Winnipeg Jets

The 2014 Winter Olympics will begin early next year in Sochi, Russia.

As always, one of the favorites entering the hockey tournament to win the Gold is Team Canada. With a plethora of superstars at every position, how can they not be the favorites every four years?

Canada is coming off a Gold Medal in 2010 and will look to repeat in 2014. If they want to do so they’ll have to closely evaluate their depth of talent when selecting their roster. They’ll have a bunch of superstars and elite players to choose from, but will that be enough?

You don’t win the tournament by having the most superstars or the most goal scorers in your lineup.

You need role players to round out the bottom half of the roster.

One player that has to be seriously considered to make the Canadian roster is Andrew Ladd. The Winnipeg Jets forward is the exact type of player that every team wants and needs, and will go a long way in helping Canada repeat for Gold.

Ladd would be a perfect fit on the third or fourth line in a role that he’s very familiar with. Canadian Head Coach Mike Babcock should already have a spot reserved for Ladd on the roster.

In 2010, Ladd wasn’t even considered or in the discussions to make Canada’s roster. But a lot has changed in four years. Ladd isn’t the same one-dimensional player he once was. His game has expanded tenfold over the past four years.

Ladd has the experience of a Stanley Cup winning forward. He’s won it twice; the first time as a rookie in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes, and the second time in 2010 with the Chicago Blackhawks. Ladd’s role on these two teams was to be a part of the shutdown line as a reliable, backchecking forward. He excelled in that role.

Ever since being traded to the Atlanta Thrashers in 2011, Ladd became a first line forward and developed skills of a superstar. All he’s done since is score goals and rack up points while maintaining the same shutdown presence.

Ladd’s leadership doesn’t go unnoticed in the locker room either. On the ice, Ladd leads by example with his skill and reliable play. But off the ice he knows how to bring a locker room together as he’s done so many times before. He’s the captain of the Jets for a reason.

Even with all these achievements and tangibles, Ladd is still one of the most underrated forwards in the entire NHL. Many people don’t realize that Ladd is a 30 goal scorer (OK, 29, but still) and was close to a point-per-game player in last year’s shortened season.

I’m not even sure how people would react to Ladd making Team Canada, though it should be very positively.

Ladd was invited to Team Canada’s orientation camp which took place August 25-28. Ladd will be competing with many other forwards for a spot on the Canadian roster. With the talent Canada possesses, it’s easy to make a claim for each one of the forwards that were invited.

Ladd isn’t the flashy choice such as a John Tavares, Claude Giroux or even Taylor Hall, but Ladd is a player that you need on your roster to win. Brendan Morrow wasn’t a flashy selection in 2010, but he made a difference.

Ladd is a special player. He’ll bring what many other players won’t—a winning mentality, leadership, reliability and a shutdown backcheck.

How Ladd performs in the upcoming NHL season will probably give the Canadian coaching staff a better idea if they want him on their roster or not (though his abilities should already make him highly considered).

Will Canada automatically lose without Ladd in the lineup? No, and I’m not saying that will happen. But Ladd gives them a much better shot to win if he’s in the lineup.

It’s not the 30 goal seasons that makes Ladd qualified for a spot on Team Canada (that just perfectly rounds out his overall game). It’s the shutdown role that Ladd so very well excelled in when he was hoisting the Stanley Cup… twice. He still excels in that role even though his game expanded.

The Winnipeg Jets aren’t the perfect hockey team. They have a lot of players that need to step up their game and take it to the next level.

If the Jets are going to make the playoffs in 2013-14, they’ll need a lot of players performing at a high level. However, the Jets will be more reliant on some than others.

Here are three key players that have to pick up their performance for the Jets to make the playoffs this season.

Olli Jokinen

I could have picked a few players for this spot. There are a lot of Jets expected to have good seasons, but there’s one player that a lot of people forget about.

Olli Jokinen could be playing in his final season as an NHL player. The 34-year-old center will turn 35 in December. He’s also playing on the final year of his contract with the Jets.

How much more does he truly have to offer?

At this point, probably not much, but he can do a lot more than what he did last year. And if he wants to continue playing in the NHL for a few more seasons, he’ll have to put up some solid numbers.

Jokinen is most likely the Jets' No. 2 center unless Mark Scheifele plays his way into that role. The Jets are going to need the aging veteran to produce on the second line.

