The Winnipeg Jets are now just Jacob Trouba, or Teemu Selanne, (8) days away from their opening regular season game of the 2024-25 NHL season. The Jets still have 2 preseason games remaining, both against the Calgary Flames this upcoming week. Before these final tune up games, the Jets continued their training camp. Today, day 12, was a day focused on special teams at training camp.

At the conclusion of practice, head coach Scott Arniel and several Jets players spoke to the media to discuss how the day went. One of those players was Jets captain Adam Lowry, who spoke about how the Jets are continuing to work hard to improve on an aspect of their game that they struggled with at times last season, that being the special teams. Lowry also touched on some improvements that he’s seen from some of the younger players at camp.

Lowry opened his chat with the media by mentioning that the Jets are “ironing things out, as you’ve seen from some of the exhibition games, there’s been some [penalty] kills, powerplays that look sharp, entries, entry denials… so you know the more reps we get now before we get into these final 2 preseason games will be huge, and hopefully we don’t take a lot of penalties against the Flames”. Preseason games are always a good time to put into action what you’ve been practicing at training camp, and the Jets seem to be learning more on how they can get better at special teams day by day.

The media observed that today at training camp there was an emphasis on quicker puck rotation on the powerplay. Although Lowry does not get many (if any) minutes on the powerplay, he spoke on what he noticed from his perspective as he was playing on the penalty kill. Lowry said it would be best to ask one of the players on the powerplay about this, but he said that “I think that there’s definitely a little more motion, a little kind of different look and it certainly helps when the powerplay moves the puck quicker”. The Jets are still adapting to Scott Arniel’s coaching strategies, and the powerplay seems to be one of them. Quicker puck movement means a higher chance at finding the openings to get the right shot.

Lowry finished his chat with the media by talking about what he’s seen from some of the younger Jets players at training camp, namely defenceman Elias Salomonsson. Lowry appears impressed with Salomonsson’s camp, adding that “I think we were all excited when he finally came over here to get him in the camp. You know, just to see him continue to get better in the games I think it’s certainly a transition from a tough league over in Europe… he makes a good first pass and we’re really excited about his future”. With Ville Heinola and Logan Stanley suffering injuries in training camp, Salomonsson might have a chance to crack the Jets opening night roster if he continues to impress in the Jets final 2 preseason games.

The Jets are back in preseason action on Wednesday night in Winnipeg at 7 pm CT to battle the Calgary Flames. Expect the Jets lineup to more closely resemble their projected opening night lineup as the regular season quickly approaches.