I’m not sure if it is a sign that fall is coming, but the temperatures in Winnipeg have certainly dropped this week. After a stretch of high 20’s Celsius (83 Fahrenheit), the Peg has cooled down to the low 20’s Celsius (72-68 Fahrenheit). While I am certainly not ready for the snow to start falling, I am utterly primed for the 2024-25 hockey season.
There hasn’t been tons of news about the Winnipeg Jets since they traded for exciting prospect Brayden Yager, but I did somehow scrounge up enough talking points to push out one more article before the calendar moves onto September. So let’s get started….
While not exactly hockey-related, Jets’ defenseman Dylan Samberg made team history when he teed up this summer for the Manitoba Open under a sponsor-exemption. The American shattered the Winnipeg Jets’ previous lowest round record at the tournament by carding an impressive 74 (+2) on the opening day. Sammie’s second round wasn’t as good, with an 80 (+8) on the day to give him a total of 154 (+10). Showing a nice level of consistency with his golf game, Samberg ended up with 3 birdies, 22 pars, 10 bogeys and 1 triple bogey at the Open. Yeah, he did finish dead last against the professional golfers, but he gained bragging rights over his teammates by besting the prior records of Mark Scheifele’s lowest round record (78) and his lowest overall score (+18). Other past Winnipeg Jets entries included Morgan Barron (+22) and Kyle Connor (+40). Congrats Dylan!!! Guess the lack of long playoff runs recently by the Winnipeg Jets is at least paying off on the golf course. (yes, low hanging fruit, but couldn’t stop myself)
Join me for a trip back in time……lets go back to the summer of 1984, when the NHL’s star players were preparing for a Canada Cup tournament taking place in September, just prior to the league’s official season. Way, way back then, none of the players treated their profession like a year-long gig, so the bonus of getting into game shape early with these sorts of tourneys was always very evident for the players who were invited. For example, a guy named Wayne Gretzky took advantage of the chance to get his game going early by leading that Canada Cup tourney in points (12 pts in 8 games). He then used that jumpstart to put up an amazing 208 pts for the Edmonton Oilers in the 1984-85 NHL regular season. At that point in his career, that was the Great One’s second highest scoring regular season of his career and was only beaten by his 1981-82 season’s 212 points…which also was preceded by Gretzky competing in the 1981 Canada Cup.
Nowadays, the players never do allow themselves to really get out of shape in the short off-season, but the opportunity to get in meaningful games before training camps kick off could still pay dividends. We will have to keep an eye on how Nikolaj Ehlers starts the year off, as he is getting the chance to get into top gear early by helping Denmark try to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics. The speedy Dane will join fellow NHLers like goaltender Frederik Andersen (Hurricanes), Oliver Bjorkstrand (Kraken), and Lars Eller (Penguins) for three games between August 29th and September 1st against countries like Norway, Japan, and Great Britain to grab a spot. Their biggest competition will likely come from the Norwegians, who will have the Wild’s Mats Zuccarello and the nation’s first two 1st round draft picks (the Wings’ Michael Brandsegg-Nygard & the Ducks Stan Solberg).
The NHLPA and Upper Deck have announced the participants for the 2024 NHLPA Rookie Showcase. The official trading card partner of the NHLPA and the NHL uses the Sept 4th event to capture some of the league’s best young prospects on the ice in their respective team’s official jerseys, which can be used on upcoming player cards or for promotional uses throughout the player’s careers. This year’s event will take place in Arlington, Virginia at the MedStar Capitals IcePlex and the Winnipeg Jets will have young Russian winger Nikita Chibrikov representing the franchise. Other attendees include: Marek Alscher (Panthers), Lian Bichsel (Stars), Gavin Brindley (Blue Jackets), Seamus Casey (Devils), Macklin Celebrini (Sharks), Easton Cowan (Maple Leafs), Nate Danielson (Red Wings), Josh Doan (Utah Hockey Club), Dalibor Dvorsky (Blues), Ivan Fedotov (Flyers), Cutter Gauthier (Ducks), Gage Goncalves (Lightning), Lane Hutson (Canadiens), Nikolai Kovalenko (Avalanche), Jonathan Lekkerimaki (Canucks), Artyom Levshunov (Blackhawks), Logan Mailloux (Canadiens), Matvei Michkov (Flyers), Ivan Miroshnichenko (Capitals), Logan Morrison (Kraken), Shakir Mukhamadullin (Sharks), Bradly Nadeau (Hurricanes), Frank Nazar (Blackhawks), Liam Ohgren (Wild), Zack Ostapchuk (Senators), Noah Ostlund (Sabres), Vasily Ponomarev (Penguins), Matt Rempe (Rangers), Olivier Rodrigue (Oilers), Will Smith (Sharks), Fedor Svechkov (Predators) and Akil Thomas (Kings). Hmmm…Rutger McGroarty’s buddies Gauthier & Nazar are getting the chance to do that and he isn’t…wonder if the new Penguin will have another temper tantrum 🙂
Still nothing new to report on the Cole Perfetti contract front. The Winnipeg Jets have $7,376,309 left under the salary cap to sign the 22 yr old restricted free agent and also fill one last roster spot. The Jets coaching staff could opt for 13 forwards, 8 defensemen, & 2 goalies or go with the more typical breakdown of 14/7/2, making it possible for players on league minimum contracts ($775k) like Axel Jonsson-Fjallby or Dylan Coghlan to grab hold of a spot if money ends up being tight. A slightly more expensive option is young Brad Lambert ($886,666), which would leave Jets’ GM Kevin Cheveldayoff with $6,489,643 to deal with his last RFA. Even with the Winnipeg Sun’s Scott Billeck recent article indicating that Cole is looking for the stability of a long-term contract, that should be enough to get the deal done. But it certainly wouldn’t leave much room to add any salary throughout the season….stay tuned to see how it all plays out. At least it is great news that a young talented player like Cole wants to stick around for a while!!
