Winnipeg Jets

Player: Nikolaj Ehlers

Drafted By: Winnipeg Jets (9th overall)

Position: Left Wing

Final Central Scouting Ranking: No. 13 North American skater

Height/Weight: 5'11'', 162 lbs

DOB: February 14, 1996 (18 years old)

Most Recent Affiliation: QMJHL, Halifax Mooseheads

Background

Nikolaj Ehlers is a top-flight prospect who is the next big thing to come from the Halifax Mooseheads. Nathan MacKinnon turned heads this past season, Jonathan Drouin is set to make an impact very soon and now there is Ehlers.

In 63 games this past season, he scored 49 goals and recorded 104 points. It was a career year for him, and he had his coming-out party at the right time.

Full Scouting Report

Ehlers is an amazing offensive player and a top-end goal scorer. Drouin was mentioned earlier, and one scout had some encouraging words for Ehlers in an issue of The Hockey News previewing the draft. "You don't want to compare him to Drouin, but he plays with pace, his hockey IQ is off the charts and he kills you with speed and great vision."

All of these skills make him a great player, but he will need to gain some size to become better equipped for NHL duty.

He is a great threat when on the ice and it will be interesting to see how quickly he adapts to the speed of the NHL.

NHL Player Comparison

Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks. Ehlers is an explosive offensive player, a great skater and a forward who doesn't let his size slow him down. If you ask me, that sounds a lot like Kane.

NHL Timetable

Ehlers is one of the top pure offensive talents in the draft, but expect him to return to junior for another season before making his NHL debut during the 2015-16 season.

Top-End Potential

Ehlers is a very impressive player who has done some great things in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. He has been compared to Drouin and certainly has lived up to those comparisons this season.

At his peak, Ehlers could be a Maurice Richard Trophy winner because of his amazing shot and offensive potential.

The Winnipeg Jets have their share of struggles when it comes to attracting free agents. The city is one of the NHL’s smallest markets, remote compared to other options and much colder in the winter than the vast majority of alternatives.

It really isn’t a city that needs a reputation for ripping the players willing to play there, yet it seems obvious that such a reputation has developed.

Here’s what Jets forward Bryan Little told the Winnipeg Sun’s Kirk Penton on Wednesday:

We were joking around before that only in Winnipeg someone would say negative comments about the birth of a child. Then I heard someone actually did. I’d like to say I’m surprised, but I’m not.

Little’s comments are in reference to a decision made by team captain Andrew Ladd to miss Monday’s game against the Dallas Stars to stay home with his wife, who gave birth to a baby girl, and the criticism he faced as a result of that choice.

Local radio host Troy Westwood was the most prominent voice criticizing Ladd for missing the game (h/t The Huffington Post):

Westwood faced a barrage of criticism after tweeting those comments, some from people who felt he was saying that Ladd shouldn’t have been there for the birth of his daughter.

In fairness to Westwood, that wasn’t what he was saying, as he made clear in a follow-up tweet:

Ladd actually wasn’t there for his daughter’s birth, but made his position clear in Penton's article:

It was an easy decision for me. I got home just before 12 on Sunday night, and the baby was actually born before I got there.

It was a quick labour, and I felt it was right to stay and make sure my wife was OK and my daughter was OK. We don’t have any family in town, so I wanted to be there to support them.

Also perhaps playing into Ladd’s decision was an honest assessment of the Jets’ playoff hopes. Before the game against Dallas, the team was six points back of the Phoenix Coyotes for the final playoff spot in the West, with Phoenix having a game in hand.

10 points amounts to a massive gap and Winnipeg was in all likelihood already done.

Ladd’s decision was an understandable one. With his team all but officially finished, he decided to give his wife some support during a difficult time.

Westwood’s criticism is also understandable. As a former player in the Canadian Football League, he understands the sacrifices that professional sports demand of players.

Realistically, though, the debate here goes well beyond this specific instance and highlights the perception of the city among the players who play there.

Little says that the team was joking "only in Winnipeg" before any comments were actually made. That speaks to a preexisting belief among the players that the market is unusually hostile to NHLers. Westwood’s comments—which I don’t agree with, but also don’t see as beyond the pale—feed into a belief that Little and at least some of his teammates already hold.

It’s a substantial challenge for the people managing the Jets. As a cold, remote, small market, one of the few things that differentiates Winnipeg in a positive way from other NHL cities is that there’s a fanatical devotion to hockey there.

