Less than 24 hours after struggling with their defensive zone coverage, the Winnipeg Jets will be back at it again as they prepare to face off against the Edmonton Oilers. The Jets dropped a 5-2 contest last night versus the Minnesota Wild, despite controlling the majority of play. So the coaching staff will be hoping for better things on Sunday with almost a completely new roster. With the franchises set to tangle at 5 pm CST at Rogers’ Place in Edmonton, lets take a look at who the Winnipeg Jets will dress for the match.
Scott Arniel and the rest of the coaching staff will have 12 entirely new forwards and 5 new defenseman, with the only skater getting into back-to-back contests being young Elias Salomonsson. Goalie Kaapo Kahkonen will also be active again, though the expectation is that Eric Comrie will be in between the pipes. Here are the 18 Winnipeg Jets skaters who will take the ice against the Oilers tonight (*denotes non-veteran):
He* / Zhilkin* / Jonsson-Fjällby*
Loponen* / Toninato / Ford*
Anderson-Dolan / Gustafsson / King*
Torgersson* / Kupari / Walton*
Stanley / Barteaux*
Anhorn* / Salomonsson*
Sautner* / Coghlan
Based on the above, the Edmonton Oilers will be facing a much less experienced squad as the Jets will be icing a ton of young prospects this evening. I am looking forward to seeing Winnipeg’s top forward line tonight, as Kevin He, Danny Zhilkin, & Alex Jonsson-Fjallby should be a high-motor trio that could wreak havoc on the forecheck. The 2nd line has a couple grinders in Dominic Toninato & Parker Ford to go with recently drafted Finn Marcus Loponen, which should also be good at pressuring opposing defensemen. I liked what I saw from Ben King at the Young Stars Classic and he will be joined by a couple veterans fighting for an NHL roster spot in Jaret Anderson-Dolan & David Gustafsson. Rounding out the forward units, Rasmus Kupari needs to impress the fans/coaching staff as he pivots a combo with Kieran Walton & Daniel Torgersson. The 22 yr old Torgersson was one of the better young players at the Classic, so it will be interesting to see if he can maintain that against stiffer competition.
Big Logan Stanley will try to win a starting six defensive spot with Winnipeg as he is teamed up with smooth skating Dawson Barteaux. Another agile defenseman in Dylan Anhorn will patrol the left side of the 2nd pairing, with highly-touted Elias Salomonsson roaming the other side (possibly an early glimpse of one of the Manitoba Moose’s defensive pairs). The final defensive duo will see veteran Moose defender Ashton Sautner combine with free agent signing Dylan Coghlan. Definitely excited to see Coghlan get his first taste of playing with the Jets, as he has an outside chance at stealing an NHL roster spot with his play.
The Edmonton Oilers are just opening up their pre-season schedule when they take on the Winnipeg Jets, but are in a back-to-back situation with the Calgary Flames on tap for Monday. During a quick search, I couldn’t find who the Oilers would be dressing, but I expect them to field a slightly more veteran squad than the Jets.
Puck drops at 5 pm CST and the game can be streamed at WinnipegJets.com. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.
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