All Signs Are Pointing To Scott Arniel As The New Winnipeg Jets Head Coach…Is That A Mistake?
do all signs point to Scott arnal being the next head coach if were’re to believe lots of insiders the answer is yes find out why on tonight’s episode of Locked on Winnipeg Jets you’re locked on the hockey Jets your daily podcast on the Winnipeg Jets part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day hey friends and welcome to tonight’s episode of Locked on Winnipeg Jets part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day I’m your host Harrison Lee inav Winnipeg Jets fan and an online blogger you can follow me on Twitter at H Liv Loco and lore winipeg Jets thanks for making locked on Jets your first listen of the day every day if you like what you’re hearing be sure to like follow And subscribe on all of your favorite podcasting platforms and YouTube doing so of course is always free of charge and ures you never missed another episode most of all though we just love and appreciate your support tonight’s episode like I said we are going to be talking about uh the development recently that the Jets might be about to appoint Scott arneil as the next head coach have the Jets made the right decision why does it seem like there was not much of a process that was actually followed um have they really done an exhaustive search and I think that is a legitimate question obviously their number one candidate Todd Nelson if we were to uh believe that he was their number one Target is still in the AHL playoffs and in fact is about to move on to the Eastern Conference Finals so assuming that they’re not actually interested in Todd then at this point I don’t really know what the Jets would be waiting for are they hoping to interview him just in case are they trying to make it look like the process is ongoing I I don’t know and so uh if you’re asking me I’m I’m kind of puzzled by what’s happening the fact that multiple insiders and media sources suggest that arneil is the next head coach it’s it’s a little concerning because I feel like the Jets you know could they have done more on their search maybe I think that they interviewed a couple of key candidates but I feel like the process didn’t really amount to more than just a couple of interviews and some potential candidates who uh for for one reason or another didn’t really fit what the Jets needed and if they just end up going with his safe option I really feel like that would be a missed opportunity I’d personally be dis appointed in it I think it’s not really fair to the team and fans after all of what we’ve talked about this offseason and it would just be a huge annoyance if the Jets basically went through you know several weeks of holding it off and then at the very last second then they appoint him as the next T coach and make it look like they’ve gone through this long exhaustive search so we’ll talk about that in just a moment but before we go too much further just wanted to let you know that tonight’s episode is brought to you by game time download the game time app create an account and be sure to use promo code locked on NHL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply now I just wanted to say also apologies for the uh silence the last couple of days as you can tell I am still not feeling 100% uh it is surprisingly difficult to try and talk while you were sick so hopefully we will get through tonight’s episode and uh resume our normal coverage here pretty shortly but obviously didn’t want to leave this discussion about arneal for too long and I think for me uh you know as a Jets fan I would personally feel pretty let down if Winnipeg basically told us this whole time that they were doing this larger search and that they were interviewing all these candidates and then they just kind of went with a guy that is already internal and that they feel uh comfortable with right and it’s not to say um it’s not to say that arneal is necessarily a terrible candidate but but you know for looking at uh the options out there and and what the Jets kind of need I I feel like it would have been better for Winnipeg to you know look a little bit further and maybe look into a guy like Todd Nelson who could potentially be a better solution right I think Nelson is a better fit for where the Jets are at currently and what they’re looking for I think if you’re Winnipeg and and where this franchise is the Jets need somebody that they can grow alongside with and that’s where I feel like you know Nelson would have been a better fit not to say that again you know arneal isn’t the right guy but I feel like arneal just really hasn’t shown enough as a coach yet for me to be really excited he might be okay he might be a decent pick but I feel like every time we see um interim coaches get promoted and then you know made longer term coaches like we’ve seen with LA and a few of these other teams it usually doesn’t end that well either their success after uh being appointed is Mis misattributed or something like that or in many cases they’re just not really that great and I think arneal is kind of a harder one for me to read personally because we don’t have a huge sample size with him it’s not like we can just sit there and say that he’s got this really long body of work where we can easily point to this is you know tactical adjustment a tactical adjustment B and you know this is what has worked well and all that stuff um I think if for uh if if we’re looking at his body of work it’s it’s pretty mixed and so it’s hard for us to really get a solid read on what he is or isn’t and so far you know if I have to be honest I just don’t really know that we have enough to go off of that yet so assuming that you know the Jets really are into Todd uh or or Scott arneal I mean it is what it