Based on Little’s comments, however, that’s more of a negative than a positive right now.

The Winnipeg Jets were one of the hottest teams in the NHL from the time they hired Paul Maurice to be their new head coach up until around the NHL trade deadline, shortly after the Olympic break ended. They weren’t just winning games, but they were beating good teams.

The Jets won two huge games directly following the Olympic break. The first was against the Phoenix Coyotes, the second against the Nashville Predators. The Jets were still competitive, still winning games and beating good teams at this point.

It was the following game, the night before the trade deadline, against one of the NHL’s worst teams in the entire league, which is considered the turning point of the Jets season. The Jets lost to the New York Islanders on home ice in overtime, but were dominated the entire game, lucky to even come away with one point.

After the Islanders game, the Jets went on to lose seven of their next nine games. They were losing very winnable games to teams that, you can argue, are inferior to them. They were losing these games on home ice as well—a woe that has yet to be fixed.

And this is where the Jets currently stand. They have 10 games left on their schedule and are six points behind the Coyotes for the final wild-card spot.

To put it simply, even winning out would be a long shot for the Jets. They would need a miracle of all miracles, which realistically isn’t happening, especially with the powerhouse opponents remaining on their schedule.

The Jets will not be making the playoffs for yet another season.

So what could have been the cause of this disastrous stretch that ended all hopes of playoff hockey in the ‘Peg? Here are a few reasons which could have ultimately derailed the team.

Olympic Break

This is a poor excuse. However, I’ve seen it thrown around so I’ll touch on it just a little.

The Jets were one of the hottest teams in the NHL up until shortly after the Olympic break. Maybe they were the victims of unfortunate timing? Or maybe they benefitted?

The reason I deem this excuse poor because they Jets certainly benefitted. Evander Kane was expected to miss another two weeks due to an injury, so the break ensured he’d not miss another game. The Jets also got Jim Slater back from injury.

And besides, the Jets won two games directly following the break against tough opponents.

Mark Scheifele Injury

This is one of the biggest reasons of all.

Sure, Mark Scheifele is just a rookie, but he was getting top-six minutes and making the most of them. After a very slow start, Scheifele came into a zone around the quarter mark of the season and found himself neck-and-neck with Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon for the rookie scoring race.

Scheifele was injured during the Islanders game—the game which began the derail. The Jets started to lose a lot of games after the injury to Scheifele. Coincidence? I think not.

Not only was Scheifele the depth, but he was a primary contributor. The Jets couldn’t replace him. They didn't have anyone of his caliber that could fill in.

If anything, the Jets found out they have a true center in Scheifele—one that should carry this franchise for years to come. After all, he’s already proven to be irreplaceable.

Standing Pat at the Trade Deadline

This decision seems to be the third of three huge events, that happened almost consecutively, which derailed the Jets season. The Jets lost to the Islanders on March 4, lost Scheifele due to injury in the same game and then decided to stay pat at the trade deadline the following day.

The trade deadline is the time to make a crucial decision. Do you go for it or do you sell it? The Jets, for another straight season, decided to forego that decision by standing pat. It left many fans wondering why and wondering where the true direction of this team lies.

The Jets could have certainly used depth at center after the injury to Scheifele. At the same time, they could have used draft picks to continue their rebuild for pending unrestricted free agents like Olli Jokinen.

If you go for it and miss the playoffs, at least you can say you tried. If you sell and miss the playoffs, well that’s what was expected since you “sold." The worst is staying in between, because if you do so and miss the playoffs, you lose your UFAs for nothing.

The Winnipeg Jets were sniffing the scent of playoff hockey up until the last 12 days or so. That's approximately when their current five-game losing streak began, one which has made the reality of playoffs a mere dream for yet another straight season in Winnipeg.

As it stands in the Western Conference wild-card race, the Stars have a five-point lead over the Jets for the final spot. They also have two games in hand. What makes it most difficult now is simply the fact that there isn't enough time for the Jets to rebound.

With only 15 games remaining on the Jets schedule, they'd have to win at least 13 of those games to finish with 95 points while hoping the Stars play .500 hockey the rest of the way. It's very unlikely that both cases become true.

Eight of the final 15 games are against teams ranked in the top 10 in the entire league. The Jets still have to face the St. Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins. Not to mention, they have two bouts with the Stars left.

That's a pretty rough schedule. Before we get ahead of ourselves, the focus has to be on one game at a time. The Jets will face the New York Rangers on Friday night before a showdown against the Stars on Sunday. If they lose either, you can forget about future games being meaningful.

