There has been much ado lately about how far apart Paul Maurice and Kevin Cheveldayoff seem to be on one of the Winnipeg Jets most prized prospects, Ville Heinola. Whereas Chevy has made reference to “internal upgrades on defence” at the start of the season, midseason, and post-trade deadline, Maurice – the person in control of the lineups for games – and Charlie Huddy – the person in charge of the pairings going out onto the ice during play – has only played Heinola twice in a now-84 day span, averaging just around 12 minutes in each game.
Maurice, a day before inserting Heinola into the lineup for the second time this season against Toronto, seemed rather noncommittal towards the young Finn’s prospects about getting a game soon, saying that both he and recently acquired Jordie Benn would “probably be able to get both those guys in, I would think down the stretch. They're you know... at that point on the depth chart that they're probably next in so we'll get them some games, I guess."
For a player considered to be the Jets best defensive prospect that Chevy refused to sell on at this trade deadline to upgrade their defence today, it seems like this is the opposite sort of reaction you would want to see from a Head Coach who has now seen one-and-a-half seasons of defencemen playing in a level above where they probably should be, just getting by thanks to having a Vezina-calibre goaltender behind them.
For some fans, the current development of Heinola has echoes of Sami Niku’s tumultuous 2018-19 season, where in a year after winning the Eddie Shore (AHL Best Defenseman) Award, saw stretches of time sitting in the press box or minimal minutes on the ice on the bottom pairing, missing valuable playing time in the AHL. In February 2019, I had calculated it to Niku missing 27 games at that time, where he would sit in the press box for 19 calendar days or 12 calendar days before getting into a NHL game after he last played in the AHL. This was occurring all the while fans and management alike stared at the possibility of a 2019-20 season without the likes of Jacob Trouba or Tyler Myers, never mind knowing now that the Jets would also be losing Dustin Byfuglien and that Josh Morrissey would regress considerably.
Heinola had spent nearly a calendar month between his last game in the AHL before getting his second game in the NHL versus Toronto.
Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice…
Now, this is where it gets a bit into Pepe Silvia territory. What do all of Trouba, Petan, Lemieux, Laine, and Roslovic have in common? Highly touted prospects drafted (or acquired) by Chevy, before demanding trades after playing under Maurice! Sami Niku today, Paul Postma and Adam Pardy yesterday - are Heinola and Samberg going to be the next two defencemen who are highly touted only to falter in a NHL lineup due to mind-numbing decisions about their development and a playstyle that does not fit to the system and Maurice and Huddy refuse to adjust? Enstrom and Byfuglien – they straight up peaced out. How many more blue-chip prospects or players will Chevy draft or acquire, only for Maurice to burn them out!? Maurice must be tight with Mark Chipman, what else could explain the Executive Chairman making the announcement of Maurice’s extension at a Hall of Fame Luncheon instead of the General Manager?
Of course, it is a little too much of a leap in judgment to make, so no matter what your best friend’s barber’s cousin’s wife who is BFF with one of the Jets’ Wives and Girlfriends says, we can only operate on the information that is directly presented to us through the games themselves, and pressers that we as fans are merely a third party to.
Even if it seems as if Cheveldayoff is calling out Maurice in one presser and Maurice seeming unenthused about it in the next, we should remind ourselves of the fact that they likely pass each other in the hall (wearing masks, of course) in between these videos – and then go back to their offices to discuss what it will take to win the next game, the game after that, and ultimately, the Stanley Cup.
COVID-19 presents a unique challenge to roster management in any sport. It is not ideal that Heinola is spending a lot of time in the press box as a healthy scratch or on the taxi squad, and in my opinion, Maurice should be using him and other taxi squad players to give deserved rest to players like Perreault, or a game off to players who are struggling like Derek Forbort or Tucker Poolman, or give more time to recover from injury for players like Wheeler in a highly compressed scheduled and a stressful environment day-in and day-out. To think that the Head Coach and General Manager are at least not in some form of a lockstep about who plays and who does not, however, is not sound logic.
