The Winnipeg Jets (And Some Former Winnipeg Jets) Are About To Have A Massive, Future-Defining Week

The Winnipeg Jets (And Some Former Winnipeg Jets) Are About To Have A Massive, Future-Defining Week

this week of Jets news is about to hurt a heck of a [Music] lot 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 lockon Winnipeg Jets part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day I’m your host Arison Lee and have Winnipeg Jets fan and an online blogger you can follow me on Twitter at H livlo and lore winnipegjets 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 ensures that you never miss another episode but uh naturally more than anything we just really love and appreciate your support tonight’s episode [Music] oh Lord this is going to be a long week man uh let’s just be honest the pal Marice winning a Stanley Cup with the Florida Panthers the Rucker mcor trade Vibes are uh Vibes are a little bit unsettled if you’re a Winnipeg Jets fan before we dive into the pain of all of these former Jets winning a cup which I am trying very hard not to be salty about but I am a little bit salty because it feels like it should have been us H just wanted to let you know that tonight’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make a for moment more because right now new customers can get a a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com lockon to get started now like I said um the the the Florida Panthers have won the Stanley Cup um the ad to Oilers have not which I guess for jets fans is probably a double good thing Paul Maurice gets his cup along with Kevin stenland Demitri kulakov and uh you know all that fun stuff but more important the Oilers do not get theirs which means Winnipeg can still break the Canadian Cup curse first uh also we just don’t really like watching the Oilers win do we um but in terms of just oh man this is just such a frustrating uh outcome I think and I don’t say this to be like really Petty but it does kind of piss me off slightly that you know the Jets were basically left in a smoldering ruin um and and you know here Maurice is able to go to team and within two seasons has a Stanley Cup right sure you know the Jets front office and organization plays a a huge role in this and that should not be forgotten but man does it make you feel a little bit bitter that he goes to another team has a couple of our former players go with them and uh look they’re Cup champs now and that’s after they were already cup finalists last year I’m very happy for mace Maurice on a personal level I think it’s great right like aside from like my sports saltiness my Jets fan saltiness coming out uh in terms of like the personal story you know it’s it’s it’s great I think it’s a nice thing to see uh Maurice was always a class act for the Jets and in a lot of ways the only reason the Jets were even in a a more competitive State when he was there was because he underwent a lot of the hard work to get the Jets into a modern NHL organization so yeah you know it’s good to see him get rewarded and he also did shout out shout out to Jets in that last little snippet he said if I could ask for one thing more it’s for the Winnipeg Jets to win the next Stanley Cup which is nice right when he departed I think he knew that his time was up and so at the end of the day he made the right call uh I wish it had happened earlier because had Maurice departed and given the Jets more time to sort of sort uh sort things out right I think Winnipeg may have been in a better spot in the uh last couple of seasons and honestly Maurice could have gone elsewhere and been basically a hero so um remembered as a hero in Winnipeg he could have been uh really going out on top and instead you know there was a fair amount of bitterness um and I think that saltiness has kind of bled into uh the intro to tonight’s episode I’m really not like upset upset but I am kind of like mad that it just wasn’t us man I keep thinking about how the Jets have been the past two years I keep thinking about how close Winnipeg was uh in 2017 2018 and I just it uh it it hurts it hurts a lot um to know that the team was this close to feel like we were on the cusp of greatness um and and somehow just couldn’t quite close the deal thanks to Mark Andre flurry uh if I didn’t have enough reasons to hate the the the Pittsburgh Penguins well I had one more thank you uh Pittsburgh for giving Vegas the guy who ended up ending all of our cup dreams so that was that was cool aside from that you know it just is it is I mean Winnipeg if anything should probably look in the mirror and ask itself how it got to this point right you know what organizationally went so wrong that Paul marce had a team that looked like a cup Contender and a a dynasty of sworts in the cap era and it all fell apart and I think perhaps that reflection has led to some changes recently I think that they’re talking about things in a more positive fashion but I still wonder you know what lessons will they take from this not that there’s much to take away from uh Florida necessarily much better living situation for a lot of players they have a lot of top talent that they’ve drafted and you know it just is what it is right that team’s deeper in almost all positions and so it’s not shocking that Paul Maurice who generally does well when he’s given a huge top you know cast of talent to work with gets himself not only a cup win but also you know two Cup appearances in consecutive Seasons so uh it is what it is uh good for Pomo good for a lot of former Jets on that team my heart still hurts uh I could not watch that and feel impartial but the positive spin is it was really funny that McDavid won the K SMI and wasn’t actually on the ice to receive it but man wow uh you know it’s just a just a whole weird situation I’m surprised you know that they perhaps didn’t give it to bosski but in terms of you know McDavid being deserving I think the the SM for him as a pick is certainly