Kyle Connor has 48 point in 27 games an average of 1.7787 points per game .

Dylan Larkin had 47 points in 35 games for the same team last year for an average of 1.343 points per game .

Jack Eichel had 71 points in 40 games in his last year of college for  an average of 1.775 points per game .

I see Connor making the team in the fall and actually signing in March and getting a couple of weeks on the Jets roster at the end of the season.

I am hoping to see Connor on one wing with Wheeler or Ehlers or Armia on the other wing with Scheif or Matthews at center.

Going forward... Connor Scheif Wheeler Armia Ehlers and Matthews/Laine/Puljujärvi look like a pretty solid top 6 for a few years.

Lemieux, Roslovic, Petan, Copp, Lowry, Harkins, De Leo,  Lipon, and Spacek will be fighting for roster spots sooner or later.

We have Comrie and Helle and Phillips for depth in goal and look to be set for some time.

Our D, on the other hand, needs some help on the depth. Besides Morrissey, there isn't much coming up the pike on the left hand side and I fully expect the Jets to take some LHD at this draft or trade for one by this time next year. There is Sami Niku and not much else. The RHD right now is very good but not a great deal coming up the pike. Hopefully Kostalek makes the team in at least a 3rd pairing position and hopefully Glover and/or Poolman and/or Nogier turn out.

 

Every team has a guy like Thorburn who plays with guts and spitfire, and any coach would be hard-pressed to replace him with another just because of glitter and promise. It's called work ethic.

It's no wonder the Coach has a special place for Thorburn, his teammates certainly do.

I would say, based on a limited sample size, that Copp, Tanev and Lemieux could handle the 'hard worker' role and have a much higher upside.

I know Thorburn is loved by his teammates and he's a decent grinder, but he's an anchor to any line with potential.

Bottom line. They are in the business of winning hockey games. Tanev Lemieux Dano all have more potential and quite frankly are already better than thorburn 

2 hours ago, Goalie said:

Bottom line. They are in the business of winning hockey games. Tanev Lemieux Dano all have more potential and quite frankly are already better than thorburn 

Lemieux is Thorb's replacement but it will take a year imho.

Thorbs should be the 13 forward at best... I think he would take the role like a true pro and handle it properly.

It'll be interesting to see who Maurice plays with Connor. I know it would depend a lot on the draft but putting him on a line with Perreault as the center wouldn't hurt. Connor Perreault Armia?

 

12 minutes ago, Ducky said:

Thorbs should be the 13 forward at best... I think he would take the role like a true pro and handle it properly.

It'll be interesting to see who Maurice plays with Connor. I know it would depend a lot on the draft but putting him on a line with Perreault as the center wouldn't hurt. Connor Perreault Armia?

 

Isn't he better off playing with 2 vets?

I wouldn't play him near Staf so who you going to play him with? Not a lot of vets on the team that I would play with Connor....I think he would be great with Perreault and I really think Armia can hold his own.

If ESW and Little are for sure in the top six, Maurice also plays Staf in the top 6 maybe Connor plays with Little and Staf/Perreault but I just don't see it and I think we would be stronger with Perreault at 3C.

If Maurice starts ESW, and Perreault Little Staf in the top 6 and Connor starts on the bottom 6 (not my choice), the players fighting for bottom the 7 (13th forward) would be Connor Lowry Copp Armia Thorbs (like it or not) Burmi Petan Lemieux Dano and Tanev...... that 's 10 players if you omit Peluso and count Connor. Am I missing anyone?

Out of them you would think that Connor Lowry Dano Thorbs Burmi Copp and Armia make it...apologies to Petan and Lemieux.

For the sake of argument, let's say Copp plays with Dano and Burmi, that leaves Connor with Lowry and Armia? If we draft top 3 and a Finn or AM starts, then what? Glad I don't have to figure out this mess but I think Staf needs to be moved so the youngsters have more playing time.

Lowry Copp Dano would make a good 4th line.

 

Edited April 13, 20169 yr by Ducky

21 hours ago, mbrg said:

Prior to so many of our forwards being violently murdered, Thorburn was averaging about 9-1/2 minutes of ice time per game - 10th most among Jets forwards.  Obviously that average went up as the body count did, but the narrative that he gets 3rd line minutes is false.  Sometimes he does appear on the 3rd line, sometimes he doesn't.

Lunchbucket guys usually don't last forever, but for them to lose a job the guys with more skill have to be willing to work just as hard, and for an unskilled (relatively) player to get to the NHL, he has to set a standard for hard work that is very high.  Thorburn as a Paul Maurice favourite?  That might feel true, but it has yet to be put to the test.