In fact, one would even argue that signing Adam Lowry to a 5-year extension at $3.25m only yesterday not only appeases both sides, but plays more into the coach’s preference over the GM’s. Lowry might have achieved his peak at in the 2017-18 season, with players like Andrew Copp or David Gustafsson appearing to be well molded to fit the gap should have Lowry departed – and make no mistake, even in a flat cap world, other teams would have likely been prepared to offer Lowry a minimum of Brandon Tanev’s contract. We will see what happens come the Seattle Expansion Draft, with all signs pointing towards one of Copp or Mason Appleton being exposed to (and probably picked by) the Kraken – but this signing does not happen if Chevy and Maurice are not on (somewhat of) the same page.
Thus – the “rift” is probably greatly overexaggerated.
But.
Realities are starting to set in. In the club’s tenth season since returning, of which Kevin Cheveldayoff has been GM for all of them (6th longest GM tenure) and Paul Maurice has been the Head Coach for 7.5 seasons (2nd longest Head Coach tenure), the team has only made three playoff appearances and in all likelihood will see its fourth this season (sorry folks, qualifiers don’t count), and has only won two series in 2017-18 to show for it. When some finally saw the window blow wide open after waiting for years in 2017-18, some had already proclaimed it being slammed shut as early as this season. On some nights this season and the last, it is glaringly obvious just how bad things could be if it were not for Connor Hellebuyck in net.
If you are not giving yourselves the best chance to win every night and you end up losing in the first round yet again (in what might arguably be the easiest path to the Top 4 in a Stanley Cup Championship bracket), is it time for a change? And then, who in particular gets changed? Or, does nothing change at all – again – and after navigating losing some sort of asset in the Seattle Expansion Draft, you stare at the likelihood of facing the likes of the Colorado Avalanche in your division, the Vegas Golden Knights in your conference, and the potential rise of teams like the Minnesota Wild?
Back to that first question: what is giving yourself the best chance to win every night? Is it being able to only have one "rookie" defenceman on your blueline and providing him heavily sheltered minutes with one of your other best defenceman, a la Logan Stanley with Dylan DeMelo? Is it rolling with the same lineup for weeks straight in preparation for the playoffs, or is it getting games in for taxi squad players so they are not put in cold should (God forbid) any injuries happen to key players?
The questions could go on and on with other types of theoretical questions proposed by "armchair general managers" such as myself, whereas the actual Head Coach and General Manager merely have to deal with what is directly in front of them. And they merely have to consult amongst themselves, whereas we, the fans either in support or not about current lineup decisions, argue with hundreds of others about what is the best path forward for these Winnipeg Jets.
Are there disagreements between Maurice and Cheveldayoff? Likely, just as we likely have disagreements with our own bosses and colleagues at our own workplaces. There is no set formula or path on how to win the Stanley Cup (much to the chagrin of other Hockey Operations teams out there that largely try to copy the composition and styles of the recent Stanley Cup Champion), so there are bound to be exchanges between all members of the Jets leadership and coaching staff about what is best. But, they have likely come to a consensus about what to do yesterday, today, and tomorrow with regards to roster management and playing styles - and we should assume that happens without creating a "toxic" environment that causes a "rift".
This is not to excuse or say that one imaginary argument is better than the other. People who have followed me on Twitter or elsewhere for the past few years now know that I would prefer a lineup that is more balanced for offence on all lines instead of a stacked top 6, matchup line, and energy line as Maurice prefers to do, and that Charlie Huddy's management of the defensive pairings being "big guy + small guy" leaves a lot to be desired. To try and frame it as if that is also what Chevy is hinting at during his pressers feels like an attempt to appeal to an imaginary authority.
Elliotte Friedman has often said and has been quoted saying that even he as an insider probably only knows less than 10% of what actually happens in Hockey Operations - this is usually framed in the context of trades that do not happen, but I imagine it can be applied to a lot of other factors as well. As fans, we should probably apply the same belief - if not considerably less, no matter what your cousin's brother-in-law's nephew who goes to the same school as a scout's son says.
Yet, it feels like time is running out - maybe for the Jets best chances at the Stanley Cup, or the job security for one or both of Paul Maurice and Kevin Cheveldayoff. And in an environment where stressors are compounded because of a global pandemic, it is not hard to imagine how tensions are high for those working out of Bell MTS Place.
In 27 days and after playing 12 more games, the Jets will begin their 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Will they be best prepared for the challenges to come? While some of us may veraciously disagree, it is likely that the Jets' Head Coach and General Manager will come to a consensus on what the roster and lineup will look like - even if there are disagreements along the way.
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