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Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Can Winnipeg Contend After Losing Key Players in Lowry, Ehlers?
Examining the Winnipeg Jets roster following lineup losses like Adam Lowry, Nikolaj Ehlers and Mason Appleton. The Winnipeg Jets are going to look very different next season following the franchise's best ever season with a 56‑22‑4 record and a President's Trophy win. The only concern is the losses across the lineup and if the team will be able to respond. Due to injuries, captain Adam Lowry looks like he won't play a majority of the 2025-26 season and middle-six forwards Nikolaj Ehlers and Maple Appleton left for new teams in free agency. The good news is the Jets made some impactful offseason adds like signing a three-time Stanley Cup champion and Hall-of-Fame talent in Jonathan Toews plus also nabbing 75-point scorer in 2023, Gustav Nyquist. They made bottom-six adds in Tanner Pearson and Cole Koepke. Only time will tell if the moves will be a positive or a negative for the Jets as a lot will be asked of certain players and others will need to step up in the meantime. Former Jets Captain Blake Wheeler Announces Retirement Former Winnipeg Jets captain Blake Wheeler has announced his retirement from professional hockey. Replacing the Impactful Third Line One of the biggest reasons for the Jets success over the last two seasons has been their third line of Nino Niederreiter, Adam Lowry and Mason Appleton. The trio finished with 22 goals for and only 12 against over 544 minutes of ice time together this past season. The year prior, they were the league's most effective line, logging a team-high 682 minutes while allowing the fewest goals among any line in the NHL that played at least 450 minutes. It'll be a hard to replace such a physical, hard-checking line that made such an impact in other ways besides the scoresheet but they are getting an improvement with Vladislav Namestnikov dropping to the third line. With Toews moving to the second line centre spot, Namestnikov gets a much better fitting, more opportunistic role as the third line centre as he will get a better chance to succeed when going against weaker opposing lines that are lower in the lineup. He is expected to play alongside Niederreiter in his normal spot along with Alex Iafallo. Namestnikov should be able to carry this line in a more offensive way than Lowry's edition of the line while a player like Toews, who is known as one of the best two-way forwards of his generation could help pick up the defensive efforts with his second line unit instead. Winnipeg Inks Six-Year Extension With Gabe Vilardi The Winnipeg Jets have agreed to terms on a six-year extension with Gabe Vilardi. Top Line Improves With Kyle Connor Contract Year The Jets top line was one of the most lethal in the NHL this past season with the most minutes played together at 907 minutes over 71 games, and were the second-best scoring line in the league with 48 goals. Out of the Jets' 275 goals last season, Connor, Scheifele, and Vilardi combined for 107 goals, finishing as the team's top three scorers in that order. The line should be elevated to an even higher level as Connor is looking to break the bank with his next deal and would like to stay at or improve on his 41 goal total from this past season. More Depth Options Than Ever There are more and more up-and-coming Manitoba Moose players at the AHL level looking to get a longer look at the NHL level. The two most notable options for this is high-end prospects Brad Lambert and Nikita Chibrikov. We recently looked at lineup adjustments Scott Arniel could look at to better use these skilled youngsters next season and this competition will only push success out of every one else. Pearson joined the Jets as a decent 30-35 point option in a bottom six role alongside Koepke, who is coming off a career-best season with 17 points and will be tested for their spots in the lineup. The competition doesn't stop there as Morgan Barron and David Gustafsson, who filled bottom-six roles last season, will also be in the mix again. The battle for these lineup spots will be intense, and with more options comes the potential for a deeper, more effective roster. As Lowry returns from injury late in the season, a player like Namestnikov or another current top-nine forward could be bumped down to the fourth line, which would only strengthen that unit further. Could Winnipeg Target Pending Free Agent Martin Necas? Insider reports indicate the Avalanche feeling forward Martin Necas may not re-sign and could look to deal him.
