Preview: Winnipeg Jets @ New Jersey Devils

3 weeks ago  /  Arctic Ice Hockey

Friday is a busy day for the National Hockey League franchises since it is Trade Deadline day!!! Lots of moving parts has increased the fan’s interests so much that the network that runs Arctic Ice Hockey is having difficulty keeping up. As a result, I am also struggling to get this article up, let alone consider doing one about the newly acquired Winnipeg Jets.



On that note, might as well welcome defenseman Luke Schenn and forward Brandon Tanev to the city, though in the latter’s case it is a return to where he began his NHL career. A couple future 2nd round picks and a 4th rounder left Winnipeg’s draft pick pool to obtain those guys, but you can certainly see traits in both players that could be beneficial to the Jets going forward. Will hopefully dig into that later today when the site’s functioning improves after the trading action is over with.



Moving on to tonight’s clash between the #1 ranked Winnipeg Jets and the #12 ranked New Jersey Devils. Our Jets ended a 3 game losing streak with a solid victory over the Philadelphia Flyers last night on the back of a strong performance by Eric Comrie and the return of the deadly powerplay (2 for 2). Over the past 15 games, Winnipeg has been very good with a 12-2-1 record. New Jersey has lost their last two outings against two Western Conference teams (VEG/DAL), but even before then struggled with consistency by rotating wins & losses over the previous 10 contests.



The rosters are unknown for Winnipeg (43-16-4) and New Jersey (33-24-6) at this point with the potential for more deals being made. So here is what PuckPedia is showing currently, though I do not think there is any chance Schenn gets into the lineup that quickly. Earlier in the day on TSN, they said that if a player was switching countries they would require a work permit and since it was Friday, they wouldn’t actually submit until Monday and that could delay a player’s insertion up to a week. Not sure if the fact both players picked up by the Jets are Canadian-born will speed things up, but I guess we’ll find out more as the day progresses.









A couple former Winnipeg players on New Jersey’s defense, with Brenden Dillon & Jonathon Kovacevic suiting up for the Devils. Below is how the franchises compare head-to-head based on this season’s stats, as well as ESPN’s look at the goaltending situation.









Going to wrap this up early, but hoping for another solid outing by the Winnipeg Jets tonight in New Jersey. The Central got a lot tougher with the Colorado Avalanche adding Brock Nelson and the Dallas Stars picking up Mikko Rantanen. Finishing first for the Jets has gotten even more important to keep those two franchises playing each other in the first round.



Go Winnipeg!!!...

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