is I’m not going to sit here and say that uh he’s the worst candidate because I don’t know for that that you know I don’t know that for a fact all I can say is that given where the Jets are I would have liked a different candidate to emerge out of this process and I really feel like the Jets should be trying for someone a little bit more um outside the box somebody with a fresher perspective who’s willing to sort of grow and learn with the team and maybe bring um some unique winning pedigree to a franchise that quite frankly doesn’t have much uh you know you look at the number of winning coaches that come to the Jets and obviously Maurice has probably had the best record of all of them but look how his tenure ended right he had some really serious issues with the locker room they never got resolved and he kind of left the team uh in a bit of a smoking mess which you know for the best parts of his his playoff runs and stuff you know it just didn’t really do enough to paper over what he left behind and when he walked away from this team I mean let’s be real the Jets were toxic horrendous mess and uh it was time for him to leave so you know I I don’t know that the next head coach is going to uh be able to really allow this franchise to bloom but at least we would start off with somebody who’s a little bit different and a bit of a fresher face rather than somebody internally who at least in my mind just hasn’t done um a ton where I’m I’m really thinking he is the next lead candidate but you know what arneal is familiar it wouldn’t shock me if this is the option that the Jets choose and like I said I feel like for all that we’ve said about this whole search and process it would just be a little bit of a let down if that’s the direction they wi and again like I said arneal May legitimately have some really good qualifications for this but unless we’re looking at a guy who really is some sort of winning coach that the Jets are are really believing in I I just don’t know that that’s really uh the best Avenue right I don’t know that this is trly the direction the Jets should go in especially with this team needing to be transitioning to a brighter faster more aggressive future maybe arneal is willing to move that team uh move the team in that direction maybe that’s what he’s really preaching I don’t know you know we’re not in the interview room with him we can’t hear what he’s saying maybe he’s really ticking off all the right boxes for the Jets brass and that’s why but you know this franchise has a really bad history of doing what’s safe and comfortable and that’s where I kind of worry that’s what they’re doing again but again we’re not in the room we can’t speak you know personally to that so I’m just going to let that alone for now but keep in mind you know if this does kind of rear its head at some point you know in the future just remember that this is one of the considerations we talked about because let’s be real right you know the Jets haven’t had too much coaching success as of late and it would be nice if we could bring in a top candidate pretty now while the Jets head coaching search is certainly Ono going and we’ll kind of update it as we move along obviously the Conference finals are now underway which started while I was unfortunately sick uh they are still ongoing right now as the first game between Dallas and Edmonton is currently underway currently tied 22 heading into overtime we’ll talk about some of the early results uh from the first playoff series or two obviously it’s been a pretty tightly run Affair for both Series so far and we’ll talk about that in just a moment before we go any further though I don’t want to shout out our friends and partners at game time when it comes to buying tickets obviously a lot of you are probably used to getting hit with surprise fees lots of hidden charges and look when you’re buying tickets we all know it kind of sucks when you find out that a you’re not really sure where you’re sitting and be you know what you’re paying a lot more than you expected especially once you hit checkout and that’s why game time is here to help they totally know that it sucks getting hit with lots of of surprise fees that or surprise fees that are not up front and they 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NHL for $20 off your first purchase terms apply again create an account and redeem code l c d o n NH for $20 off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guaranteed hey friends and welcome back to this episode of lockon Winnipeg Jets part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day every day thank you so much for joining us on tonight’s episode of Locked on Jets as we are talking about um obviously what has been a pretty crazy start to uh uh the playoff run for a lot of teams obviously we are into the Eastern and Western Conference Finals right now the Western Conference Final has finally gotten underway between Dallas and Edmonton I think a lot of us probably weren’t expecting this as it uh came out but you know I think if we’re uh if we’re looking at these two teams I know a lot of people were talking about the stars as being perhaps a real cup favorite and the Oilers if they got average goal tending would be up there as well thanks to a pretty potent offense and so far that Series has gotten off to a very tight start but of course uh you know the Rangers and Panthers have also already gotten underway in their series as well we’ll get into those in just a moment before we dive into those uh Series starts just wanted to let you know for all you FOX Sports and ESPN Watchers if you find yourself having to turn down the volume because of all the shouting you should make the switch to lock on sports today a free 247 sports streaming Channel programmed