The Winnipeg Jets’ offseason is well underway, with intense conversation about the team’s direction dominating our comment section.

It was time to take subscriber questions, ranging from the Jets’ investment in player development to ways around the Jets’ struggles with no-movement clauses, Gary Bettman’s commitment to Winnipeg, and the Jets’ interest in Shane Doan. As of publishing this story, there’s still time to submit your “Who says no?” trade proposals. But let’s start by comparing Winnipeg’s development staff to the two Stanley Cup finalists.

Hey Murat! Can you please outline who exactly is employed by the organization specifically to work in the realm of player development? How does the size of our player development infrastructure compare to other NHL organizations and does our department have any formal training or education besides their lived experience as hockey players? — Troy R.

Winnipeg currently employs Jimmy Roy and Mike Keane in player development, plus Drew MacIntyre as a goaltending and development coach.

Roy played for the Manitoba Moose in the AHL for nine seasons, averaging well over 100 PIM each year, and still holds the team’s games-played record (603). Keane played five seasons for the Moose at the end of a distinguished, 1,161 NHL career that included Stanley Cups with Montreal, Colorado, and Dallas. As Winnipeg’s Director of Player Development, Roy plans Winnipeg’s development camp each summer. Keane is more involved with prospects and amateur professionals when they get to the Moose. Roy works with them, too, but does more work with Winnipeg’s prospects in junior leagues and college.

When I sat down with Roy and Keane at the draft in Montreal, they emphasized prospect self-evaluation and reflection. I was left with the impression that their roles were primarily about relationship building and helping players set goals for themselves. I am unaware of what you call “formal training or education” outside of their lived experiences as hockey players, but that doesn’t automatically mean it doesn’t exist.

How do the Jets stack up to the rest of the NHL?

To use the Stanley Cup finalists as a point of comparison, Carolina employs a Director of Player Development, three development coaches, and a goaltending development coach. Vegas employs a Director of Player Development, a skills development coach, a director of player performance development, a manager of goaltending development and scouting, a player development staff member on the scouting side, and a skating and skills development consultant. It’s not fair to draw sweeping conclusions based on a sample size this small, but Winnipeg is third of three and it isn’t close.

Later in the mailbag, Ashley J. asks about Shane Doan. Would the Jets listen to him if they hired him?

Troy’s question is why the Jets’ pursuit of Shane Doan makes sense. Player development was the 1.0 Jets forward’s responsibility in Toronto and Arizona and he’s drawing interest from multiple NHL teams to work in that field. Doan met with Mark Chipman last week at Canada Life Centre, touring the building renovations in addition to talking shop. The Jets’ best offer could include an assistant GM title, with broad responsibilities for Winnipeg’s prospects in the AHL and beyond — especially if Doan’s long-term ambition is to become the GM of a team.

All this said, I’m not sure if a hire is imminent or coming at all. There’s a cynical side of me that wonders what the odds are that the Jets’ solution to player development just so happens to be a former Jet. It’s just good to know Winnipeg is considering addressing/augmenting an area of weakness. Would they listen to him? I’d hope so. Doan’s resume and ambitions are big enough such that one expects Winnipeg not to waste anybody’s time just to bring back a famous name.

A list of rapid-fire Q’s from Dan N:

Does the league care about the Jets?

Yes.

Does the league care about the uneven playing field that NMCs create?

I asked Gary Bettman about this topic this season. I wasn’t left with the impression this was a topic he worries about.

Here’s part of Bettman’s response to my question, which I viewed as a deflection away from no-movement clauses and into fan service.

“Players choose to play in different places for a variety of reasons. The flavour of the day seems to be state taxes. It’s quality of life. It’s the quality of the organization. It’s where a player thinks he can fit in. It’s where he wants to live and raise his family and send his kids to school if he has kids … (Winnipeg) has been very successful in signing players who are here, who want to stay here long term. Which to me is probably the best indication as to the quality of being an NHL player in Winnipeg.”

