Typically I will start off these Weekly Updates with a discussion of how the Winnipeg Jets played in the preceding week, but since none of us really want to rehash the last two contests, I will skip that today.
Instead, I will jump right into some other Winnipeg-related topics……
- Ville Heinola has been removed from the injured reserve list and is now fit to play some hockey.
The 23 year old defenseman has had a rough go of things lately with his ankle causing him issues in back-to-back pre-seasons. After a great showing at training camp last year, the Finn sustained a bad break and that de-railed his attempt to break into the Winnipeg Jets’ lineup. Ville Heinola did all the work needed to make a full recovery and ended up putting up .685 points per game with the Manitoba Moose in 2023-24.
This year, it was an infection in that same ankle that ended his training camp and ending his opportunity to grab a wide open 3rd LD spot with the Jets. Once again the young defender put in the work to recover and since he is ready to go again, coach Scott Arniel opted to have a sit down with Ville.
Winnipeg’s head coach indicated that he stressed to Heinola that he was his biggest fan and wanted to put him in a place to succeed. Arniel then went on to outline a plan to get the left-handed defenseman up to speed by sending him for a two game reconditioning stint with the Manitoba Moose. Since Ville was in agreement with the plan (under the reconditioning rules, the player has to agree), the Moose will get a valuable boost for their upcoming series versus the Chicago Wolves.
Best of luck Heinola!!
- Next up is a chat about the Jets’ minor league affiliate, the Manitoba Moose.
I was rather high on the mini-Jets this season, but things certainly haven’t gone as I imagined as the team has limped out of the gates to a 5-8-0 record. Fortunately, two of their fellow AHL Central Division rivals have also started off the year poorly so the Moose currently hold onto the final wildcard spot (5th place).
So why have things gotten off to a poor beginning? Well, some of the reasons are pretty straight forward, such as the rash of injuries to defensemen in training camp & the early season has robbed Manitoba of two potential top 4 defenders in Haydn Fleury & Dylan Coghlan. Obviously this was a large hit to a defensive core and has lead to the Moose spending way more time in their own end than expected. Jets’ prospects Elias Salomonsson & Simon Lundmark have done their best to stabilize the top of the lineup, but the 3rd pairing has been getting beaten up a bit.
The Manitoba Moose also had to alter their plans when goalie Kaapo Kahkonen was claimed off waivers by the Colorado Avalanche, making them start with the AHL campaign with the youngest tender tandem in the league. While youth didn’t seem to hurt Dominic DiVincentiis’ performance at all, sophomore goalie Thomas Milic (3.47 GAA/.865%) has found the going a lot more difficult in his 2nd campaign. To tell you the truth, the main reason the Moose have allowed an average of 3.31 goals against per game is due to poor team play when the puck isn’t on their sticks (which unfortunately has been too often so far).
Those defensive struggles and missing defensemen have hurt the special teams as well, with Manitoba claiming the 7th worst penalty kill (77.6%). On the other side of the puck, the Moose haven’t been beating opposing goalies often enough and that has them averaging only 2.69 goals per game. That is bad enough to sit in 4th for least number of red lights lit in the AHL, with the poor scoring luck also impacting their powerplay (13th worst PP @ 16.3%). They will be getting forward Fabian Wagner added to the roster, but I’m not sure how much help that will give on the offensive side.
Fortunately for Manitoba, their next two contests are against a team struggling even more than they are…so perhaps they can use it to their advantage and turn around their season before it is too late to challenge for a better playoff position.
- Speaking of the Manitoba Moose, they have announced that they have sent down Dominic DiVincentiis to the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL).
The rookie started 5 games for the Moose this season, allowing 11 goals against while putting up a 2.24 Goals Against Average and a very impressive .930 save percentage in the American Hockey League (AHL).
Since Dominic DiVincentiis was clearly out-performing Manitoba’s other goaltenders, it may be a bit surprising that he got the tap to go help the Norfolk Admirals in the ECHL now that there are three goalies in the minor leagues. However, I guess it is a bit understandable management didn’t want to send Milic down after he played the key role in the Moose’s late season playoff charge last year.
The Winnipeg Jets’ ECHL team is currently sitting with a 6-4-3 record and that is good enough for 5th in their conference. So DiVincentiis’ arrival should give Norfolk a boost because their goaltending has been a weakness early in the campaign. Through 13 games, the Admirals have allowed an average of 3.62 goals against per game and none of the masked men have a save percentage near .900% (Stead .883%, Giannuzzi .874%, & Cannata .861%).
I’m fairly sure young DiVincentiis will be back in a Manitoba Moose uniform at some point this year.
- And now it is time to take a look at the stats of the players playing outside of the Winnipeg Jets’ organization. It is Prospect Time!!
Although it is early in the year, having 2 out of 3 goaltenders putting up better than expected numbers has to be a good thing. Here’s hoping the Moose find a way to tighten things up and give young Milic a chance to get back to the .900 save percentage range.
The top 15 prospects list includes their best prospect playing in Juniors this season, with Brayden Yager scoring at a good clip (1.41 pts/gm), but not as good as last year (1.66). Then there are a couple potential late draft pick steals in Kieron Walton (6th rd) & Kevin He (4th rd), who are looking to blow last season’s production out of the water.
Other bright spots include 7th round draft pick Connor Levis flirting with a point per goal pace, along with a couple Manitoba Moose: Nikita Chibrikov (.846 pts/gm) & Elias Salomonsson (.750).
On the negative side, Brad Lambert hasn’t put enough pucks in the net this year (1), big center Jacob Julien is finding it hard to reproduce last year’s production, and while Colby Barlow has shaken off his dreadful start to the season, his lack of skating skills might limit his ceiling to something along the lines of a Tyler Toffoli at best.
Somewhere in between is one of the unluckiest players alive in Chaz Lucius. While I have no actual news about his status, his every other game rotation has disappeared and it remains to be seen whether he will be in the lineup for either of the upcoming games against the Wolves. In the three games he has suited up, it appeared to provide Manitoba with its’ most balanced offensive attack.
Is he practicing? Some places suggest that he is, others indicate that he isn’t. Nothing is official and it is likely that Illegal Curve will be the place to eventually provide an answer. What is the old saying…no news is good news.
Not a whole lot to gather from the remaining prospects and really the only name to somewhat disappoint me by being there is Moose forward Danny Zhilkin. The center looked pretty fast and involved offensively early on, but was sidelined by a knee injury before that success turned into consistent points.
The fact that recent 2nd rounder Alfons Freij is on this list isn’t a cause for concern. The 18 yr old is a defenseman playing bottom pairing minutes against grown men in a professional hockey league and holding his own, so that alone is a promising sign for the Swedish defender’s development.
It also appears that Dmitri Rashevsky poor production this season in the KHL has led his squad to making him a healthy scratch at times. Not sure it is in the cards or where he would project to play in North America, but this upcoming off-season might be the time the 24 yr old finally takes the risk.
Well, that is all I have for this episode. Hopefully that provided you with a small glimpse into the Winnipeg Jets’ universe.