Karpat officially terminated the contract of Markus Loponen, allowing the 5th round draft pick to join the WHL’s Victoria Royals. The 6’1″ Finn put up 25 goals and 54 points in the SM-sarja last season, acting as the team’s captain. Apparently the speedy forward wanted to play closer to Winnipeg Jets’ development staff and will get the chance to do that in the WHL after he was drafted 23rd overall in the most recent Import Draft.
I have continued to read many articles about newly acquired prospect Brayden Yager and decided to take all the quotes I gleaned from that to put together a mock interview with the Saskatchewan-born center. The players’ answers will either be direct quotes nabbed from other articles or a compilation of multiple quotes, so they shouldn’t be too far off from what he would have actually answered. 🙂
BOJA: You were coming off a 78 point season (67 games) with the Moose Jaw Warriors. What did you try to improve on going into the 2023-24 WHL season?
YAGER: “After being selected in the 1st round by the Penguins, their director of player development (Tom Kostopoulos) was always telling me to use my legs and use my shot, too. So, I thought I did a pretty good job of shooting the puck more, and obviously when you shoot more, you’re going to score more.”
BOJA: Well, you finished with 35 goals, 60 assists, and 95 points in 57 regular-season games (a 17 point increase from your previous best). You also played a big role in helping to lead Moose Jaw to a Western Hockey League championship and their first Memorial Cup bid in franchise history. So, lets say your efforts certainly paid off. When you attended your first NHL training camp with the Pittsburgh Penguins, it gave you the opportunity to skate alongside one of the best players in the history game. What was that like?
YAGER: “During training camp, Pens head coach Mike Sullivan told me that I would be playing on Sidney Crosby’s team for a reason. That was to try and learn everything I could…kind of just be a fly on the wall, be around him as much as I can without being annoying.”
“I think the cool part for me was to be able to learn what he does coming up to a skate or after a skate or how he treats his body – the hot and cold tubs, the nutrition. Especially this year, one thing I tried to bring back with me was treating my body the right way. I think it definitely helped with staying healthy and making my body feel good, especially with such a long run.”
BOJA: During an interview with Penguins personnel at last year’s NHL Scouting Combine, they asked you to complete the following sentence, “I play my best hockey when…”, and you responded, “in big moments, the playoffs, the high-pressure moments.” I guess you backed that up during this year’s WHL post-season, with you being named to the Memorial Cup All-Star Team (3 goals and 6 points in 4 games) and recording 11 goals & 27 points in 20 playoff games.
YAGER: “I like to think I’m a player that can kind of rise to the occasion or step up when our team needs it most. I just try to be a leader on the team.”
BOJA: What are you doing this off-season to prepare for your first training camp with the Winnipeg Jets?
YAGER: “Obviously, I want to make the team. The biggest thing is the stuff in the gym, getting stronger, bigger, faster. The guys in the NHL are some of the best athletes in the world, so going to have to prepare myself physically for that. It’s a longer season, 82 games, so you also have to be ready mentally, being a young guy in the league. I think it starts with the work ethic in the gym, and coming to camp with confidence and knowing that I have a good shot to make the team if I really work hard.”
Well, when I start to make up entire interviews, you know I am running out of things to talk about. Only six weeks until the NHL regular season kicks off, but thankfully there will be more things to discuss before then. Hope you enjoyed the read.
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