.
Therein lies the same old reverberating problem for the Jets, getting all the parts working on the same program at the same time. These questions still remain even as the Jets have just finished winning 5 of their last 6 games.
Rumours?
This team has been picked over to death to explain it’s woes and present solutions and nothing seems to change. One has to wonder if anything is to change it can no longer be from a catalyst within?
There are teams out there in the NHL shopping, looking and scouting and it’s believed the Jets are one of them. They have had scouts at games in Florida and one has to wonder if they are part of the myriad of teams wondering what they are going to have to do to compete in the west.
If you look at the Panthers roster, who looks appealing?
Goc would be an interesting acquisition but it appears he is on the Panthers ‘no touch’ list. I’m wondering if the real target could be Brad Boyes? He’s on a one year 1 million dollar deal and already has 6 goals. The other interesting move could be Scott Gomez who with a 900k salary on a lone year could be an alternative to a struggling Scheifele.
Why pick up Gomez to replace Scheifele? IT would allow the Jets to send down Scheifele and get him out of the spotlight and learn a part of the game he is struggling with, playing with size and against size. Gomez does not have to score and historically he hasn’t been a ‘scorer’ but he can distribute the puck and that is a something with two shooter in Kane and Setoguchi the Jets need and he is a more versatile player to move between the second and third line than Scheifele.
While there is no official, or even unofficial, word one what the Jets have been looking at they are out looking. Now is the time to take a medium risk move that has no long-term implication and of the three players above- they all fit that category. The real question is this- does Chevy see a need to do this or just exploring a team that has said ‘we’re having a sale’? The play of the Jets in the next two games might give us a better idea of the answer.