for you daily to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming locked on sports today brings you can’t miss analysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day every thank you so much for rejoining us again as we are just talking about uh Eastern W Western Conference Finals if you have caught him so far uh it’s been pretty tight uh obviously I’m recording this while the Western Conference Final game one is still ongoing so it’s tied to two into overtime been a pretty back and forth game where for a while I would say like neither the Oilers nor the stars were really finding much space it’s been very tight very close lots of for checking and not a lot of room to move uh it wasn’t until the second half where I thought the game started to open up a little bit and where the teams were able to get a little bit more flurry opportunities here and there I thought that there were some good passes down low couple of big saves from otinger and Skinner but generally speaking pretty tightly contested and so that game uh I could see being basically a coin flip at this point uh do I think one of these teams has the clear Edge um tough to say I think the Oilers might have a slight Advantage just in so far as on anyone shift their top talent might be able to take over and finish the game but the Stars certainly have the overall depth Advantage so it’ll be interesting to see uh who ends up Surviving this one I think that’s kind of how you have to look at it is that it is a bit of a survival game you’re trying to Outlast the other opponent wear him down and just hope that basically you’re the one getting the last opportunity because then it’s probably the winner so uh for both of these teams I’m sure that they’re going to want to finish this game up here pretty soon the longer this goes the the less happy it is for both teams with only a day or so in between as a break now the Eastern Conference Finals also had a pretty tight uh lowc scoring Affair game one Panthers ended up squeaking by the Rangers although I would say it was certainly earned uh this was a very close very tight game in which honestly there just wasn’t a lot of of difference between these two teams I think where you know the Panthers kind of got through uh was that you know you were dealing with two teams that weren’t conceding very many opportunities there was not much space out there defensively I think both squads are very tight but at the end of the day because the Panthers just have uh a little bit more at 5v5 you know the moment that the Rangers made a mistake the Panthers you know not necessarily their top skilled guys but their overall uh roster construction was able to take advantage a little bit more frequently now that’s not to say that the Rangers played a bad game at 5v5 I think that they they did pretty okay but I think if you’re looking at um some of the things that the that the Panthers did to sort of force mistakes out of the Rangers especially on the four Che I feel like that may have helped contribute uh to some of the mistakes and stuff that ended up costing New York uh the first goal was kind of just a good play from the Panthers the second one was a mistake from Sherin although it was partly because uh the Rangers defense didn’t do a great job um helping out uh W with the with the puck clearance and stuff and so you know Sherin sort of misjudged the distance got himself into trouble and that led to an own goal off of lafier uh which wasn’t great but I mean it is what it is you know it was kind of a comical moment in in the actual sequence but I’m sure for the Rangers a bit of a horror show but overall I mean despite the three nothing score line I think it was actually pretty close generally speaking uh I think what the Rangers are probably wishing had happened was that they broke through on the power play they had a few special teams opportunities they weren’t able to punch at home and that was kind of a key difference and one thing that I mentioned might be a problem for them if their even strength offense kind of tapered off you know would the power play be able to get through and with bosski putting up a really tough resistance in net it has been very difficult to solve him and he has been an absolute Rock for the Panthers to lean on so no joke there I think he’s turned back the clock a little bit on this season which is kind of crazy to consider that the past few years you know haven’t really been kind to him as a panther but it seems like uh this last year or two things have really turned around and he’s looking more like his old self again which if you’re the Rangers probably not the best news uh obviously they are uh still a very potent offense and they have a lot of shooting talent but against a top end goalie like bosski at this point it’s tough right if you don’t have the edge at 5v5 you need to have that power play uh advantage every time you get it and so far they have not been able to cash it not that they’ve had loads of chances yet but of course you know any opportunity that they do have they have to sort of punch it home because if the if the Panthers can outplay the Rangers even a little bit at 5v5 it is going to be an absolute chore for the Rangers to get through but we all probably expected this series to be close the underlying numbers even gave a slight advantage to the Rangers I think we’re going to see a a a seven gamer one out of this one would not Shock me at all I would also not be shocked to see you know Oilers Stars end up as another seven game series just the likely outcome I’d be curious to know who you’re rooting for in the Cup finals I would probably go with stars and uh Rangers I think that would be a fun Cup Final it’d be a little bit different something that we’re not necessarily