fair I think he really carried the Oilers through a lot of this playoff stretch and honestly the only reason Edmonton was remotely close to competing in this postseason and actually getting to this point was because McDavid was so good so yeah uh cup run is finally over the off season is finally about to kick off and uh this week I I think if you’re a Winnipeg fan there’s probably a sense of dread um I think a lot of us are kind of just waiting for a lot of shoes to fall um the Rucker mcity thing we’re going to talk about it in a little bit because there was a new report that added a little bit more color to the whole situation and I got to be honest you know in light of that report it makes it a little hard to blame the Jets for how they reacted uh in fact I think this is this could be one of the scenarios where Winnipeg was maybe in the right um again you know there’s going to be a lot of of uh leaks that we probably hear over the next few days as both both player and team attempt to try and leverage the situation but from what we’re hearing it does kind of sound like maybe Rucker uh was forcing this a little bit more than he should have and in some ways I totally get it from his perspective and we’ll dive into why in just a little bit but you know I think it’s always important that at the end of the day the Jets still make good uh and smart you know hockey decisions so to speak right there’s a lot of roster management future considerations all that fun stuff and you can’t just you know acquest to every demand that a young Prospect makes of you there are some that you know perhaps would be mutually beneficial but we’ll talk about why this one may have been a little bit more of a harder cell but again congrats to Paul Maurice and the Florida Panthers wish it was us but you know I’m I’m just going to you know have to live with it that it wasn’t uh perhaps we will be next year’s cup champ I know half of you probably just laughed really loudly at me even mentioning that but hey you know what anything can happen and if there’s a successful off seon maybe the Jets have a really competitive year next season uh I’m trying to say this with a straight face I don’t even believe it myself but you know I just would love to be surprised and shocked and amazed at another strong Year from the Jets because when the Jets are winning in fun I think we all just have a much better time it’s a lot more enjoyable to talk about Winnipeg then but uh like I said want to spend some time talking about some of the more recent uh more recent Rucker record news because there’s been a new change in a new development well perhaps not new but a little more context and Clarity added that may kind of exonerate the Jets just a little bit but before we dive into that just wanted to let you know that tonight’s episode is brought to you by fandu I love sports and I love them so much that I never want them to stop but as the playoffs wind down we get fewer games and the sports aren’t sportting like I want them to but FanDuel lets me keep the sports going whenever I want all I have to do is open the app and Dream On bets anytime I’m in the mood of course you know if you’re thinking about this upcoming season maybe you want to cast some bets on Winnipeg’s you know upcoming season their standings results maybe who will be their top performers maybe you want to bet on other leagues they’ve got plenty of MLB action still ongoing they’ve got uh of course the Euros still ongoing there’s still tournaments that are happening right now even as we speak while our favorite uh you know Winnipeg Jets season and the NHL season may already be over but regardless uh FanDuel wants to hook up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily that’s right there’s something for everyone every day all summer long head on over to fanduel.com lockon and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball hey friends and welcome back to this episode of Locked on Winnipeg Jets part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day every thank you so much for rejoining us on tonight’s episode as we’re just uh chatting about uh you know some some tough weeks ahead for the Jets I think the next five to seven days are going to be somewhat painful uh I think there’s going to be you know some some bitter feelings over pal Marie or well I guess Bittersweet is probably the better way to describe it um of pal Marice winning his cup uh while we all wish it would have been the Jets and it just it just it just wasn’t but you know it is what it is more importantly the Jets have a a really big decision to make about their future and that involves that of Rucker morcor which we all know is basically heading to a trade I want to talk about why though um and I think that there’s some interesting context that was added earlier today that like I said and hinted at earlier perhaps gives a little bit more of a a positive read for the Jets we’ll talk about that in just a moment but for all of you FOX Sports or ESPN Watchers if you find yourself having to turn down the volume because there’s too much shouting you should make the switch to lockdown sports today a free 247 sports streaming Channel programs for you daily to bring you the biggest stories without all the screaming locked on sports today brings you C Miss analysis opinions and news streaming 247 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app all part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day now like I said uh the mcity stuff uh it’s been interesting you know I think a lot of us are kind of looking at the situation and we feel that there is something else ongoing here right whe whether it’s something on mcord side something with the Jets there had to have been some reason that the relationship deteriorated uh to this point because for a prospect and a team to basically not be talking at this stage is really unusual um you don’t really see that very often I mean I know cutter