After Jets reassign 9 players, Paul Maurice says next cuts will be tougher
Brett Purdy | CBC News | Posted: October 4, 2016 10:53 PM | Last Updated: October 4, 2016
Winnipeg has 2 more preseason games before regular season starts next week
Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice says that as difficult as it was thinning out the dressing room Tuesday, the coming cuts are going to be even tougher.
"Everybody left can make a pretty solid argument that their good enough to play, but they're going to have to fight their way into the lineup," said Maurice.
The Jets just reassigned nine players from training camp, bringing their remaining roster down to 33 players.
In the second round of training camp cuts, the club cut defenceman Logan Stanley, who went 18th overall in the 2016 draft. Stanley was sent back to his junior team in Windsor, Ont.
Goaltender Eric Comrie, 2015 first round draft pick Jack Roslovic, Kevin Czuczman, Scott Kosmachuk and Jan Kostalek were all sent down to the Manitoba Moose.
Winnipegger and 2010 Florida Panthers first round draft pick Quinton Howden, Brenden Kitchton and JC Lipon were also sent to the Moose, but the three of them need to clear waivers before joining the AHL farm team
College star Kyle Connor, and defenceman Josh Morrissey, are among the 21 forwards, nine defencemen and three goalies that remain in camp for now.
An opening for Morrissey
Meanwhile Jacob Trouba is still holding out in contract negotiations and could leave a vacancy for Morrissey, 21, to get into this years' lineup.
The young blueliner has played both left and right side in preseason action and said he knows it's important to show he can be versatile for the team.
"I have had some experience playing the right in junior and growing up, and last year a little bit too with the Moose," said Morrissey said.
"It's a little bit of an adjustment at first, but I think having played it a lot throughout my life I kind of know a little bit of how to do it and I thought I did pretty well with it."
Team captain Blake Wheeler said that a lot of the young prospects still with the NHL team have some really exceptional skills.
"A lot of the young guys we have, have that god-given ability around the net," Wheeler said.
"They can finish off plays in tight. We're going to be looking for guys to continue to do that, and like I said there's room for everyone to improve as well to make us a better team."
The Jets top line from the end of last season was reunited last night. Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers combined for five points in the Jets last preseason game at the MTS Centre.
Where does everyone else fit in?
The three forwards racked up 35 points in the final nine games last season. With the trio seemingly locked in as the first line heading into the fall, one big question remains: where does everybody else fit in?
Connor has seemingly been paired with veteran forward Mathieu Perreault, and has scored in three straight preseason games.
This club will give Patrick Laine, the 2016 second overall draft pick, every opportunity to succeed.
Bryan Little and Drew Stafford round out the top end, so the battles for forward positions will likely take place below those top eight skaters.
Perhaps the biggest battle for the remainder of training camp will be in the crease.
Ondrej Pavelec, Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson all remain in camp and typically teams don't carry three goalies on their 23 player rosters.
Hellebuyck has the potential to be the best of the three goalies. His contract is the only one of the three that would allow the team to send him to the minors without having to clear waivers and risk being picked up by one of the other 29 NHL clubs.
The Jets are scheduled to hit the ice at the MTS Iceplex on Wednesday morning. Winnipeg has two remaining preseason games: one on Thursday night in Edmonton and the other in Minnesota against Wild on Saturday.