expecting um I guess same with the Panthers but the Panthers have already been there recently and I can’t in good conscious say that I want the Oilers to advance to The Cup finals hey Edmonton I think you do too and uh even if they might be another Canadian team I am not feeling any sibling love for that team so let’s hope that we get Dallas and um either of the Panthers or the Rangers I mean if you’re looking for I guess rooting stuff on the New York and and Florida side you’ve got Paul Maurice if you still enjoy him for some reason and you’ve got Blake wheeler it’d be nice if Blake wheeler was able to get a ring this year especially after he had such a horrible injury and somehow is already skating again I can’t believe it that guy is literally like not human I I don’t understand how he’s doing it but uh let’s just hope that he’s feeling a little bit better and I know he really shouldn’t be playing either but it was nice to at least see him skating uh bit of a morale boost and hopefully he walks away with a title to his career that’s had quite a few ups and downs and hopefully closes out on a high but um obviously for the Jets there are still some other questions that they’re trying to answer themselves one of them might be the defense and with the Jets needing to make some kind of a move here to get things going again might they look at some young rfas we’ll talk about a suggestion I saw on Twitter from Nick Lum and whether it makes sense to Target rfas in just a little bit before we go any further though just wanted to let you know about our friends and partners at indeed there’s no in Te but there is one and indeed and that’s a hiring platform you need to build your team when you’re hiring you need indeed because indeed is the hiring platform where you can attract interview and hire allinone place instead of spending hours on multiple job sit job sites searching for candidates with the right skills indeed’s a platform that can help you do it all with convenient streamlined services and tools to help you match to excellent candidates with instant match over 80% of employers get quality candidates whose resume in on indeed matches their job description the moment they sponsor a job and you know for those of you who are uh looking for fast matches that also are interested in your position as well you can be sure that candidates who are uh invited to apply are three times more likely to apply to your job than candidates who only see it in a search and that’s why indeed you know as as somebody who was actually looking for work at one point I used indeed myself I can personally attest to it being very detailed very step by step very convenient I thought it was great personally very flexible it offered me tons of information that I needed as employee looking for the right match for my skill sets and for what I was looking for in terms of job requirements I can only imagine for employers that it’s super convenient and helpful for you too so join more more than three million businesses worldwide that use indeed to hire great Talent fast start hiring now with a $75 sponsored job credit to upgrade your job post. indie.com lockon offer good for a limited time claim your $75 credit at indeed.com lockon that’s indeed.com lockon terms and conditions apply need to hire you need indeed hey friends and welcome back to tonight’s episode of Locked on when AEG Jets part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day EV thank you so much for rejoining us on tonight’s episode as we’re just wrapping up with a few quick thoughts uh obviously for the Jets uh I think we have plenty of big questions like who’s coaching the team next season is it Scott Neal is it going to be an outside candidate still TBD even if it looks like it’s going to be Scott O’Neal hoping we may get a little bit more of a process than just electing the guy who is the internal candidate but you never know we’ll see how that goes uh in the meantime obviously the Jets have some big roster questions and one of them is really on the defense right the blue line it’s kind of a a tough question because Winnipeg uh doesn’t have a lot of capital that they can spend on like a big right sided Defender uh obviously most top defensemen tend to be picked up more through the draft and I think that’s where the Jets haven’t really been going for as many top end blue liners we’re not usually drafting in a Range where you get like a kill Mar or anything usually the Jets are kind of in that 10 to 14 range uh if not even a little bit further back in the draft which is where the Jets have gotten good value but maybe not like the MEO Hein or something that would really push this franchise over the edge and so where the Jets have to kind of get a little bit creative is in looking at maybe some candidates out there from other teams who are rfas that might be of interest I saw Nick Liam from Topline media post uh something about this on Twitter looking at a couple of different candidates uh guys like Neil list and and a few others um Braden Schneider of course from the Rangers and my thought about some of these guys is that on the one hand I I like the idea of targeting some underutilized perhaps underserved rfas who potentially get a chance on Winnipeg’s blue line but I also sort of worry that you know assuming that these guys have sort of stagnated with their respective teams what is the likelihood that the Jets are going to be the team to really coax it out of them right I feel like that’s a dicer question and unless you can really get some contracts off the books like Schmidt and uh pan and a few others I don’t know if it’s necessarily worth going that Avenue yet you might have to sort of trade you know a guy like eers for a top four Defender um even if you have to add on a