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Forward or Defence?

February 12, 2019, 9:22 AM ET [65 Comments]
Peter Tessier
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The Winnipeg Jets are back in action tonight against the rather disruptive New York Rangers at BellMTS Place. For the Jets right now, and many of their observers the granular details of the roster and such matter little, just the results. The return of Nik Ehlers is awaited and thus a full roster (or near full) is hoped to bring some stability to the game and results.

Seeing more of what happened in Buffalo and less of the events and habits of the games versus Montreal and Ottawa will be pleasing to many and preferable but there is a another issue happening. A debate is forming around what GM Kevin Cheveldayoff should do by the trade deadline of Monday 3pm EST February 25th. Should he add a forward or should he add defence, preferable a left handed defenseman?

The Jets, when healthy, are rich in forwards particularly wingers with Ehlers, Connor, Laine, Perreault, Roslovic, Wheeler, Lowry/Copp Appleton and Lemieux. Adding their developing prospects such as Vesalainen and they are certainly deep but do they help now? This is the point of those who would prefer the Jets land, or attempt to land Mark Stone from the Ottawa Senators.

Stone is an elite winger who drives play and scores goals. He's a Winnipegger and the appeal aside from what he does on the ice is obvious but he's likely going to make 8 million plus next season so how would he ever be considered affordable.

The same can be said for the other target on the Ottawa Senators, Matt Duchene. The sub-debate when thinking of these two is winger or centre? Many will consider the success the Jets had with Paul Stastny after he was acquired from the St. Louis Blues last season. Is that enough to support the preference of Duchene over Stone?

Then there is the camp of who believe that neither Chiarot or Kulikov are adequate on the left side and prefer a an upgrade to add depth to the roster. Some logic being that Joe Morrow becomes a weapon last option and given recent play and struggles those concerns have some merit.

The possible target become much more complex as after Jake Muzzin there are few players who fit this category and almost none who are in the 'rental category' as UFAs this summer.

The preference obviously comes down to where you see the challenge for the Jets in terms of fixing a game that seems to have a general malaise to it. That malaise is not systemic yet but it is trending that way and thus the question becomes how do you fix, or correct that trend?

If you believe in this sort of thing the chart below (and the others) are what has Jets fans nervous, and for good reason.



This one showing shot attempt differential has the same trend



The other troubling part to the Jets recent play since the new year has been that they have been getting some bounces or 'puck luck' so to speak. They are on a bit of a PDO run, something they only had for a brief period earlier in the season.



Here's another way looking at it...



So back to the topic, forward or defence? Some would say the Jets never really replaced what Toby Enstrom did. This is not to say Enstrom was the key to the play but his passing and transition play is noticeable absent as it was never replaced and that has had an effect on the offense and driving play. Within that issue could be a change of tactics to adjust for who is on defence and play to their strengths. Would adding a forward of Stone or Duchene's ilk compensate for that weakness or would it expose it more?

If we go back to last year and saw how well Paul Stastny fit in and the subsequent effort to try and keep him in Winnipeg it would make sense that Stone becomes the preferred target. Give up assets for something you can keep long term. Now, how does the team fit the new acquisition(s) within the salary cap?

For the Jets that's a rather complex scenario as they have many moving parts when it comes to contracts and needs going forward. How they fit anyone in means sacrifices with current assets and if that player stays longer term, then larger decisions, moves, and sacrifices are coming and that should be very interesting. If a big trade happens though, need that first.
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