With the Jets coming off a 1-3 record during a four game home stand the team hits the road with a game tonight in Pheonix. Pavelec gets the start as Maurice has said he will go back to the 'rotation'. It's fair to say that Pavelec should get a start but with games coming against Anaheim and LA is it fair to say he'd rather have Hutch rested for those two? I think so.
What happened to February? Bogosian, Stuart and Kane were all projected to be out until early to mid-feb when they were placed on IR. Remember when 'day-to-day' meant something along the lines of 2 weeks? The Jets are funny in their prognostications that way now they, and Enstrom, may all be back on this road trip.
What do you do with the log jam on defense?
Buff Enstrom Bogosian Stuart Pardy Harrison Chairot Postma (Trouba on IR) (Clitsome on IR)
Is there any conceivable justification to move Byfuglien back to forward? I've yet to hear or read it. Chairot can be sent down but he has been quite the pleasant call up and fits well with Buff. The odd guys out are Pardy, Harrison and Postma. Of the three perhaps only Postma has trade value but anything of significance, and should that matter?
It would appear that the Jets have to do some roster planning and pretty quick too with all this rapid healing.
Has Mark Scheifele hit a plateau? In his sophomore year #55 is one point ahead of where he was last year. He was manhandled by SJ on Monday night yet still had good underlying possession numbers. One of the consistent comments about Fefe is his strength, or lack thereof. He's doing things well but the eye-test says otherwise. I'd suggest that before we draw conclusions after 40 games go and think back to the ancient Romans. When they built roads up long hills they added flat parts so that they could rest weary legs. Scheifele has probably not hit a plateau, rather he has hit a flat part in the development curve.
If you are a Leafs fan or observer do you believe in the power of a new coach or the need to change the core roster if real change is to happen? Last year when the Jets were flatlining Gary Lawless made the point that if you fire the coach you should take a player too as both were culpable. The Leafs chose the coach to start but they did not immediately replace him as the Jets did. There's a difference in the two situations but we only see it in hindsight. The Jets had clearly gone as far as they could under Noel and by most accounts it appeared Noel had run out of options. Paul Maurice is a very different coach on the ice and away from it- do the Leafs need the same thing? The difference is management will dissect past Carlyle carcass while the Jets used Maurice for that task.
Most of the insiders are starting to hear things are heating up in terms of GMs talking towards possible player movement action or trades. If you are a team like the Jets who has cap space, strong ownership and sitting in the top 8 do you shore up sooner or later? In the last 10 games the Avalanche have gone from 9 points back to 7. Trailing teams have a huge hill to climb even if those teams ahead tread water at .500. In the Jets case it will be hard not to do some roster moves simply because of the defense corps situation so should they move to improve or just deal with roster size and limits?
There are some pretty wild and rather slanderous rumours running wild around Winnipeg right now about various players. After checking with various sources within the Jets organization and fellow media/bloggers I'd say everyone should take a deep breath and look in the mirror. The problem with what's being said is apparently professional athletes are to adhere to many different moral compasses. It's time for the citizens of Winnipeg to take some ownership of the mess because now as before they are apart of it, not witness. Be nice if some of these witnesses would come forward and put a name or date to their claims.
If I had a dollar for every goofy accusation or allegation I hear away from hockey I'd be living very comfortably. Don't believe the hype but also, don't fuel it.