The Jets can probably make the playoffs even if Jokinen underperforms again. In fact, if that happens, expect Jokinen to get shopped around near the trade deadline. But if Jokinen has a strong season, the Jets are much likelier to make the playoffs.

The Jets desperately need a bounce-back season from Olli.

There’s been a trend in Jokinen’s career. He has one good season followed by a bad one. Last year, he had a very bad one. Hopefully, the trend continues and he’s set for a very productive season. It would truly boost the Jets' chances of making the playoffs.

Dustin Byfuglien

When Dustin Byfuglien is on his game, it usually means the Jets are winning games. Byfuglien is a key part of this organization, and the Jets need his experience and skill if they want to make the playoffs this season.

More importantly, the Jets need the good Byfuglien rather than the bad one.

Last year, the Jets got bad Byfuglien for the majority of the season. For a stretch of over 25 games, Byfuglien looked lost, confused, tired and slow. He constantly got beaten by forwards because he was out of position more often than not.

At one point, head coach Claude Noel even tried moving him to forward, but that didn’t work out either.

Byfuglien is a defenseman. He’s an offensive one first. He’ll join the rush a lot and probably go to areas he shouldn’t. As a fan, GM or coach, you have to accept that. His offensive mind isn’t going to change.

However, Byfuglien has to take more responsibility and consider the team.

Byfuglien is poised to have a great season. He’s spent a lot of his time working out and getting into shape during the offseason. He’s motivated to get back into the playoffs and understands that he has to bring his best to get there.

Like the old adage goes, you have to take the good with the bad when dealing with a player like Byfuglien. Hopefully for our sake, he found his defensive game this offseason.

Ondrej Pavelec

The most important player on the Jets roster that has to perform well in order for them to make the playoffs is Ondrej Pavelec.

If Pavelec has a career year, the Jets will make the playoffs. If he fails to put up solid numbers or replicates those of the last two seasons, the Jets will miss the playoffs.

Pavelec is capable of carrying the Jets into the postseason—he just has to be consistent. One night, you might get the Pavelec who is making save after save. The next night, though, you’ll get the Pavelec who gets chased midway through the first period.

There’s no denying that Pavelec is a battler when he’s on his game. He never gives up on a play or loses concentration. Plus, he’s one of the better lateral-moving goalies in the league. When you think he’s down and out, he somehow makes a save—and he's made some of the greatest saves you’ll ever see.

Unfortunately, a lot of nights you’ll get the flawed Pavelec. His glove side can be weak at times and teams often expose it. Pavelec also has a tendency of letting in bad goals, which can cost the Jets a game. These are concerns that he has to address.

The Jets' season could solely ride on Pavelec’s performance.

When you look at the Winnipeg Jets roster, you see a lot of young, core players that are expected to carry the Jets into the playoffs.

Arguably the most important position that every team needs to play well, at least if they want to make it to the playoffs, is the goalie. Are the Jets sure they have a franchise netminder?

The more I look at the Jets goaltender situation, the more I start to doubt whether or not Ondrej Pavelec is the franchise goalie for the Jets.

Two years. That’s my timetable for Pavelec to improve his performance.

This year will be a key year for Pavelec. He has to give the fans some hope, something to be happy about going forward. Certainly, making the playoffs would achieve that, but at the least, Pavelec has to have a much better year than his past two.

Pavelec has four years left on his contract so my two-year timetable doesn't seem too harsh.

His best statistical season came in 2010-11, the final year of the Atlanta Thrashers existence. He put up a 2.73 GAA and a 9.14 SV%. That’s not too shabby. However, he hasn’t come close to those numbers since.

Since the transition to Winnipeg, Pavelec put up a 2.91 GAA and a 9.06 SV% in his first season, and a 2.80 GAA with a 9.05 SV% last season. He was the 32nd ranked goalie in both of those categories. The Jets probably would have made the playoffs last year, if they had an average goalie in net.

Sadly, someone ranking even in the top 30 of those two categories would have been good enough.

Pavelec has had his highs and lows. There are times when he looks like a top 10 goalie in the league and times when he looks like a career backup. Overall, Pavelec has been a below average goalie at the NHL level. Maybe there’s a reason behind it.