The Jets only have themselves to blame for this disastrous stretch. Four of the five losses were on home ice. Three of those home ice losses were to the New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks. Clearly, the Jets are losing very winnable games.

It seems to still be a mystery as to why this team is disappointing on home ice in front of great, loud fans.

Coincidentally, the losing streak occurred right after trade deadline day—a day in which Kevin Cheveldayoff decided to stand pat for his hockey club. It's shaping up to be yet another season where the Jets "suffer" from post-deadline blues. Or maybe getting a whiff of that playoff scent scared them off?

The unfortunate injury to Mark Scheifele didn't help the cause either, but it doesn't justify why the Jets are losing to mediocre-to-par teams.

The Jets were hitting their stride before the lengthy Olympic break. Even up until the trade deadline they were getting it done. The depressing loss to the Islanders just 16 hours prior to the trade deadline was the start of this debacle.

Playoffs at this point are improbable. Consider all the factors I pointed out before you say, "Well at least it isn't impossible."

The Winnipeg Jets will be looking to bolster their roster for a strong playoff push by Wednesday's NHL trade deadline. They might be able to do so without giving up any assets.

The Ottawa Senators placed forward Cory Conacher on waivers Tuesday afternoon according to CBC. The Senators acquired Conacher from the Tampa Bay Lightning near the 2013 trade deadline in exchange for breakout goaltender Ben Bishop. The unsuspecting waive comes as a shock.

Now comes waiver-wire guru Kevin Cheveldayoff into the picture.

The Jets currently have the 12th priority in the waiver order. Conacher would have to get passed on by 11 other teams for Cheveldayoff to even have a chance. It seems unlikely.

If Conacher were to make it to the Jets spot, would Cheveldayoff pull the trigger? It's a no-brainer.

Cheveldayoff has a history with the waiver wire as he's claimed a number of players through that system in the past. He's made a living there. Why not once more? Again, this is all theoretical assuming Conacher gets passed by 11 others.

In Conacher's case, he'd be an instant upgrade on the Jets third line. And the best part of the deal is that the Jets wouldn't have to give up any assets. It would also make, say, UFA forward Devin Setoguchi expendable.

It makes even more sense considering the Jets are two points out of a playoff spot and want to add to their roster for a push. Cheveldayoff wouldn't have to sacrifice his "five-year plan" mentality. He can still show signs that he wants the playoffs now.

Conacher was struggling with the Senators this season, scoring only four times in 59 games with a total of 20 points. However, he's only 24 years old. He's only played in 106 career NHL games. So you see why the waive comes as a surprise.

It's all-but-guaranteed Conacher will be claimed by some team. But the question is who? Plenty of teams could benefit from his help. He's a small risk with a high reward payout. I'd be surprised if he made it to the Jets, and I'd be even more surprised if Cheveldayoff passes over him.

The waiver wire may be a cheap, budget strategy, but it's also a smart one. If the Jets plan on staying quiet on Wednesday via the trade front, maybe the waiver wire will suffice again.

The Winnipeg Jets are one of the hottest teams in the NHL.

The Jets have posted an impressive 8-2 record since hiring Paul Maurice to replace Claude Noel as head coach nearly three weeks ago. Their recent run makes it much easier to see the playoff line even though they’re not quite there yet.

During this 10-game run with Maurice behind the bench, the Jets have beaten quality teams such as the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks and Vancouver Canucks. Their only losses came against the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators, both by one goal.

Statistically speaking, the Jets have drastically improved under Maurice. They average 3.3 goals per game and only allow 2.1 goals against per game. While under Noel, the Jets averaged 2.6 goals per game and gave up roughly 3.0 against. It doesn’t take a mathematician to see why the Jets are winning games under Maurice.

Obviously, the numbers are one thing, but the work you do to achieve the results is what matters. Under Noel, the hard work just wasn’t there. The sudden coaching change sparked the team in ways Noel couldn’t. And Maurice has done a fabulous job working with the team in his short time.

Everything is going well in Winnipeg. There’s a lot more confidence, there’s a lot more urgency and the compete level has never been higher. The only regret that this organization has is that they waited too long to make the coaching change.

Maurice has taken over and re-energized Jets hockey. He re-energized an exuberant atmosphere inside the MTS Centre. It’s February, with only 25 games remaining in the regular season, and fans can once again chatter about playoff hockey.