just did this whole thing with the Flyers and uh forced his way to Anaheim but I don’t know with how mcity was really heralded by the Jets for a while and how he seemingly was very publicly favor of the team it’s a little strange so today it kind of came out that there was a little bit more flavor added to it uh the suggestion was the deterioration started in April when the Jets were pushing for a playoff spot Rucker season had just ended he wanted to join the team and and honestly have an NHL spot and the team was like well no we need to kind of prepare for um you know trying to get home ICE advantage and stuff which they were actively pushing for and that appears to have been a bit of an in inflamation point which I find real interesting right uh so from Rucker’s perspective getting to the league now and burning an ELC season with a you know like a handful of games uh both from the regular season and playoffs combined it does get you to a next contract faster and it also means that you make some cash immediately out of college right the NHL salary on your ELC even for just a few games is a pretty substantial amount so H you know I can’t really under estimate that impact but you know from from Rucker’s perspective I almost wonder if he would have been better off just waiting had he actually given himself a a full season on a zc to um really get that that track record and leverage he might be able to negotiate for more so he’ll have that opportunity now that he’s going to have to sign somewhere else I guess that actually works out for him a little bit more than it does uh from from trying to rush things but you know I I do see it from his perspective I can see why he’d be impatient and want to be an immediate contributor and while I certainly admire and love that in a player and would love to see guys uh wanting to join the Jets I think that there’s also a certain level of expectation and reality that has to be uh kind of brought back in right the Jets can’t just be handing out big roster spots to prospects uh you know right as they’re fighting for home I advantage in the playoffs when there’s only a handful of games left in the season and I think Rucker was sort of expecting to not only do that but also be part of the playoff team which look mcgi might have actually been a nice upgrade internally but I don’t think that there was enough time to find out if he was capable of that his season kind of went pretty deep um I think bones was fairly locked into his roster I mean think about it right Cole Peretti was not seeing ice in the postseason so there’s no way in heck we were ever going to see mcity uh especially with the fact that mcor also does have some legitimate uh foot speed issues now with how the Jets were built this past season Maybe that wouldn’t have been you know an issue but my sense was that you know there was a mismatch of expectation and what the Jets could offer and for that to be the sticking point uh it’s interesting to me I’m not entirely sure if I imagine that to be the only thing I I have to think that there’s some other stuff underlying all of this and it could just be that mcord doesn’t want to play in Winnipeg but based on his comments early on at least I would be surprised if that was the uh the specific issue I think he’s a Midwestern kid um you know I can’t I just I don’t think that was like the geographic situation being you know one of the factors I feel like something else happened and maybe something was said there was an escalation and at some point it just led to this but whatever the case may be uh the Jets are rumored to be interested in a first round pick this is coming back from uh some team sources who apparently are speculating that’s what they’re they’re thinking the Jets are into that could just be a lot of teams hoping that they’re gonna be able to get away without giving up an RFA I think Winnipeg would probably prefer a young RFA at like age 22 or 23 versus another draft pick right constantly amassing draft prospects and stuff when you struggle to get them to the NHL doesn’t really seem like it’s going to be all that productive but mcity is good enough and near enough that you could probably bring in an out of favor RFA we talked about it on the last episode I kind of feel like that’s my angle right if you’re going to have an asset that can help in the near term maybe go for a guy who’s already had a reasonably demonstrated track record at the NHL but for one reason or another has pissed off somebody in his respective organization I think this is a great chance for the Jets to get a a roster player of some sort uh maybe they can’t maybe mcity is somehow tainted goods and I could see that being the case but I keep thinking about how many times Pier luk de got traded before he arrived in Winnipeg and um you know I I just I feel like maybe this uh I guess you know duah didn’t end up really getting traded that much he got traded to the Kings you know after that but um even still like he he had a reputation right and I think mcgard doesn’t really have that right now other than perhaps some unrealistic expectations of a role and he could get traded to a team that’s going to be willing to give him ice time and if that’s the case you know I could see there being a scenario where A team’s looking at like anes or something a player that clearly is going to cost them a lot of money right now and perhaps they aren’t interested in signing and apparently the Jets are actually interested in niches I do wonder if there’s something there um Winnipeg was apparently one of the first suitors for NES Services which is interesting uh I can’t say that I think that deal is going to happen between Winnipeg and Carolina although I’m open to being surprised if mcy does go there I would be interested to see what sort of role they Envision for him um Rucker is less of the kind of player I thought they would Target but I mean there’s certainly a fit there I could see him being uh