JN AirMail: Annoyed By Vegas?

JetsNation AirMail is where we ask for your questions, you either @ them to us on Twitter, send them to us on Facebook or even old school electronic mail them to us and then we answer them here!

Simple right? This week we talk about Vegas in the Cup Finals, if Gary Bettman helped get them there, just who do we see on the Jets defense going into next season and why does Toby Enstrom get hate from certain fans.

Art: I don’t think Stastny will sign for less than what he’s worth and the Jets can’t afford that with their current cap situation. I think Enstrom will play, but not with the Jets which will be sad. As for defense after 33, 8 and 44? Myers I think stays until the trade deadline and the Jets will try to find a way to trade Kulikov. Chiarot for better or worse stays another year as well. Let’s all hope the Jets give Sami Niku a fair shot this fall.

Kyle: I agree with Art, I think Stastny will want too much money and term for the Jets to be comfortable. Enstrom’s future is definitely in doubt. He loves the city and helped with the expansion draft last season but at the rate he’s declining it makes him a risky signing. I think Kulikov gets another look next season. Beyond that I hope to see Niku or Poolman make the team out of camp.

Art: The Jets really didn’t release any reports of injuries or surgeries needed which is so par for the course for them. I think there were ailments and bumps and bruises but it didn’t sound like there was anything broken beyond Kulikov’s back and Enstrom’s ribs. I’ve looked on pretty much every major site that covers hockey, every fantasy hockey site – especially fellow Nation Network site Daily Faceoff –  and couldn’t find a single report that said any Jet was broken by the end of the playoffs.

Kyle: There definitely wasn’t anything outrageous. The organization definitely holds their cards close and doesn’t release anything extra. I imagine anything major would have been announced by now.

Art: He’s a typical “stay at home defenseman” and that’s simply not a sexy role that wins over a ton of fans. Add to that, he’s not an overly physical player – at least not in the “look at him throw hits all over the place” type mold, so he doesn’t win over any accolades with that either. Toby’s career has been defined by doing the little things right pretty much all the time and the few times he does make a mistake or cause a turnover – which happens to all defensemen no matter how good they are – in some fans eyes, that’s all they see which is unfortunate.

Kyle: The Jets have some very big players in the lineup and Enstrom definitely doesn’t fit into that mold. He used to be a solid offensive contributor as well but that is no longer the case. He plays well enough defensively but like Art mentioned, people remember the big hits and nice plays. Enstrom doesn’t have much of that as he plays a very boring game without taking risks, although that is helpful when paired with Buff.

Art: It always amuses me that fans would assume some big conspiracy or that Gary Bettman tries to personally manipulate results to his liking. As I said in one of the recaps: “Contrary to what everyone thinks the NHL doesn’t have any kind of conspiracy against the Jets.. They simply have bad officials. C’mon, a league that can’t figure out how to stagger start times for multiple first round games is somehow going to find a way to “rig” a game or an entire series for one team over the other? Don’t give the NHL that much credit.

Kyle: People have tried to sell this argument in every sport, that somehow the league has rigged things. Look at the NBA and Lebron, or New England and Brady. I don’t buy into any of that nonsense. I also don’t really believe in criticizing refs as studies have shown most people have huge amounts of bias when watching their favourite team play.

Art: Nope. I don’t see why anyone can’t see the idea of Vegas being in the final as anything less than amusing and a great story. I hate that it came at the expense of the Jets in the West Finals of course, but I don’t get how Vegas in the Cup Finals “hurts the league” .. Because it proves 27 or 28 of the NHL’s other GMs have no clue what the heck they are doing? The only people I feel really bad for in this whole thing are the people who are going to run the new Seattle NHL club and their fans… Not that the NHL tried to hand Vegas a great team, but they didn’t want them to start with a bunch of ECHL level players either and GM George McPhee was fortunate to make some wise picks and get a phenomenal coach to lead them. Seattle won’t have any of that.

Kyle: Yes and no. It’s infuriating that a team consisting of many 2nd and 3rd pairing players have done so well. I think Vegas got really lucky this season because everything came together perfectly for them. Their division was not as strong as past seasons and they were able to win with their 4th goalie in the crease. I don’t think any team can get through that type of situation without a ton of luck. On the other hand, McPhee looks like a genius by capitalizing on so many other teams mistakes. The salary cap era puts a unique spin on an expansion draft and it was fun to watch. Overall, it’s frustrating that they could be so good with what little they had when so many other teams have better players and can’t figure it out.