Bowness provides clarity on Jets forward lines

As the Winnipeg Jets prepare to start the 2023 edition of training camp, both head coach Rick Bowness and Kevin Cheveldayoff met with the media on Wednesday. 

One of the biggest question marks heading into camp surrounded how the newest acquisitions would be used in the line-up, with Gabe Vilardi, Rasmus Kupari and Alex Iafallo coming to the Jets from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois back in June. 

Bowness helped fill in the blanks during his availability at the hockey for all centre.

“We're going to start training camp with Gabe (Vilardi) on right wing with Mark (Scheifele) and K.C. (Kyle Connor) and see how that works,” he said. “We'll start Alex (Iafallo) with Low (Adam Lowry) and Apple (Mason Appleton) and see how that works. And Rasmus (Kupari) will start in the centre on that fourth line, but again we don't, he may move up.

“We don't a lot about him (Kupari) because he wasn't used a lot in L.A. So we're going to give all those three a great opportunity to find the chemistry with the right guys. But we're certainly going to give Rasmus a lot more ice time so we can figure out exactly what we have to work with.”

To provide more clarity as to how the rest of the forward group will look beginning tomorrow is Morgan Barron and Vladislav Namestnikov will join Kupari on the fourth line. And last but certainly not least, the second line will comprise of Nino Niederreiter on the left side, Nikolaj Ehlers on the right with Cole Perfetti in the middle.

Kevin Cheveldayoff had said at the draft in Nashville that Perfetti would be given a shot at playing centre, even with a lot of options - including Vilardi - to play that role.

“You look at the sum of Gabe’s most successful times last year, I think was on the wing. I think he can ramp up his production there. Nothing is set in stone or etched in stone, I think you have a good feeling. We did draft Cole as a centerman and envisioned him as a centreman at some point in time in his tenure,” said Cheveldayoff.

“Unfortunately for him he got derailed a couple of times when like Scheif got hurt and that opportunity might have been there for him last year where he would have got that opportunity to play a bigger role at centre. So, I’m excited for him. I think of how hard he worked this summer; he changed trainers I believe. So, I think he believes he has something to prove for sure.”

Scheifele will be making his first appearance in front of the media since the Jets exit meetings after falling to the Vegas Golden Knights in five games in April. The 30-year-old centre has one year left on his deal, as does goaltender Connor Hellebuyck.

Bowness feels that there shouldn’t be any distractions with regards to the futures of both players.

“They’re not kids. They understand the business side of this game. (You) don’t ever take the business side out of this fantastic sport that we play out of the equation,” said Bowness.

“But they’re pros and they’ve been around. They’ve seen other guys in these situations and we’re counting on them handling it like a pro. They’re Winnipeg Jets and we’re just going to leave it at that.”

It’s a heavy presence of veterans on the blue line for the Jets this season. The top six of Josh Morrissey, Neal Pionk, Dylan DeMelo, Brendan Dillon, Nate Schmidt and Dylan Samberg seem to be locked into that group. The biggest competition looks to be for those seventh and eighth spots with the big club and that’s where Logan Stanley, Kyle Capobianco, Ville Heinola and Declan Chisholm come into play.

“It always goes back to (the fact) players will eventually cut themselves, based on how they play. So we’re going to give (Ville Heinola) and we’re going to give (Declan Chisholm), we’re going to give those guys every opportunity to show what they can and then, if they play great like we’re hoping they will, then we’re going to have to make some tough decisions at the end of camp,” said Bowness.

“But I’d rather have the tough decisions, than these guys playing themselves right out of here. We weren’t good enough last year. We didn’t win the Stanley Cup. So we want anyone who can show that they can make us a better team, we want to see that in training camp. And if they can make us a better team and we feel really good about where they are, then that’s where we’re going to be and then we’ll deal with that problem at the time.”

DeMelo and Dillon, similar to Scheifele and Hellebuyck, are in the last year of their respective contracts heading into the 2023-24 season as well, unless extensions are worked out in the meantime.

All in all, it is a big season for the Jets with so much uncertainty with who will be where in the future.

“Over a period of time you have players under contract, obviously we’ve had the, we’ll call it, flat cap of a minimal increase in the cap over the last couple of years. You’ve had to manage that accordingly. Even though the projections of the cap going up a certain amount is something everyone is hopeful of, you still have to manage those assets. We’ll see how it all plays out,” said Cheveldayoff.

“That aside, I know those are all talking points and things that everyone is kind of concerned about, but at the end of the day we’re here to play the game and we’re here to win. That’s what this group, I think, is really going to be focused on. You have to make the playoffs first. That’s the single most important thing that everyone needs to keep in their mind. They need to play a certain way in order to earn that right. Once you get there, you have to pay the price, you have to do the things, you have to take it one step further to try and achieve your ultimate goal. We didn’t do that. I think everyone to a man knows that the process starts now.”