Now the obvious question arises. Is this your typical “just a little too late” case, or are the Jets catching fire at no better time?

It’s always a difficult task trying to make the playoffs in the renowned Western Conference. It’s certainly not easy and it won’t get any easier down the stretch. As hot as the Jets are, they’ll have to be even hotter.

However, this isn’t a race the Jets should shy away from. It’s time this franchise starts embracing playoff hockey. It’s time to expect it now, not five years from now.

The Jets have proven that they can compete with the best of them. There’s no reason they can’t continue doing so.

As it stands, the Jets are in last place in the Central Division (yes, last place). In fact, the Jets are in 12th place in the entire Western Conference. It’s a testament to how good the West can be since they are two games above .500 yet sit next to the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers.

What matters most is that the Jets are only four points back of the Canucks for the final wild-card spot. The only problem is they’ll have to leap three other teams (Phoenix, Dallas and Nashville) if they want to take that spot.

It’s not an impossible feat and the fact that the Jets were able to rebound and get to where they are now is impressive in itself, but there’s still a ways to go. The good news is that there's still plenty of time to get the job done.

It's not too late for the Jets to make the playoffs even in the highly praised Western Conference.

The Jets players, Kevin Cheveldayoff and certainly Maurice will not approach the final stretch with the mindset of it being a little too late. They’ll approach it with the mindset that they’re just getting started.

The Winnipeg Jets have parted ways with former head coach Claude Noel on Sunday morning, as per TSN. They then followed up the move by hiring Paul Maurice—former longtime coach of the Carolina Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Noel spent two and a half seasons behind the bench as head coach. He finished with a record of 80-79-18.

It was inevitable that Noel was on his way out and would have gotten canned at some point this season. Whether it was done today or in April, it was going to happen. After the Jets' embarrassing home-ice loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday, Kevin Cheveldayoff pulled the trigger.

It's a desperation move at this point. It's not one that will save an already lost season. It is a move that had to happen nonetheless.

The full blame is not placed on the coach in this case, though. The Jets just needed to make a change and used the coach as a scapegoat. That's the easy way out.

If Noel was a problem, he was one of many that still exist. And I do believe Noel was a problem...just one of many.

Maurice, much like Noel, is considered a “good guy.” He’s a true player’s coach. But before the Jets can embrace the Maurice era, they have to move on from the Noel one.

There have been mixed reactions among the players. They will be the first to tell you how good of a guy Noel is. They’ll tell you how it was their fault that he was fired. As we’ve learned after recent postgame interviews, talk is cheap if you can’t back it up on the ice.

The Jets had plenty of chances to raise Noel from the hot seat. The current five-game losing streak was the nail in the coffin.

Veteran forward Olli Jokinen spoke his mind on the situation.

Jokinen tells it like it is. It’s sad yet true. The product on the ice isn’t up to NHL standards right now. As Jokinen states, this could be the first of many changes if things don’t start to shape up on the ice.

It goes beyond the coaching, as it usually does when a coach is fired.

Noel wasn’t dealt the greatest of hands when he took over as Jets coach. It’s difficult to turn budding NHL fourth-liners into top-nine talent. However, he was unable to spark any confidence in the players.

Both Blake Wheeler and Dustin Byfuglien acknowledge that this is a team thing. Each and every player is responsible for the firing of Noel.

Some more heartfelt statements poured out.

It’s easy to see that Noel was liked in the locker room. Contrary to what you might hear elsewhere, the players on this team wanted to win for their coach.

It comes down to winning in the NHL, not how well received you are as a coach, unfortunately. Noel lost the team. Somewhere down the line, he lost them.

Now it’s time for the players to look in the mirror and attempt to regain confidence in Winnipeg hockey.

It’ll start with the captain, but there are many leaders on this team. Andrew Ladd is certainly going to take a lot of the blame. The on-ice as well as off-ice leadership flows through Ladd.

Noel was a well-respected man. Still, you can’t gloom on the past forever. The Paul Maurice era begins now.

In the middle of an ugly slump, Winnipeg Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has fired the only head coach this incarnation of the franchise has ever known. On Sunday, Darren Dreger reported that Claude Noel was out, and that Paul Maurice would be replacing him:

Can the move turn the Jets’ flagging fortunes around?

Before turning to the future, let’s start with the past. The chart below shows the NHL standings for the first three seasons of the Jets’ existence against the last three seasons of the Thrashers’, but does so with a twist.

