What Will It Take for the Winnipeg Jets to Improve Their Playoff Performance This Season?
It’s been an uneven start for the Winnipeg Jets so far, but can they get back on track? Harrison Lee of Locked On Winnipeg Jets joins us to discuss what it’ll take. All that and more coming up next on today’s Locked on NHL podcast. [Music] You’re Locked on NHL, your daily podcast on the National Hockey League, part of the Locked On Network. your team every day. Gil Martin here and welcome everybody to the Monday edition of the Lockdown NHL podcast. We are part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. I want to thank everyone who makes Lockdown NHL your first listen every day. Don’t forget to subscribe on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts so you never miss an episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. It is my pleasure to welcome back to the show the host of Locked on Winnipeg Jets, Harrison Lee. And uh Harrison, a little bit of an uneven start for the Jets, but it’s only been two games. What stands out to you most in the early going? Yeah. Uh well, this off season was pretty interesting. Um, the Jets, of course, you know, the big headline was signing Taves, which uh you’re going to ask me about a little bit how he’s done. Um, but I think the the broader sense that I’ve had since uh really the the start of summer was that the Jets weren’t really sure where this season was going to go. Um, you basically did everything you possibly can in a regular season. You’ve accomplished one of the greatest things in franchise history. You’ve got a banner out of it. Where do you even go from there? And I think the answer is pretty easy, right? it’s it’s the playoffs. Um, but how you kind of level up in the postseason uh is kind of still up for debate for the Jets. And I think what we’ve seen to start is kind of a mixture of what I was a little bit concerned about. Uh, plus some things that I think are going to be fun to watch. Um, we’ve had a number of key injuries already. You know, Dylan Samberg, uh, yeah, without him things have been a little bit Helter Skelter on the back end. The defense has not exactly looked, how should I say, tiptop. um not really shocking. I mean, he’s one of the best defenders in the league and uh certainly a guy that the Jets really really really lean heavily on. Um so that’s been an issue. I think the foot speed has been an issue. Uh the nice thing about October is that this month we’re probably not going to face too too many top teams uh outside of like Dallas and Utah and maybe one other opponent. Uh you know, unfortunately I’m going to put the Islanders in the secondary category of difficulty of opponents. um we’re not likely to face a lot of teams that typically play the style the Jets just don’t handle well. So, uh you know, I’m not too worried. I will say, you know, with the changes to the power play, the team overall getting older and slower, it’s been a little bit strange. Um this team, I’m I’m still trying to figure them out. I don’t know if we’ll really know until December. Uh as guys get healthier, as we see what this team looks like and needs. Uh, suffice it to say, I’m kind of expecting, you know, the team to make the playoffs, but how we get there is maybe a little bit of a different story. You mentioned Jonathan Taves. How does he look after all that time off? And, uh, is he at this stage in his career, do you think, a legitimate 2C? Uh, so he’s been fine, I guess, is is how I describe it. I haven’t really noticed him a ton in the traditional sense. Um, he’s had a couple of really good passes. He probably could have gotten his first goal against the Stars. Was a little unlucky in that game. Um, but otherwise, like the defensive zone work, yeah. Uh, better just just pretend that doesn’t really exist. Um, I think a lot of what is going to be noticeable with him uh is really just the foot speed. The processing speed’s still there. Uh, the foot speed is okay. Um, I just think ideally you have him in your bottom six. I think as a two se he’s being asked to do a little more than you’d probably want. Uh, again he’s been like fine, but I think a lot of folks had this impression he was going to be, you know, in the best shape of his life coming back to be an impact level player and maybe he gets there. Uh, but I think even if you asked him personally about it, he’d probably say, “Yeah, it’s going to take time to get there.” um in preseason he said you know uh I there was some good some bad in some of my performances and I think that’s just what we’re going to have to take from him. Uh you know he’s 37 he had long co we don’t really know uh how he’s going to sort of ramp up over the next few weeks but the Jets just don’t really have anyone else that can play this position super well. So, uh, he’ll have to do and I think, you know, as long as he gets good support from his teammates like we’ve seen, uh, from from Afalo and most recently from Chipperov, I think the Jets can kind of lean on him for a little bit until they have a more permanent solution. Obviously, you mentioned the injuries to the blue line. How big of an impact is that having on the fact that after a couple of games and yeah, it’s only two games, but Connor Hellabuk’s numbers just don’t look Hella Buckesque. The funniest thing is like he gave up five goals and he still gave up less than expected against the Stars. Uh Dallas just kind of spanked the Jets for about 40 minutes. Uh so he’s been about as good as you could ask, which tells you, yeah, the defense it’s not defending. Um, you know, Flurry Pian was the second pairing and they just kind of got taken to the cleaners. Um, you know, Flurry, I appreciate that he tries hard, loves the game, all that fun stuff. Uh, but, you know, asking him to be a second pairing defender is probably a little bit above his pay grade. Um, you know, he’s he’s a third pairing guy, right? That’s where you’d ideally want him, but the Jets don’t live in a world of