a nice gritty role player maybe a really really really upgraded Jordan martinuk somebody with really highend playmaking skills and you know a pretty decent shot but is also pretty pretty physical in the corners and can win those battles with his big frame so um yeah there’s there’s a whole variety of options I guess I’m just a little disappointed that it’s kind of come to this right where regardless of who’s really at fault I had sort of pegged you know mcord as a future Captain I thought that he was going to be the guy and to see him sort of exhibiting this sort of uh behavior and and perhaps making me second guess that is is disappointing you know we don’t really know these guys off the ice all that well other than our limited interactions and what people say about them so I’m going to reserve my judgment fully I I don’t know who’s really at fault here and I don’t honestly blame mcord for exercising his right if he doesn’t want to play here he just doesn’t want to play here he didn’t get a choice to get drafted by the Jets he didn’t get a choice in Winnipeg not wanting to really offer him a roster spot you know so if he doesn’t want to play here so be it there’s going to be plenty of other teams out there who will probably be willing to acques to his request and that’s fine I just hope that whatever comes out of it the Jets end up with a uh a relatively decent Hall but there in kind of lies the rub uh I think this is just one part of a you know an upcoming busy week that could see a a fair number of Departures and uh all I know is it could really be a painful week we’re going to talk about that uh to wrap up in just a little bit and some guys who might be on the way out you know on top of Rucker uh all coming right up in just a quick moment but before we go too much further I did want to shout out our friends and partners at eBay Motors passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die alive eBay Motors has everything you need to maintain your vehicle and level it up to Peak Performance from superchargers to roof racks exhaust kits LED headlights and more whether you’re into speed power or style eBay Motors has you covered with over 122 million parts for your number one vehicle You’ll Always Find exactly what you’re looking for and with eBay’s guaranteed fit your part is guaranteed to fit your ride every time or you get your money back with eBay Motors you’re burning rubber not cash with all the parts you need at the prices you want it’s easy to make your car the MVP and bring home huge victories keep your Rider ey alive at ebaymotors.com eligible items only exclusion Supply eBay guaranteed fit is only available to us customers hey friends and welcome back to this episode of Locked on Winnipeg Jets part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day ever thank you so much for rejoining us on tonight’s episode as we’re just uh wrapping up with some thoughts um perhaps a little more pessimistic than I would like to be uh but uh I’m going to be honest I think this week could be a relatively painful one for Winnipeg Jets fans um let’s be real right Rucker mccordi might be getting traded Nikolai ERS might be on the way out Brendan dyan’s going into free agency uh we’re likely to see one of Nate Schmidt or Neil pan traded and for all of my my thoughts about their their performance on the ice no question that both guys are real big characters uh and and you know very accountable guys so personally it does suck right um my guess is it’s going to be Schmidt I I could see that being a situation I guess with the the pain does come the promise of potentially new beginnings and maybe that’s where Winnipeg really needs you know a makeover right this team is in desperate need of some sort of injection because Winnipeg got really far with what it was doing last season but you could tell that as soon as it came up against a specific style of hockey that does tend to be pretty productive in the playoffs well the Jets were shown to be a second class team and I think that was very apparent against Colorado and when Colorado had its own issues the deeper it gotten the postseason so for Winnipeg you know this week could be very transformative you’re going to be seeing some veterans departing and you’re going to be seeing some new additions whether it’s in the form of draft picks prospects or perhaps even some roster players I think for what I’m hoping comes out of this week I want to see more spots open for some of our youth I think the Jets need to reallocate some of their cap considerations uh look look you know I I like guys like I follow and Appleton and Schmidt and stuff but a lot of them come with pretty you know Hefty cap hits Appleton’s pretty modest it’s just a little over 2 mil but you know ifal is like four million Schmid’s like what 5.95 or almost six uh pretty expensive and so at this stage you’ve got to make better use of that space because the Jets are one of those teams that doesn’t have the luxury of a lot of dead weight on the team and I think that’s kind of held the Jets back in the past they certainly will have more elc’s rely upon this upcoming season which is great I think that’s exactly how you should build um that’s how the 2017 2018 team was built and hopefully with the new coaching staff they’re going to be able to get more out of this team than some of the older uh you know uh coaching staffs and rosters were able to put together so um I’m I’m trying to see the bright side I think right now things feel pretty Grim because we’re seeing yet another Prospect one out we have you know an an unfortunate track record in history of that with the Jets but I will say that you know arneal probably would have pushed to have uh Rucker on this year’s team and so if Rucker really is just not talking and not interested in communicating with Winnipeg well that’s kind of on him in my mind um I think he’s going to make that choice that’s fine he can make that choice I don’t think I’m