Will this situation contribute to the demise of the most impacted Canadian franchises? Is it inevitable?

I don’t think so, no.

Should Chevy/Chipman (and affected franchises) be working on a solution or mitigation of some sort? (Like adding draft picks to the first few rounds to be earned by the top 5 NMC/non playoff teams at some deadline who perform best to close out the season). I know it’s a pipe dream but … Could you talk to Chevy and a couple other GMs about this for me?

Yes, although let’s say it’s all seven Canadian teams who are affected. Add Buffalo to that and you get eight. It’s hard for me to imagine a grassroots movement to limit the impact of no-movement clauses (or to compensate teams affected by them) building momentum at the Board of Governors. I’ll see what I can do to let Cheveldayoff and other GMs know about your proposed solution — which, honestly, does make some sense.

Why did the Jets treat Ville Heinola so badly? — Niko V.

Winnipeg did not commit to Ville Heinola as an NHL player. I think the simplest answer to “why not?” is that the Jets did not view him as an NHL player. I don’t think there was malice involved. I don’t think the organization wishes ill upon Heinola or the other way around. (I did think it was a miss by the Jets’ stellar social media team to congratulate Nino Niederreiter for winning a silver medal but not Heinola, still Jets property until July, for winning gold.)

And what are the odds he finds a full-time NHL job next season? — Zee B.

Less than 50 percent. Heinola may sign in Finland. If he does sign with an NHL team, it seems reasonable to believe that he’ll struggle to prove he’s an everyday player.

As much as I’ve advocated for the Jets to take a proper NHL look at him, Heinola is starting from a long way back. In addition to size and strength concerns, he has enough “AAAA” habits for me to be nervous about his NHL career. (Mostly: The amount of time he seems to think he has to make plays — something I think he’d do better with if he’d gotten a consistent run of games.) If a team does have a third pairing job and can provide a good partner and consistent playing time, it might choose one of its own prospects over a 25-year-old with 58 NHL games to date.

Sometimes players really do get left behind.

There’s been plenty of chatter on trying to keep the window open during the Hellebuyck/Scheifele/Connor era. What gets very little chatter is that the Jets have three of their highest-minute defencemen (DeMelo/Morrissey/Samberg) all on deals that expire at the end of the 2027-28 season. The Jets cannot afford to let all walk to free agency. What are the chances that all three players do not finish those contracts in Winnipeg? — AavcoCup A.

The Jets’ top four defence is set on the left side as long as Josh Morrissey and Dylan Samberg are on it. Lose even one of those players and things fall apart quickly. Haydn Fleury is the next man up at the moment. Thus, it seems that some of the handwringing about Connor Hellebuyck’s future should be directed at Winnipeg’s defence corps — Morrissey and Samberg in particular.

Morrissey once told me he hopes to retire a Jet. I believed him when he said it and still think he’d consider a long-term contract in the final year of his contract if the Jets are competitive at the time. (Winnipeg, meanwhile, has shown more appetite to sign players in their mid-30s to long-term contracts than it has to trade them.) DeMelo’s decline has begun: He’s not clockwork on his exits anymore and has been beaten in open ice in the past two seasons. I still view him as a second or third-pairing defenceman, but think the Jets can afford to let his contract play out. He’ll be 35 when it ends.

Samberg is the wild card for me. He’ll be 29 when his three-year, $5.75 million AAV contract comes to an end two years from now. Whether he re-signs or not, I think the Jets might regret not being able to get a longer extension from him last summer. I don’t have any reason to doubt his commitment to Winnipeg, to be clear, but Samberg will be in a position to make quite a lot more money on his next contract. If that becomes a priority for him, free agency could grow tempting.

I’d set each individual player’s odds of remaining a Jet for the duration of their contract above 50 percent. That said, there’s enough uncertainty with the team’s direction that the error bars are wide here.