Winnipeg Jets

[tweetdrivr]

Yikes!

Totally agree! Beaulieu on your top pair is a problem. He made me nervous on the ice while he was on the Habs. Not Jordie Benn nervous...but he’s not good.

[lucafen4]

Totally agree! Beaulieu on your top pair is a problem. He made me nervous on the ice while he was on the Habs. Not Jordie Benn nervous...but he’s not good.

Vancouver sports media keeps talking about Benn as a fantastic bottom pair option. "He'll anchor the 3rd pair and create stability" ... you make it sound like he'll 'anchor the 3rd pair and sink it'

[Axeman33]

Winnipeg's D is sketchy at best short of Byfuglien and Morrissey. They are top heavy with forwards and too light on the backend.

[tweetdrivr]

Vancouver sports media keeps talking about Benn as a fantastic bottom pair option. "He'll anchor the 3rd pair and create stability" ... you make it sound like he'll 'anchor the 3rd pair and sink it'

Definitely sink. Man he’s bad. I get putting a positive spin on this signing but he’s just not good. Soooo many times I watched Habs games I was yelling at the TV as I watched Benn not pick up his guy, cough up the puck, or just be behind the play and it’d end up in the back of the net. Seriously, it got to the point where I had a hard time enjoying watching them play because I’d get fixated on how bad Benn was every time he was on the ice. He’s terrible.

[lucafen4]

Definitely sink. Man he’s bad. I get putting a positive spin on this signing but he’s just not good. Soooo many times I watched Habs games I was yelling at the TV as I watched Benn not pick up his guy, cough up the puck, or just be behind the play and it’d end up in the back of the net. Seriously, it got to the point where I had a hard time enjoying watching them play because I’d get fixated on how bad Benn was every time he was on the ice. He’s terrible.

He'll fit right in with this motley crew then... if only they had Gudbransson to pair him with.

I swear Benning only watches tape of Canucks when determining level of skill. then going out and finding a 'better version of player X who sucks boatloads'

[agentzero]

This is not an inspiring corps. Either Niku has another gear, physically, to take on 24 mins a night and crash and bang and block like Morrissey and Trouba did, or he doesn’t and is at best a second pair d with sheltered minutes. Yikes. I like beaulieu on the third pair. Buff and Morrissey will probably play together. I don’t see another option. Wow this D is bad all of a sudden. They needed Trouba so much but he hated it in Winnipeg and his wife too. Ouch.

[mounD]

This is not an inspiring corps. Either Niku has another gear, physically, to take on 24 mins a night and crash and bang and block like Morrissey and Trouba did, or he doesn’t and is at best a second pair d with sheltered minutes. Yikes. I like beaulieu on the third pair. Buff and Morrissey will probably play together. I don’t see another option. Wow this D is bad all of a sudden. They needed Trouba so much but he hated it in Winnipeg and his wife too. Ouch.

It seems like Morrissey-Byfuglien would be their best shot at having a defense pair that can seriously drive play and handle themselves at both ends of the rink, but what does that leave for the other two D pairs? Beaulieu-Pionk as your second pair? That’s gonna be a yikes from me dawg.

[Zorro]

He's going to be 23 at the beginning of next season, so I'm not sure there's much room to grow from what he is at this point. He should be an effective 3rd pair defensemen who can contribute on the PP.

Young Dmen don't progress after the age of 23?? I think Niku has tons of room to grow!!!!

[lucafen4]

Young Dmen don't progress after the age of 23?? I think Niku has tons of room to grow!!!!

Have to agree here... I mean - look at Pulock.
At 23 Morgan Rielly jumped to 52pts from previous seasons 27.

I dunno if anyone can fully judge Niku yet and his 13:55 TOI or his 0:06 PPTOI. An offensive Dman needs PP time.
He clearly needs to earn more Maurice trust to get more ice time. Now that everyone is gone, hopefully that happens

[mounD]

Young Dmen don't progress after the age of 23?? I think Niku has tons of room to grow!!!!

I think they can definitely earn a greater understanding and familiarity with the NHL game, but in terms of physical ability he’s basically in his peak years right now. Of course there are late bloomers, but in general NHL players hit their peak in age 23-26 seasons with a steady decline thereafter.

[agentzero]

Niku needs to add strength and to prove he can handle regular shifts against nhl top 6 forwards. He hasn’t gotten there yet and it’s the hardest position to learn at this level so I understand if it takes time. Haven’t watched him enough to decide if he can become that kind of player. The jets need him to be.

[CascadeFilly]

There's zero physicality to Niku's game. Doesn't mean he can't learn solid positional play and take on big minutes eventually, but if you're looking for physicality, you'll have to find it elsewhere.

With Chiarot, Trouba, Myers and Tanev gone, the Jets are an immensely softer team now. I feel like that's not getting talked about enough. Sure, they've still got a handful of big strong guys, but take away those 4 players and all that they bring? It's likely they'll get pushed around on a lot of shifts. Sounds like Pionk isn't afraid to play a physical game, but he's not a big guy. We'd better hope the speed of guys like Niku and Appleton adds another element to the team overall.

[mounD]

There's zero physicality to Niku's game. Doesn't mean he can't learn solid positional play and take on big minutes eventually, but if you're looking for physicality, you'll have to find it elsewhere.

With Chiarot, Trouba, Myers and Tanev gone, the Jets are an immensely softer team now. I feel like that's not getting talked about enough. Sure, they've still got a handful of big strong guys, but take away those 4 players and all that they bring? It's likely they'll get pushed around on a lot of shifts. Sounds like Pionk isn't afraid to play a physical game, but he's not a big guy. We'd better hope the speed of guys like Niku and Appleton adds another element to the team overall.

Speed and skill are always going to preferable to grit and toughness in my opinion. The Penguins didn’t win back to back Cups because they had face punchers. That’s not to say that Trouba and Myers are that type of player, but the point stands that as long as the Jets are actually adding intelligent, skilled players into the lineup that can only be a good thing.

Sure, toughness is good but it’s more like a bonus as opposed to a prerequisite for success.

[striderz]

Not to entirely steer this thread away from talking about how weak WPG D is looking for this year... But I'm leaning towards keeping Grubbauer over Hellebuyck. Anyone going to talk me.off that ledge?

[Dennis]

ummm... don't?

Consider the contracts alone. Hellboy's cap-hit is $6.16M for the next 5 years. Grubauers is $3.33M for 2. With that contract Winnipeg's crease is Hellebuyck's for the conceivable future. If Grubauer falters early on and Francouz performs, Grubauer could be the back-up by November.