By no means is Pavelec incapable of performing at a high level. He's done it before and will do it again. The major problem for him is doing it consistently over the course of an entire season. The Jets aren't asking him to be a clone of Martin Brodeur, but he has to be better than what he is now.

For Pavelec, it starts with consistency. He's a very streaky goalie.

Pavelec will turn 26 at the end of August which is still very young for a starting goalie. 

Is there a reason to believe he’ll turn the corner and help the Jets into the playoffs? Sure, he's a very capable goalie.

He just has to put it all together night in and night out. He has a lot of time to improve, and there’s a lot of room for improvement.

A lot of people will give Pavelec the benefit of the doubt and say he doesn’t play in a goaltender-friendly system, or that he hasn’t had the defensive support in front of him. Maybe it’s as simple as experience, something Pavelec is still gaining.

Let’s look at it from a different perspective. Pavelec started his first NHL game when he was 20 years old (2007-08). He started splitting time when he was 22, but started roughly 50% of the games (2009-10).

He still wasn’t “the guy” at age 23, but started about 65% of the games and had the best year of his career (2010-11). At ages 24 and 25 was when he transitioned to Winnipeg and started to slip (2011-12 and 2012-13). But he’s been “the guy” ever since the move to Winnipeg.

The point I’m trying to make here is that Pavelec has really only been a starter for three and a half years.

To put it in perspective, Carey Price, starting goalie for the Montreal Canadians, is just 15 days older than Pavelec. Both were drafted in 2005. Price has started in 301 career NHL games while Pavelec started in only 220. That’s 81 more games of experience.

Two years is enough to evaluate Pavelec’s play. I’m not indicating that after two years Pavelec will be cut or traded if he doesn’t perform well. I think Pavelec finishes out his current contract a Jet.

However, his performance during those years will indicate whether or not he’s the future or if he’ll get re-signed. We’ll begin to know that after two years.

There's hope for Pavelec yet, but he has to give us hope as well. This upcoming season will be a defining one for Pavelec.

The Winnipeg Jets and defenseman Zach Bogosian came to terms on a long-term, seven-year contract Monday, per the Canadian Press (h/t TSN). The payout is worth $36 million over the course of the seven-year deal. That’s an average annual value of roughly $5.14 million.

That’s a lot of years and a lot of money for a defenseman who hasn’t proved much in the NHL.

The Jets are taking a huge risk by signing Bogosian to a contract of this stature. There’s no guarantee that Bogosian will be the next best defenseman in hockey. There’s no guarantee that he’ll even be better than average a few years from now. The entire contract is based off future potential—keyword: potential.

Sure, Bogosian has a lot of it.

So why not sign Bogosian to a short-term, two- or three-year deal? Why not let him prove his worth as a top-tier defenseman before signing him to a long-term deal with top-tier defenseman money? Instead, “untapped potential” will cost the Jets a cap hit of $5.1 million.

Bogosian has a huge upside to his game. He’s more of an all-around, two-way defenseman, but he excels in a few categories. He’s extremely physical and isn’t afraid to lay the big hit. He’s also a talented skater and can generate offense from the back end.

Defensively, Bogosian is reliable in his own end. Offensively, he can score goals, make the vital outlet pass and run a power play. The concern with Bogosian is consistency. He has to be more consistent on a nightly basis. If he can take care of that aspect, he’ll be well on his way to elite status.

Bogosian was a former third-overall pick by the Atlanta Thrashers back in 2008, so obviously he was highly touted coming into the league to begin with. Bogosian wasn’t given any time to develop and was thrown right into the deep waters of the NHL instead.

As an 18-year-old rookie, Bogosian scored nine goals in 47 games. He looked on pace to win the Calder Trophy before an unfortunate lower-body injury. His career high in goals came the following season when he scored 10.

When his career in Winnipeg began in 2011-12, Bogosian accumulated a career-high of 30 points in 65 games. In the shortened lockout season, he finished with 14 points in 33 games. Injuries have been an issue with Bogosian since entering the NHL. If Bogosian stays healthy, he'd probably have a 40-point season under his belt by now.

General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and the rest of the Jets management obviously believe that Bogosian is going to be a franchise defenseman, or he wouldn’t have been signed to this contract. Cheveldayoff didn’t give him a year or two to prove himself. He gave him all of it.