going to hold that against the Jets necessarily but I do hope this is like one of the last players that really wants to leave you know I I think it’s not a great feeling when somebody says uh they’d rather prefer for a change of scenery it hurts that eers wants to kind of go um I love eers I think he’s been one of my favorite players and it sucks that you know he is already thinking about his next destination which I mean again can you really blame him he’s played very minimal minutes over his career and uh he probably could have been putting up some serious numbers if a he could stay healthy and B he actually was used the way he should be so um yeah it just feels like that never quite materialized in a relationship that really blossomed but the good news is he’s not unhappy necessarily so uh I I guess it could be wor at least elers isn’t actively requesting a trade he still loves us enough to not want to uh you know go through the whole dog and pony show but yeah The Vibes this week are just feeling a little bit dim I am hoping that at the end of all of this the Jets come out stronger I will say that over the past couple of years when the Jets have been forced into these kinds of things they’ve made the most of it you know they’ve done a good job I think the DUIs trade really gave me a lot more confidence in the front office’s ability to sort of get the most B you know bang for your buck and sure it did it did require a bit of a stroke of luck and it required some good fortune to come Winnipeg’s way with Rob Lake apparently being very generous but at the end of the day the Jets still made the most of that deal they they turned lemons uh or rotten lemons I guess into lemonade and really sweet tasty lemonade if I may say so myself um but you know now it’s time for the Jets to to really look at how they’re going to build their team going forward um I think Winnipeg should be looking more at roster players that are on the younger side I can understand if that’s not going to work but all I can say is I hope that we don’t keep buying or we don’t sell a bunch of guys for like Futures because I feel like Futures just keeps delaying the window and like hu’s not getting younger he’s already in his 30s you know early 30s obviously but you know he’s getting up there in years he just started you know his new contract and I think uh going forward it it is time to start thinking about how many years you’re going to have him at an elite level I know bosski just won a cup and he’s you know what like 35 or something uh but you you’re just never guaranteed that and every year that you have this level of performance from huk where he’s putting up you know by his own standards some of the best career Seasons he’s ever had you got to take advantage you have to make a run and if you can balance his workload out if you can get this team to create more offense if you can add some more Mobility to the back end and get this team uh to be a more Progressive more Forward Thinking uh Squad the Jets might start to look more like the their old selves again I think that there was a time when I really felt like this team was on the right path that they were moving in the right direction and this week could kind of help to further that objective uh arneal I will say you know we haven’t heard a lot from him recently but given the recent developments I’m sure that he’s probably upset by the homor news but I’m sure he’s already working on talking with the front office and and hoping you know hopefully prioritizing uh some skill sets and tool sets that would be really useful to the Jets maybe it’s nichas maybe it’s zis maybe it’s somebody we’re not even thinking of maybe somebody out of Columbus like Jer uh Johnson maybe there’s a situation with pinto or something in Ottawa I have no idea uh this is like a wide openen Playfield the Jets have lots of opportunities and the fact that they’re engaging lots of teams in conversations tells me that Winnipeg has suitors and when they do I promise you that usually means that the return is going to be pretty good whatever it is I I just hope that Winnipeg um next year is a fun team to watch because like I know it’s going to be a learning curve I think the Jets are going to have a period of growth that’s going to be a bit on the painful side but hopefully whatever happens this week starts to soften that initial blow next year and gives the Jets something to look forward to in the very near future but let me know how you’re feeling about all of this uh does the Maurice cup win make you happy are you a little bit sad is you a Bittersweet let me know in the comments below or at my social medias H Liv loo and at lore Winnipeg Jets but for tonight’s episode that’s going to be all the time that we have I thank you so much for making locked on Jets your first listen of the day every day we’ll probably keep an eye on uh the the trade tracker and stuff this week and give you some updates talk about any more uh Rucker news and maybe some Jets news apparently Rucker is going to get traded before the draft so that could be hitting any time over the next four to 5 days but uh cross your fingers it’s a good one but like I said for tonight’s episode that’s all the time that we have thanks so much for listening and making us your first listen of the day as always have a great night and go jets go

On tonight’s episode, we recap the end of the Stanley Cup Finals, and how it feels to see a number of former Winnipeg Jets hoist the Cup. Are we happy to see Maurice celebrating his first win as a head coach, or is the feeling bittersweet? What do we make of the recent developments in the Rutger McGroarty saga? Have the news pieces from earlier today exonerated the Jets, or should the team have still acquiesced to Rutger’s requests? Should Winnipeg fans be prepared for a painful week ahead? Just how many departures should we expect before the weekend arrives?

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