New York Times
06-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
NHL rumblings: Lightning go all in, Devils' injuries create Metro power shift and John Gibson market
No first-round pick until 2028? 'Draft schmaft,' Hockey Hall of Fame executive Cliff Fletcher once famously said as general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Today's Cliff Fletcher is undoubtedly Julien BriseBois. No GM in the NHL is more comfortable going for it than the Tampa Bay Lightning's BriseBois, who now doesn't have a first-round pick for the next three drafts. From Blake Coleman to Barclay Goodrow to Brandon Hagel to Tanner Jeannot to Wednesday's trade for Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand, BriseBois has dealt away seven first-round draft picks. Not to mention other picks. Advertisement When you've won two Stanley Cups and gone to another Cup Final in that span and you're in a position to chase another championship? It all seems worth it through that lens. 'Winning the Stanley Cup is hard, and it is what drives us and guides us in our decision-making,' BriseBois told The Athletic on Wednesday after his blockbuster trade with the Seattle Kraken. 'You need good players to win a championship. The more good players you have, the better your odds are. I am trying to assemble as many good players on our team as possible and using our draft picks to do so. 'The value in having draft picks lies in our ability to convert them into players that can help us win NHL hockey games. We used some draft capital to add two good players that will help us win more games this season and beyond. Ultimately, the calculation is that trying and failing will yield less regret than failing to try.' I love that last part. The biggest regret is not taking a swing, win or lose. The Jeannot trade was a bust. But Hagel has blossomed into a star who just helped Team Canada win 4 Nations, and Coleman and Goodrow won a Cup with Tampa Bay. BriseBois' record on these is pretty good. Is it an overpay for Gourde — a player the Lightning know well — and Bjorkstrand? Maybe. But the Lightning once again zeroed in on what they wanted and got it done. Draft schmaft indeed. Could a shifting playoff picture in the Metro Division affect Friday's trade deadline? Or rather, vice-versa? The New Jersey Devils have been whacked with injuries to their franchise center Jack Hughes and now to top blueliner Dougie Hamilton in the past week. It's ridiculous bad luck, and losing Hughes for the entire season is just brutal news. Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald is working the phones and is intent on finding help before Friday's deadline. There's no white flag there despite the key injuries. GO DEEPER With Jack Hughes out, where could the Devils turn at center? But it unfortunately begs the question: Is third place in the Metro suddenly in play for the Columbus Blue Jackets or the New York Rangers? Columbus on Wednesday morning woke up four points behind New Jersey with two games in hand. The Rangers have actually been sellers, but the defending President Trophy winners still have a decent shot to make the playoffs. Advertisement And where does that leave the Islanders? Could Tuesday's win over the league-leading Winnipeg Jets embolden GM Lou Lamoriello to stay in the fight? I still think it's more likely he trades pending UFA Brock Nelson if he can't re-sign him, but as of Wednesday evening, one league source said it could still go a number of different ways. Which is wild in itself, this late in the proceedings. GO DEEPER What I'm hearing about the Islanders' Brock Nelson trade (and extension) talks As for the Blue Jackets, it's extremely likely they're keeping hold of pending unrestricted free agent Ivan Provorov. I believe for sure the defenseman would fetch a first-round pick if they did move him. There were more talks this week between GM Don Waddell and Provorov's agent, Mark Gandler, and the gap remains fairly wide in what an extension looks like for each side. But part of that conversation, I believe, was agreeing that they could resume that contract discussion after the season and that he most likely wasn't going anywhere now. I won't say 100 percent Provorov won't get moved because I think Waddell has kept open the possibility that a team might lose its mind in an offer he can't refuse. But all things being equal, I think Provorov will stay put. My sense is the Jackets would like to add a forward before Friday's deadline and preferably a forward signed past this season — not a rental. And finally, there's the Carolina Hurricanes in second place in the Metro — a veritable Cup contender every year. But what do the Canes look like if they flip pending UFA Mikko Rantanen before Friday's deadline? League sources Wednesday said Carolina had stepped up its talks with teams regarding what they might be willing to do in a Rantanen trade. It doesn't mean he's for sure getting dealt, but man, he sure could be. How does Carolina look like a better team after that? Depends on the return, obviously. Advertisement But between a potential Rantanen trade and the Devils' loss of Jack Hughes for the season, I truly wonder how the standings end up in the Metro and how much of it is also a result of the moves we see before Friday's 3 p.m. ET deadline. Likely. Never say never, but the two most logical destinations for the Anaheim Ducks netminder don't appear to be fits ahead of the deadline. The Edmonton Oilers, despite Stuart Skinner's struggles, don't appear to see Gibson as a true upgrade and aren't keen on his contract, which has two remaining years after this one at a $6.4 million average annual value. I don't think the Oilers see a realistic upgrade on the market at the moment. The Carolina Hurricanes, who had advanced trade talks with the Ducks last summer on Gibson, have had on-again, off-again dialogue with Anaheim again this season, but I don't sense it's likely happening before Friday's deadline for a couple of reasons. First, Frederik Andersen has been solid since returning, with a .911 save percentage on the season and a 6.6 goals saved above expected, according to MoneyPuck. And of course, the Canes are high on No. 1 Pyotr Kochetkov. So there isn't the urgency that might have been there had Andersen stunk out the joint or got hurt again, at least not yet. Secondly, I believe there's a very different view between the Ducks and Canes on what a Gibson trade return should be. I think Anaheim believes that if it's retaining salary on Gibson for the remainder of his contract — plus the fact that the 31-year-old goalie has played well this year (14.7 goals saved above expected) — they should be able to get a first-round pick. That opinion is not shared, clearly, by the Canes. Obviously a lot can change in the next two days before the deadline, but as it stood on Wednesday, it didn't look like Gibson was going anywhere.