 

He got 3rd line mins for half the season - that's not a false narrative.  Body count be damned.  The issue isn't that it was injuries that forced Thorburn into a bigger role. The issue is that he was in that role. Period.  We can debate his value on this team, and sure, maybe elsewhere too he's a top 12 forward - but there's no way you can justify him in our top 9. 

 

Prior to the trade of Ladd and the rash of injuries, if Little, Wheeler, Ladd, Schieffle, Ehlers, Stafford, Perrault, Burmistrov and Lowry (that's 9) all got, on average, 5 minutes of icetime per game more than Thorburn (who was averaging only about 1 to 1-1/2 more minutes of ice time than Ryan Reaves), then making the claim that he's seeing the ice too much for this team just is mathematically untrue.

I get he's the whipping boy up front, Stuart takes all the crap on D and Pavelec in goal.  When the numbers don't bear it out, I'm going to point it out.

11 minutes ago, mbrg said:

Prior to the trade of Ladd and the rash of injuries, if Little, Wheeler, Ladd, Schieffle, Ehlers, Stafford, Perrault, Burmistrov and Lowry (that's 9) all got, on average, 5 minutes of icetime per game more than Thorburn (who was averaging only about 1 to 1-1/2 more minutes of ice time than Ryan Reaves), then making the claim that he's seeing the ice too much for this team just is mathematically untrue.

I get he's the whipping boy up front, Stuart takes all the crap on D and Pavelec in goal.  When the numbers don't bear it out, I'm going to point it out.

And when someone uses excuses to justify below-grade players playing in elevated roles, I'll point it out too. 

The point is that Thorburn in that role is a failure of management to provide adequate depth and/or a failure of our coaching staff to trust him in that role over players with more offensive upside, a la Petan, Dano, Armia, Lipon, Komaschuk, 

I don't see Thorburn as being used 'out of context' in that the roster the Jets and Moose had, prevented more players being used in 'elevated' roles. And yes, injuries too. The  Jets already used a disproportionately youthful roster, with good intent. The safety net was a guy like Thorburn, a 4th liner, filling in wherever the need arose. It's certainly not Thorburn's fault that he had to fill this role over the young-uns. And nobody here can say the young-uns were ready to fill that role without affecting their future effectiveness. 

And what you call a failure of management amount to the same thing...if they brought in somebody else, there would be no development of the young-uns either, and how and where the Jets ended up this year wouldn't have really changed a great deal. The Jets, as an organization, we're not in a position this past year, but they laying the groundwork, and their future does look good.

What youth?  Ehlers and Copp? Maybe Burmi but he wasn't a first or 2nd year pro. This youth narrative ppl use is bs 

Also did anybody listen to the year end interviews? Perreault specifically said he will be playing wing next season. 

Of course he will, Maurice loves Lowry at 3C.

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/137961/hockeys-future-2016-nhl-prospect-of-the-year-connors-strong-ncaa-season-a-springboard-to-nhl-career/

 

sorry if someone posted this already...

 

Ferraro thinks Scheifele was the best Canadian in the gold medal game.

Laine's one-timer and wrist shot are elite. Said foot speed was a concern from what he heard before the WHC. Thinks he is a really smart player. Also, no matter what Canada did to get him off of his game, they couldn't do it. Mentions his cocky sense of humor. Not a bad listen.

 

edit.........http://www.tsn.ca/radio/winnipeg-1290/ferraro-scheifele-looks-like-a-number-one-centre-1.496364

 

Edited May 27, 20169 yr by Ducky

According to my Finnish buddy Patrik Laine cut his hair yesterday, and it was the number one story in Finland.  Finland is Laine crazed right now.

Still think our top line ends up as Laine-Scheif-Wheeler by November

He'll be bald by 25

2 hours ago, Floyd said:

Still think our top line ends up as Laine-Scheif-Wheeler by November

Doesn't have the speed to keep up. Laine Little makes more sense 

2 hours ago, The Unknown Poster said:

He'll be bald by 25

Yeah he's heading for Ryan Getzlaff territory.

1 hour ago, Goalie said:

Doesn't have the speed to keep up. Laine Little makes more sense 

http://www.hockeysfuture.com/articles/134905/top-20-winnipeg-jets-prospects/

http://jetsnation.ca/2016/6/22/report-jets-prospect-jack-roslovic-to-defect-to-ohl