ideals. And I think right now, especially, they’re seeing that uh they need external help. I don’t think there’s really any way of getting around that. Uh I was not quite expecting it to be as bad as it’s been. Um Colin Miller will be coming in because Flurry’s now injured. Uh so they just keep dropping like flies. Um Miller just should have been playing to begin with, but you know, I think it’s safe to say the blue line’s pretty vulnerable. The guys that I thought the Jets could have leaned on, they don’t seem to really have a preference for. Um they like the big guys and I’m like, great, that’s fine. Can they skate the puck out of the zone? And if they can’t, well, good luck with that. So, uh, you you’ve heard me talk about Logan Stanley over the years. Uh, he had a rough couple of games, but he did have one really big PK shift at the end of the Kings game that I think he deserves a lot of credit for. U, you’re going to have to have moments like that because I think the broader sample is going to be a little on the rougher side for the next few weeks. U, they have to survive a good deal without Samberg. So, all I can say is best of luck to Hely. What are the keys to success for this season? And you know, you mentioned, okay, they’re probably going to make the playoffs, but how do you turn regular season success into playoff success? Gosh. Uh, the stuff that I know that they need is just I mean, there’s only two ways to do it. Either you do a big trade or you tank. And we know the Jets ain’t tanking. So, uh, frankly, they just need to figure out, uh, first what they have on the farm. Um, I know the Jets pool was kind of more in the B tier. You know, Lambert, Chibberov, guys like that. They’re nice depth pieces and middle six options. Uh, not really ceiling razors in the usual sense. But at this point, you know, the Jets are kind of in a position where they don’t really make big blockbuster trades and they don’t seem to play as many of their prospects unless they’re forced to. So, I just don’t really know what the plan is. Um, you know, I I I’ve heard a lot of folks kind of say that the Jets are sort of on an Islanders track. Uh, well, I would say probably more Lou Islanders than than Dar. I think Dar, you know, he understands the position of the team. He’s got them making some big uh draft acquisitions. For the Jets, I I just I don’t know if there’s really a way to move beyond this. They have a great regular season team. Um, honestly, like the league, you know, if the the valuation was different, what the Jets with the President’s Trophy would be considered more impressive. Um, 82 games for a President’s Trophy really is an extraordinary accomplishment. And yet, because they can’t win the cup, they’re looked at as a lesser franchise, and it sucks. You know, it’s it’s a tough spot to be in. So, uh, you know, I I do feel for the Jets in some ways, but I also look at this upcoming uh, season and really the trade deadline and stuff. These are where you need to start swinging. you you keep telling people this is your competitive window. You just signed Kyle Connor to a, you know, an eight-year 12 mill season deal. Um, you know, now it’s time to give the team the pieces to win. You’ve got your core locked up. Go out and grab some guys who can actually raise the ceiling of this team and get them to be a real deep run threat. What positions are the priority? I mean, I’m assuming the blue line is where you start. Everything. Uh, everything is outside of goalending, everything is a need. Um, they need a top six center. They probably need another top six winger. They need a top four defender. And you really only have a shot at maybe one of those uh uh from all three positions. So, h you know, I I think uh I think once Dan uh once Dylan Samberg’s healthy, the the defense will look a lot more normal. Um but if that’s what you’re relying on, it does feel a little bit dicey. Uh I used to think having a big forward would be a bigger upgrade. Uh, I kind of go back and forth like at full health the forward is better, but if the Jets have another blue line injury, it’s not looking good. So, um, pick pick your favorite at this point. Uh, the Jets just have a lot of needs. And I think that’s that’s really going to be the story of the season is they’ll be fine in a lot of areas, but I think for the playoffs, um, I’m setting very modest expectations. You know, they barely got out of the first round last year. They were 1.6 seconds away. Uh, I’m not sure that they necessarily have that to to rely on this year. Um, but maybe Hobbuck does something crazy. Maybe the Jets somehow, uh, you know, play some really amazing playoff hockey and surprise us all. I’d love to have my expectations upset. But I think for this season, this is not the year that I’m feeling, you know, the year to go all in. I would look more at next year and the year after that. All right. Well, we’ll see how it all plays out. Harrison, why don’t you tell our viewers and our listeners where they could find the podcast and where they could find you on social media? We are on Locked on Winnipeg Jets, same as Locked on NHL, and you can follow us on Twitter at l_ Winnipeg Jets and me at HL Living Loco if you want to hear about how I love our Jets uh current defense. But all right, Harrison, thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. The NFL season is here and FanDuel has an offer that you don’t want to miss. Right now, new customers can bet just $5 and get $300 in bonus bets if that first $5 bet wins. That’s right. 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The Winnipeg Jets are off to an uneven start. Can the team bounce back and return to last year’s President’s Trophy form?
Harrison Lee of Locked On Winnipeg Jets discusses the reasons for the team’s early struggles and what it will take for them to enjoy a longer playoff run this season.
All this and more on today’s Locked On NHL Podcast with Gil Martin.
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