little bit to eers which I think you probably would in that scenario right unless you’re unless you’re talking about another expiring contract I think the Jets probably have to add in any sort of deal if they’re looking for that kind of help especially if they’re targeting like a good blue liner I’m not talking about like a ristal lan or something I’m talking about like a quality player uh now I mean I guess I could be talked into guys like Schneider and some of those I guess players of that ilk in so far as they have a chance to perhaps capitalize on on the talent and stuff that they had when they were drafted maybe a little bit as a late bloomer instead of what was initially expected when they first jumped into the league but I guess my other concern is like the Jets have traditionally not been great when it comes to developing after they draft somebody and I don’t know if throwing them into Winnipeg system is going to be the thing that really turns them around now arneal was you know a protege here under bonus and maybe he will adopt some of uh Rick’s defensive structures and stuff which could be helpful for a young Defender looking to really make his mark But by the same token I just don’t know you know for me in RFA also will come with some extra price tag attached to it you know if you’re looking at guys like Schneider who might be behind uh the Rangers depth chart a bit I I could see why maybe New York is eager to change that out but I don’t know if you’re me I I just wonder if it’s really worth all the hassle and if it’s not better served uh just trying to maybe pick up a cheaper free agent or something like Colin Miller as like a third pairing Defender if you bring him back I think he would be very serviceable he won’t be like amazing or Earth shattering or anything but he’d be all right you know I kind of look at it in that respect where the kind of talent that the Jets need on the blue line I just don’t know if there’s going to be an RFA out there who’s really that good uh and who’s like a clear upgrade over pan and Schmidt um pan I mean you you probably don’t have to find somebody that highend to uh exceed the output that he’s had recently but Schmid’s been reasonably decent the past couple of seasons and so I I don’t know again it’s a tough call right and I don’t want the Jets to pay a lot because they’re picking up somebody with uh rights control just because they’re young they’re on RFA and they have that status you know if you end up getting stuck with the list who doesn’t end up turning into much it feels like you’ve you know maybe expended a few too many assets for a guy who’s not really uh moving the needle for you so you know unless the Jets are able to pry out a higher quality candidate I just don’t know if there’s a lot of value in it I could be wrong you know maybe there’s a player out there that the Jets would be interested in who would really be able to turn things around but kind of looking at it you know I I just don’t see that many rfas out there Timothy Lil grin was one of the options on the list that I think would be a legit upgrade for the Jets uh Lilia grin has also had some injury stuff over the past couple of years but if you’re looking at Toronto and you think that maybe a shakeup uh on their back end is what’s needed and you’re looking at a guy who’s out of favor with the old coaching staff Timothy could be a legit option I think he would make a lot of sense for the Jets I guess the only question is what goes back right if they trade Marner um eers goes in and you get Lil grin as part of the deal in exchange I could see that potentially being a good option I don’t know if the Jets would actually do that I don’t know if the Leafs would actually do that but hey maybe it would work out for both parties other than that you know there’s just not that many Defenders that I think really move the needle uh maybe you try for Chris tanov and free agency not that I would really want to tie a lot of money into him at this stage of his career I like him as a rental I don’t love him as a a longer term signed Defender you know at that point you might as well just bring back Brendan Dylan and you know how I feel about Dylan right I love him I think he’s a great player at his age extending him long term not going to be the best use of your cap space so a lot of stuff for the Jets to figure out but hey uh at least we have several months in the offseason to try and sort through all of this but if the Jets were to say buy out Schmidt or Pon that could potentially open up some serious flexibility and also open up some spots for perhaps uh some some mid- tier Defenders to slide into Winnipeg’s roster and and maybe earn a spot here or two but let me know who you think might filter into the Jets defense in the comments below or at my social medias at a living loo and at lore Winnipeg Jets for tonight’s episode though that that’s all the time that we have I thank you so much for listening and making lock on Jets your first listen of the day every day we’ll see you back here tomorrow should I feel well enough to record uh for even more Jets offseason coverage so don’t go anywhere have a great night and as always go jets go
On tonight’s episode, we dive into the continued speculation that Scott Arniel is Winnipeg’s next head coach. Are the Jets actually doing as thorough an interview and search process as possible? What can we glean from their rumored candidates they’ve interviewed? Are any of them legitimately good picks over Arniel, or has this all been ceremonial? Is Winnipeg still holding out for Todd Nelson? How have the Eastern and Western Conference Finals been to start? Are we rooting for any particular teams to make the Stanley Cup Finals?
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