Not only are the results of this season and last projected to 82 games, but shootout effects (which are almost entirely random) have been removed; in other words, games decided in regulation or overtime are awarded as wins and losses, while games that went to the shootout are awarded as ties. The idea here is to remove as much noise from the standings as we can.

The Cheveldayoff/Noel Jets don’t look especially good overall, but they do when compared to the Thrashers. Last season, played entirely against the weaker Eastern Conference, saw the team post a winning record when considered this way (22-21-5), for only the second time in franchise history. This season, playing in the West, the team has dipped to its worst level since 2008-09.

The effect of moving to the tougher West had a big impact. The Jets are 11-9-1 in the NHL standings (a 90-point pace) and 9-9-3 (when treating all shootout decisions as ties) against the NHL’s second-tier conference. They fall to 8-14-4 (a 63-point pace) when playing the West.  

That the Jets are playing true 0.500 hockey against the East is remarkable given the current state of the goaltending.

Of the 38 NHL goalies to play 20 or more games this season, only one has posted a worse save percentage than Ondrej Pavelec’s 0.898. That goaltender is Devan Dubnyk of the Edmonton Oilers, at 0.895, and he has since been largely supplanted by Ilya Bryzgalov.

In other words, no coach in the NHL was getting a more miserable performance out of his current primary goaltender than Noel. We can talk about systems or the way Noel handled players like Evander Kane and Dustin Byfuglien, but the bottom line is that the Jets coach was going to be in serious trouble no matter what he did. Moving to a tougher conference was a major blow, and Pavelec’s play was the coup de grâce.

That’s the trouble with viewing the hiring of Paul Maurice as the solution to Winnipeg’s problems: While he may make some positive changes, he isn’t going to fix the things that dropped the Jets to the bottom of the standings this season.

Maurice, like Noel, is stuck with a starting goaltender whose career numbers rank him 28th of the 30-most used goalies in that span (as per Hockey-Reference.com). Pavelec’s proven inability at the position is a major stumbling block that Cheveldayoff will need to address, and the sooner the better.

Maurice can’t airlift the Jets back to the good old days of the Southeast Division either, when the travel was tough but the slate of opponents was the easiest in the NHL.

What the hiring of Maurice can do is determine whether this group of players is capable of doing more to offset the challenges that Winnipeg faces. Under Noel’s guidance, the Jets had significantly outperformed the team that left Atlanta; clearly, Cheveldayoff feels that the team can take a further step with a new coach.

Because as we’ve seen, that’s what this decision requires. The Jets aren’t any worse than they were a year ago; the team’s record against the East is as good as it was then. The problem is that, given the move West, running in place means a steep fall in the standings. Noel would have needed to get much more out of his roster just to tread water, and he wasn’t able to do so. Now Maurice gets a chance.

It’s a tall order.

Unless otherwise noted, statistics are courtesy of NHL.com and current through January 12. For other pieces by Jonathan Willis, follow him on Twitter.

Winnipeg Jets coach Claude Noel made it official on Friday that he's rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

Noel is moving defenseman Dustin Byfuglien to forward on the top line for the team's game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Saturday night. The decision comes in the wake of the Jets losing their fourth straight game on Tuesday night and sitting 10 points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.

It's a peculiar move, as Byfuglien is hardly the problem with the Jets and hasn't played forward in nearly four years. Every finger in Manitoba should be pointed directly at Ondrej Pavelec, who is in the midst of his fifth consecutive season as one of the league's poorest goaltenders.

However, Noel is instead using one of his top players as a forward in an attempt to spark a team that is careening directly toward an iceberg.

Playing forward isn't Byfuglien's preference, but he has experience there from his time with the Chicago Blackhawks, when coach Denis Savard moved him up front during the 2007-08 season. During the 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs, his 6'5", 265-pound frame was routinely parked in front of opposing goaltenders, which cleared space for the likes of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.

The Blackhawks won a Stanley Cup that year, but salary-cap issues forced the team to trade Byfuglien to the Atlanta Thrashers, where he returned to defense. He has been on the blue line ever since.

During Byfuglien's first season in Atlanta, then-general-manager Rick Dudley spoke with John Manasso of NHL.com about where to play him:

I know Dustin likes to play defense. That was one thing.… Denis Savard needed Dustin up front and he moved to forward and did pretty well, obviously. He's an inordinately talented guy. I won't deny that. He's very effective. I once had this conversation with Savvy at the end of one of year. He said, "See, Duds, he's a forward. He's got 19 goals as a forward.' But I said, ‘What if he had a 15-goal season as a defenseman?" Good question.

