JGD Preseason game 3: The Patrik Laine Era Begins vs Oilers.

The Jets will face off against the Oilers in the second game of their back to back pre season series. Unfortunately, the game will not be televised on TSN3 due to the Bombers game but you can catch the game on TSN GO or give it a listen on TSN 1290 radio. 

Tonight’s game marks the beginning of Patrik Laine’s tenure in Winnipeg. The 2016 second overall pick could make a profound impact with the Jets this upcoming season despite only being 18 years old. His NHL ready shot and skill could help propel Winnipeg to the playoffs and maybe even claim Laine a calder trophy bid.

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Laine with a snipe . <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/nhljets?src=hash”>#nhljets</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/NHL?src=hash”>#NHL</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Laine?src=hash”>#Laine</a> <a href=”https://t.co/UjKDPMJbIB”>pic.twitter.com/UjKDPMJbIB</a></p>&mdash; thesawch (@thesawch) <a href=”https://twitter.com/thesawch/status/780414269430960131″>September 26, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

Record: 1-1-0

Connor-Scheifele-Wheeler

Laine-Petan-Armia

Tanev-Lowry-Burmi

Thorburn-De Leo-Howden

Enstrom-Byfuglien

Morrissey-Postma 

Melchiori- Kostalek

Hutchinson 

Pavelec

– Kyle Connor is going to have a solid opportunity to build off his impressive performance he had last night against the Wild. Connor will be skating with the big guns alongside Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler and that trio could reunite down the road during the course of the season. With Scheifele having elite speed on his wings with two capable snipers is a valuable asset along with Scheifele himself being quite the offensive talent. Look out for this trio to reunite other than just tonight if the Jets want to pull Connor out of a middle six role. 

– The Jets second line tonight has lots to prove. Laine is a lock to make the team but for players like Nic Petan and Joel Armia who are fighting for opportunity, they’ll form a creative and skilled trio and compliment each others games that could really make the three’s chances of making the club increase. 

– Michael Hutchinson gets the nod for the Jets tonight and he’s going to have to play at his best if he wants to maintain a spot on the Jets roster. The 26 year goaltender is at a disadvantage in training camp as Ondrej Pavelec’s contract likely restricts Hutchinson from surpassing Pavelec as the team’s back up goaltender. 

Record: 2-1-0 

Pouliot-Nugent Hopkins- Puljujarvi

Hendricks-Letestu-Kassian

Versteeg-Lander-Pakarinen

Pitlick-Khaira-Slepyshev

Klefbom-Larsson

Oesterle-Fanye

Reinhart-Benning 

Talbot

Brossoit 

– Klefbom and Larsson will likely make up the Oilers top defenseman pairing and tonight they’ll get a chance to build some chemistry. The duo could eat up lots of minutes with the Oilers this season as they’ll lead the teams depleted defensive core.

– Kris Versteeg came to camp on a PTO and it’s likely he’ll be staying for much longer than training camp. Versteeg could slot in as the team’s third left winger and the Oilers have a plethora of talented centres to compliment Versteeg’s game well. It seems like a match made in heaven.