There are only two outcomes from this contract—Bogosian lives up to it, or he doesn’t. That’s the case with every professional contract in sports, but some are more significant than others. Bogosian is certainly capable of living up to it, but how many times have we seen these types of contracts come back to bite the teams that issued them? Obviously, it’s a risk the Jets are willing to take.

The Jets are pressed against the cap after the Bogosian signing. The good news is the salary cap is set to go up next year. With the cap going up, Bogosian’s contract could become a steal if he lives up to the potential.

The next few seasons will be defining years for Bogosian. He has to stay healthy, continue to learn the game and perform to the best of his abilities. There's no doubt that he can be a top defenseman in the NHL. He's an important piece to this franchise, especially in the long haul. The Jets made it clear that they want to build with defense.

The good news is that Bogosian just turned 23 and already has those five seasons to his name (297 career games in total). This is about the time when a defenseman such as Bogosian is ready to take that next step in the NHL and take over. This is when all eyes will be on Bogosian game after game.

Prepare to see a lot of critiquing going forward, but Bogosian is set to prove people wrong.

The Winnipeg Jets finally signed one of their top forwards to a long-term deal on Friday night, per the Canadian Press (h/t TSN). Blake Wheeler’s new contract is worth a total of $33.6 million over the course of six years—an average annual value of $5.6 million per year.

That’s a lot of money, but he has all the tools to live up to the contract.

Wheeler is just beginning to enter his prime years. He led the Jets in scoring in 2011-12 with a career-high 64 points and managed to put up 41 points in the lockout-shortened NHL season last year. Going forward, he has the potential to come close to being a point-per-game player in the NHL.

The 26-year-old is one-third of the Jets' top line, which also consists of Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little. The three have been together since Wheeler was first acquired in 2010. With Little and now Wheeler signing long-term, be prepared to see them stick for a while longer.

Wheeler provides the offense with primary scoring as both a passer and a scorer. His career high in goals came when he was a rookie, when he scored 21. However, he has yet to score 20 goals in a season since. He’s more of a pass-first player, but don’t let the low goal totals fool you—he has the ability to score 30 goals a season.

There’s no doubt that this had to happen before the arbitration hearing that was set for late next week. Just like the Little contract, the Jets will pay for Wheeler’s UFA years, and they’ll do so happily. He is arguably the Jets’ best forward right now, but he's also a key member of the Jets’ core going forward.

Wheeler has been a great addition to the franchise since the then-Atlanta Thrashers acquired him in 2010. He’s turned his game up and has become a leader in the locker room. He is one of the more underrated, non-talked-about players in the entire league. But that won’t be true for much longer.

We’ve yet to see the best of Blake Wheeler.

On Monday, center Bryan Little came to terms with the Winnipeg Jets to avoid going to arbitration per TSN. Little’s new five-year contract is worth an annual average value of $4.7 million, a total of $23.5 million over the course of the contract.

In his first full season with the Jets, Little scored 24 goals and 46 points in 74 games. In last year’s shortened season, Little scored seven goals to go with 32 points in 48 games. His career high in goals and points came during his second season in the NHL with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2008-09 when scored 31 goals and 51 points.

Little will make a lot of money, maybe more than he should merit, but he’s the Jets’ top center and will get paid like one for the next five seasons.

Many people will argue that Little is only a top-line center on the Jets because they’re not deep at the position. That’s probably more true than not. However, he’s still a solid contributor with an excellent two-way game and the ability to be a solid playmaking center.

Little is a key piece in the puzzle, and there’s no denying that a deal had to get done. Avoiding arbitration is always the smart thing to do. Instead of getting stuck with a one or two-year deal and potentially losing him in that time, the Jets essentially paid for Little’s unrestricted free agent years.

Little is key a part of the Jets’ number one line which also consists of Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler. The three have been a stable for more than two seasons, and are the Jets’ best line in terms of producing offensively. It’s a line that the fans will love seeing stick for a few more seasons at the very least.

If and when Mark Scheifele is ready to step in and take over as the Jets’ top-line center sometime during these next couple of seasons, Little would likely be demoted to the second line. That’s a spot more suited for him and he would easily be one of the better second-line centers in the league. Until that time, Little is and will remain the Jets’ top line and best centerman.