Dudley was right about one thing—Byfuglien has been outstanding offensively as a defenseman. He scored 20 goals in his first season with the Thrashers/Jets and is third in the NHL in scoring among defensemen this season with 34 points in 46 games.

The problem for Byfuglien has been defense, a key part of being a defenseman. Real-time stats are an inexact science, but Byfuglien's 55 giveaways are the second-most in the NHL. He is a career-worst minus-16, which is also an imperfect statistic, but it's the worst plus/minus rating of his nine-year career.

If you prefer advanced statistics, Byfuglien has been pretty good at driving possession this season. According to ExtraSkater.com, he's a positive Corsi player on a poor possession team.

However, he has been on the ice for a massive amount of goals against (74) and his on-ice save percentage is .874.

Is that because of Byfuglien's giveaways and defensive play or Pavelec's status as one of the worst starting goaltenders in the NHL? Winnipeg's starter currently sports a 3.06 goals-against average and .901 save percentage.

It's more than likely the latter, as his possession numbers in the face of tough competition show he's been fine on defense. Byfuglien isn't the best defenseman in the league by any stretch, but he's hardly to blame for the club's defensive woes.

What does this switch mean for Byfuglien?

It could be great for him and work out the same way it did for Brent Burns in San Jose. Burns was struggling on defense last season and the Sharks had holes up front to fill, so Todd McLellan made the switch and has stuck with it through this season.

Burns has 14 goals and 26 points in 32 games this season as a forward and his move up front has allowed McLellan to use promising young defenseman Justin Braun more prominently.

Moving Byfuglien to forward is more of a desperation move for the Jets, as journeymen Adam Pardy and Keaton Ellerby are the top candidates to pick up the slack on defense.

The Jets can shuffle their lines and play Byfuglien anywhere they want, but as long Pavelec isn't making saves, the Jets are doomed for yet another failed season.

It’s that time of the year again. One of the biggest junior tournaments in hockey is just about ready to get underway.

The 2014 World Junior Championship will take place in Malmo, Sweden. The tournament will begin on Thursday, December 26, and will run through January 5 with the conclusion of the gold-medal game.

The United States will look to repeat for gold after defeating Canada in 2013 in the finals. It will be a difficult task this time around, however.

As always, Canada heads into this year’s tournament the favorites, but countries such as Russia and Sweden are expected to give them a run for their money. Canada also possesses some of the brightest future stars of the game such as 2015 projected first-overall pick Connor McDavid.

That’s what this tournament is all about—watching future NHL stars compete with passion for their countries. The Winnipeg Jets will have an opportunity to watch some of their young prospects put it all on the line.

Last year, Jets fans saw their very own prospect blossom before their eyes as Jacob Trouba helped lead the United States to gold in a tournament he dominated. He was also the recipient of the award for the best defenseman in the tournament.

I don’t know if any of them will top Trouba’s performance from last year, but Jets fans will be excited to watch four of their promising young prospects as they compete for their respective countries.

The four Jets prospects competing in the WJC this year are defenseman Josh Morrissey (CAN), forward Nic Petan (CAN), forward Andrew Copp (USA) and defenseman Jan Kostalek (CZE). Morrissey and Petan will play vital roles in Canada’s quest for gold, and they are probably the two prospects that fans will want to keep an eye on the most.

Morrissey, the Jets' top prospect and most recent first-round pick, will have a great chance to display his skills in front of a major audience. His nifty offense and stellar defense makes him the perfect two-way defenseman for Canada.

Petan on the other hand, is considered an undersized center, but that hasn't stopped him from tearing up the OHL this season. He will get the chance to show the world that his small frame won’t hold him back from being a dominant center.

The tournament kicks off on Thursday with an opening matchup between Canada and Germany. Look for Petan and Morrissey to make an impact early and often.

Copp is an interesting pick for the United States. He’s a mid-tier prospect playing in the NCAA for the University of Michigan. It’ll be interesting to see how he competes against the best junior players in the world. Does he have what it takes to surprise the world?

As for Kostalek, he’s the most intriguing of the four. The defenseman has developed tremendously in the QMJHL this season. He’s not a great offensive defenseman, but his shutdown skills make him very valuable to the Czech.

There’s no better time for these four prospects to make a name for themselves. You can bet that these kids are going to lay it all on the line starting Thursday.