Mitch Kasprick is the “Motown Curmudgeon” aka “Motown Mitch”
Odds and Ends, Thoughts and Questions, from this past week in hockey –
Just so there’s no confusion when I’m spewing my bias, I am a fan of the Winnipeg Jets, Arizona Coyotes, Manitoba Moose, Winnipeg Ice, and all Team Canada Hockey teams.
I am NOT a fan of Gary Bettman or as I call him, Count Chocula. I am a big believer in the 7Ps. You’ve been warned.
NHL Trade Deadline Day
1. Jets: The Winnipeg Jets had a decent week going 2-1 and head into today’s NHL Trade Deadline as a team sort of stuck between a rock and a hard place. They aren’t out of the playoff picture but would still be considered longshots to grab a wildcard spot.
The Jets’ record currently sits at 29-24-10. They are 4 points behind Vegas for the final wildcard spot but that is a moot point unless they can reel in Dallas who are 3 points ahead of them with 2 games in hand.
2. Jets: Winnipeg Jets forward Kyle Connor was named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week for the week ending March 19. KC had 2 goals and 6 assists for 8 points. Connor is having a great statistical year and is on pace to set new career highs for goals, assists, and points.
3. Jets: I woke up this morning with the news that the Winnipeg Jets acquired Mason Appleton from Seattle for a 4th round draft pick in 2023. HELL, that works for me. This is a no-brainer bringing Apples back into the fold. Nice move by Chevy.
4. Jets: In an interesting trade Kevin Cheveldayoff moved 2018 3rd rounder Nathan Smith and Bryan Little (in name only) to the Arizona Coyotes for a 2022 4th round pick. It was reported that Smith was not going to sign with the Jets this off-season so Chevy made chicken salad out of chicken s**t and acquired an asset and more importantly some cap relief in the next two years by moving Little’s LTIR money over the Coyotes. FYI: An amusing fact is Bryan Little had to waive his NTC to accomodate this transaction.
5. Jets: Winnipeg gave up a 5th round pick for depth forward Zach Sanford from the Ottawa Senators. My memories of Sanford were he was a pain in the ass to play against when he was with the St. Louis Blues.
6. NHL: My weekly analysis (bitching) about NHL officiating.
This trip below happened with approximately 35 seconds left in the game and with the Jets on a PP and the goalie pulled for an extra attacker in a 3-2 game. I’m thinking this was a pretty important non-call. It wasn’t a missed call, the official was looking right at it. He just chose not to call it.
Charlie Coyle trips #NHLJets Josh Morrissey in the final minute, no call. Bruins score the ENG. pic.twitter.com/KK9mDZCY1t
— Michael Remis (@mremis) March 19, 2022
7. Jets: For me, this was a very successful trade deadline day for Kevin Cheveldayoff and the Winnipeg Jets. They didn’t throw in the towel and clean house but made a couple of bottom-six forward acquisitions knowing they were more than likely trading pending UFA and expiring asset, Andrew Copp. The guys in the dressing room will be sad to see Nate Beaulieu and Andrew Copp leave the team, they were both honest players that gave their all for this team. Conversely, the guys will be happy with the addition of former teammate Mason Appleton and Zach Sanford, a player that was no stranger to them in their Central Division battles with the St. Louis Blues. Although they lost a versatile forward in Copp the Jets’ bottom 6 seems to have improved on paper.
8. Jets: There are Jets fans out there that don’t understand why I like Brenden Dillon, Dylan Samberg, and Logan Stanley. As much as I like Josh Morrissey, Dylan DeMelo, Neal Pionk, or Ville Heinola, you can’t have a back-end full of smurfs. Building a team requires a mix of size and skill and that is why you need guys like Samberg, Dillon, and Stanley.
This is from the post-game presser. Boston coach Bruce Cassidy talking about the Jets’ defencemen on the Bruins’ second goal.
“We had talked about getting to the interior against Winnipeg. They have some smaller D, a couple big ones, but some smaller ones, and statistically they don’t defend the slot that well for whatever reason.”
It’s no secret most teams like to try and attack our smaller defenceman physically and this statement proves it.
9. Jets: The Jets didn’t trade pending UFA Paul Stastny, so it was either a case of loyalty for a player at his stage in his career or the return/offers weren’t worth it. Either way, I’m okay with it. Chevy moved his most important expiring asset.
UPDATE:
Chevy said in his Trade Deadline presser that he didn’t have any calls about Paul Stastny. I guess that answers the above thought.
10 Jets: Ten minutes before the trade deadline the Winnipeg Jets traded pending UFA Andrew Copp and a 2023 6th round pick to the New York Rangers for a 2022 *conditional 2nd round pick*, a 2nd round pick (2022 or 2023, Jets option) and a 2023 5th round pick plus a 23-year-old second-year pro named Morgan Barron. Chevy received a pretty good haul for the former 4th rounder.
Overall I would say Kevin Cheveldayoff had a pretty good 24 hours.
*conditional 2nd round pick*
The NYR 2nd round pick in 2022 turns into a 1st round pick if the NYR win two playoff rounds and Andrew Copp plays in 50% of the games.
11. Jets: 95 point update: Most bean counters estimate the Jets will need approx 52 points in their final 40 games to have a shot at a wildcard spot. As of today they have earned 25 points in 21 games and are still just a little bit off the pace for 52 points but that can drastically improve with a successful 4-game homestand this week. Going into Tuesday’s game versus Vegas the Jets need approximately 27 points (+/- 1-2 points) in their remaining 19 games.
12. Ice: The Winnipeg ICE had one helluva week with 4 wins and 3 shutouts. They have improved their overall record to 43-9-3-2 on the season. The ICE are now only 2 points behind first-place Edmonton in the Eastern Conference and they still have three games in hand. The Edmonton Oil Kings are the #1 team in the CHL rankings and the Winnipeg ICE are at #3 but that could change again this coming Wednesday.
Kia CHL Top-10 Rankings – Week 20
as of Mar. 16
1. Edmonton Oil Kings
2. Hamilton Bulldogs
3. Winnipeg ICE
4. Charlottetown Islanders
5. Everett Silvertips
6. Kamloops Blazers
7. Sherbrooke Phoenix
8. Shawinigan Cataractes
9. Flint Firebirds
10. Portland Winterhawks
13. Moose: The Manitoba Moose had a nice week garnering 7 out of 8 points and improved their record to 33-17-3-2 and a .645 winning percentage. They still sit in 4th place in the AHL’s Western Conference.
Special Teams:
- PP: 19.10 down from 19.00 last week.
- PK: 81.80% up from 80.60 last week.
The Winnipeg Jets/Manitoba Moose have acquired defenceman Markus Phillips from the Los Angeles Kings for defenceman Nelson Nogier. Phillips has assigned to the Manitoba Moose.
14. Jets: According to moneypuck.com the Winnipeg Jets’ chances of making the playoffs sat at 9.3 % as of Sunday night, up from 1.3% last week. Of course, this number is very fluid and it changes every day and with each win or loss by the Jets and/or the teams they are chasing. It is fun to watch.
Updated game by game odds:
After 7-3 win vs Vegas … 9.0%
After 3-2 loss vs Bos … 5.9%
After 6-4 win at Chi … 9.3%
15. Jets: My weekly question for Kevin Cheveldayoff and/or Dave Lowry.
When will see David Gustafsson back up with the big team?
16. Jets: The Good, Better, Best this past week.
- Good: Evgeny Svechnikov’s solid play last week.
- Better: The 7-3 victory over Vegas at home on Tuesday night.
- Best: Josh Morrissey has been playing his best hockey of the season over the past 5-6 weeks.
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