The Jets also came to terms with forwards Eric O’Dell and Anthony Peluso, per TSN. The two will be key depth players for the Jets in the upcoming season. Peluso is the heavyweight the Jets will want in the lineup, and O'Dell should bring a fresh start as he begins his NHL career.

Next up for the Jets is reaching an agreement with Wheeler and Zach Bogosian. The two have set arbitration dates for early next week. It's vital the Jets get a deal done with Wheeler especially before his hearing date.

The Winnipeg Jets have made some minor trades and signings this offseason. It’s mid-July, and that’s probably the best we’ll see in terms of acquiring new talent. Now it’s time to assess the talent already on the roster. Or that time is long overdue.

Right now, the sole focus for the Jets organization is to get their restricted free agents re-signed. And that will eventually happen.

RFAs would be Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, Zach Bogosian, Paul Postma and Eric Tangradi. Mainly, the focus and concern should be on the “big 3”—Wheeler, Little, and Bogosian. However, all five have filed for salary arbitration with their hearings scheduled to begin early next week.

Salary arbitration can be tricky.

First of all, the fact that all of the Jets’ RFAs filed for arbitration should tell you the management wasn’t working hard enough to get deals done. Even though a deal is almost guaranteed to get done through arbitration, the arbitration decisions could burn the Jets in the long run.

The maximum amount of years a player can receive on a contract through an arbitration hearing is two. This is particularly bad for the Jets when someone like Wheeler files for arbitration. The Jets need to sign a player like Wheeler to a long-term contract, but now they may never get that chance.

An NHL player loses RFA status when they reach 27 years of age. Wheeler will turn 27 in August. If Wheeler only gets a one-year deal through arbitration, he’ll be an unrestricted free agent next year. Arguably the Jets’ best forward will be a UFA.

If the Jets can’t easily get a deal done with Wheeler right now, how can they be confident they’ll get one when he reaches UFA status in a year or two. Oh, and did I mention that this is the second time Wheeler has filed for arbitration as a member of the Jets?

Wheeler should have been the focus of at least a five-year deal, maybe longer, but Kevin Cheveldayoff let this one slip away. Now it’s inevitable that Wheeler will become a UFA sooner rather than later if a deal doesn’t get done before his arbitration date. And obviously from a team perspective, you never want anyone to be out there on the open market, especially a player like Wheeler.

Unfortunately, the same could happen with Little as well, who is set to turn 26 later this year. Bogosian just turned 23, and he’ll get the opportunity to sign a long-term deal with the Jets in the future. Of course, if he doesn’t file for arbitration every year.

Hopefully the Jets management can walk away from the arbitration hearings with smiles. However, they won’t be smiling for too long if Wheeler is set to become a UFA in a year or two.

Lesson learned from all of this: don’t let all your RFAs go to arbitration.

UPDATE: According to Scott Brown on Twitter, the Jets have re-signed Eric Tangradi. I guess that's a start.

On Monday, Alex Burmistrov made his decision to leave the Winnipeg Jets for a fresh start in the KHL, according to CBC. It seemed inevitable that this time would eventually arrive. Instead of pointing fingers and picking sides, the blame can be had all around.

It started with the Atlanta Thrashers who decided to rush Burmistrov immediately into the NHL without any time to develop.

Burmistrov was a smart kid and very poised when he came over to North America. He quickly learned the English language and was determined to make a name for himself. He only had one year to develop his game in Barrie. He proved scouts wrong and was drafted eighth overall in 2010.

Instead of sending him back to Barrie to further develop, the Thrashers threw him into the deep waters of the NHL. It was a huge mistake on behalf of the Thrashers organization.

The Jets then misused and mishandled him mainly due to head coach Claude Noel’s style of coaching.

Burmistrov was constantly watching from the press box. And when he eventually saw time it was continuous stints on the third and fourth lines. Burmistrov was in Noel’s doghouse from the start of the season and remained there until the end.

It couldn’t be any clearer that Burmistrov didn’t want to play for Noel.

The Jets lost Burmistrov for nothing. Even though he’s property of the Jets until he turns 27, it’s unlikely he’ll ever want to rejoin this franchise. General manager of the Jets, Kevin Cheveldayoff, failed to acknowledge the situation and move Burmistrov around last year’s trade deadline.

The situation was truly mishandled on the management’s side, but Burmistrov has to take a lot of the blame here as well.

Burmistrov appeared to be very "uncoachable". Noel was just doing what he's paid to do. On the other hand, Burmistrov couldn’t handle being in the doghouse for the betterment of the team. Burmistrov didn’t like Noel, and he didn’t respect him or his decisions.

Instead of trying to mend things with his coach, Burmistrov took the cowards way out and bolted from the team that drafted him. This wasn’t your typical “Russian factor” case either. If there was ever a Russian player to not have that factor at the time of his draft it would have been Burmistrov.

When Burmistrov was first drafted by the Thrashers, he was quick to trash the KHL. In an article from AOL News, he once said he “really hates” the KHL. He also called it a league for “old guys” and that he wouldn’t consider going there for a long time if ever.

A reporter asked him If he would stay in North America even if development didn't go so smoothly. Burmistrov's reply? "I played last year for 80 dollars when I could have made a lot more back home. I'm never going to play in the KHL, except maybe when I'm really old -- like Jaromir Jagr," again per  AOL News.

Development didn't go as planned. Check. Burmistrov contradicts his belief on the KHL. Check. Burmistrov leaves his NHL team for the KHL. Check.

Either 21 is considered "really old" in Russia or Burmistrov is a fraud and a hypocrite. I’ll go with the latter. He’s in the “old man” league to spite Noel and the Jets.

NHL free agency begins Friday afternoon. Unlike years past, it’s not full of highly coveted players, but it should still be a busy time for the NHL.

The Winnipeg Jets, on the other hand, will probably be one of the few teams that aren’t too busy.

Like previous offseasons, the Jets are usually quiet when it comes to free agency. This year will be no different. While other teams rush to overpay players, Kevin Cheveldayoff will sit back and evaluate his options.

This year’s free-agent market, in terms of talent, definitely isn’t up to par with previous years. That doesn’t mean there’s nothing to look forward to. Sure, there aren’t a ton of high-profile players available, but the Jets are never involved with those types of players anyway.

Jets fans shouldn’t expect anything major to happen. However, it would be a shock if Cheveldayoff did nothing at all.

It’s no secret as to what the Jets will be looking to add. The Jets need a second-line right wing to play opposite of Evander Kane. They could also use some more depth at center, but that's lower on the priorities. Whether Cheveldayoff attempts to fill these needs during free agency or through trade is up in the air.

Something else to consider is whether or not the Jets plan to roll with some of their young talent, such as Mark Scheifele. If the Jets plan to have Scheifele in the lineup as an everyday player, then targeting a center through free agency probably isn’t happening.

There are a lot of different players that the Jets should keep a close eye on. Not all players sign contracts at the start of free agency, and there are usually more than a few bargains available.

At right wing, Michael Ryder should be high up on the Jets radar. In fact, he should be the primary target. At 33 years old, he still has plenty left to offer, including another potential 30-goal season. He would easily fill the void on the second line. It also wouldn’t cost much. Ryder makes a lot of sense in Winnipeg.

A low-risk/high-reward type of signing could be Peter Mueller. It wouldn’t cost much and the benefit to having a player like Mueller is that he could play both wing and center, if needed. Mueller may not have that “wow” factor surrounding him anymore, but he’s still young at 25 and still has the potential and upside that he once had before his unfortunate concussions.

Another under-the-radar signing could be Mason Raymond. He’s extremely fast and plays an up-tempo style. He showed a lot of promise in the 2009-10 season when he put up 53 points but regressed after that. At 27, maybe a change of scenery is what Raymond needs to get back on track.

A couple of other low-risk targets could be Benoit Pouliot and Guillaume Latendresse. Both of these players would be the recipient of short-term deals; Latendresse, especially, given his history of injuries.

Nathan Gerbe could also be one of those players looking for a fresh start in Winnipeg.

Age won't be a determining factor in the decision-making process. Last year, the Jets signed 33-year-old Olli Jokinen. Another non-issue is the cap. The Jets have a lot of money to spend and a lot of space to play around with.

It’ll be interesting to see what Cheveldayoff does this time around. Will he try and make that “splash” signing or will it be another quiet day at the office? It’s always a mystery with the Jets and Cheveldayoff.