JN AirMail: I Dano About New Lines, Do You?

A little bit late with the reader questions today was we had a couple of tough questions to contemplate – you’ll see below – and some thoughts about Marko Dano and the Jets mizing up their forward lines.

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!

Art: To me it comes down to the fact that Dano’s ability didn’t match what you – or at least the Jets – would look for in a bottom six forward in that you want those players to be more energy or physical players. he was a bit to skilled for that role, but he also wasn’t quite skilled enough to crack the Jets top six. Colorado’s roster will be a good chance for him to make or break and get a fair shot to do it.

Brian: I am somewhat indifferent because on one hand, I want to see someone claim Dano so he can have a chance somewhere. However, I’m also somewhat upset because he could have succeeded here if he wasn’t buried behind players when he was probably a better option. And to the point on Petan, I would absolutely love to see him up in the lineup as a playmaking center, but by the looks of things he could be in line for a lower line thing or even a pressbox stint which truly upsets me.

Sean: Dano was never going to get a shot here, there were too many bodies in front of him and I don’t think there would have been much of a return in a trade situation, I have no problem with him on waivers. Giving Petan a chance would be great but I don’t know who you take out. TLC line has been good so you’re looking at taking out roslovic or Vesalainen, not sure if the Jets want to do that as I think both those players have higher ceilings.

Kyle: I think it’s one of those cases where the Jets believe they have a few players at Dano’s level. If the Jets believe Lemieux and Vesalainen are both better than Dano and will benefit from staying with the team then the move totally makes sense. I think it’s tough for the fans because we don’t know the players like the coaching staff does. They have years of reports, scouting, and practices to base their decisions off of while the fans have just a handful of games.

Brian: One horse-sized duck. All you have to do is wrangle one thing. You would be dealing with a lot trying to contain all of those tiny horses and could eventually back yourself into a corner. A horse-sized duck could be awesome if you can end up taming it. Imagine riding up to work on a giant duck.

Sean: Duck sized horse sounds like a terrific pet, but I’m a lover not a fighter, I’ll take a pass.

Kyle: It’s a toss-up for me. The horse-sized duck is likely easier to fight but I like the idea of watching an entire 100 mini horses running around.

Art: Wait, are we talking about a Corey Perry sized horse or a horse-sized Jakob Silfverberg? I’d probably take my chance with the Corey Perry sized horse.

Art: I’m almost willing to bet at some point this season we’ll see something like that, especially if the offence remains stagnant but that top line is pretty darn good and like the saying goes, you don’t fix what isn’t broken. With Petan coming in now though it should shuffle things up.

Brian: I’d love to see the dispersal of talent if it meant we could roll 4 lines somewhat regularly. If a guy like Wheeler was used to jumpstart a line, that could create weird matchup nightmares for other teams. Currently we’re seeing the top line carry about 20ish minutes a game, while our 4th line typically doesn’t break 8. Rolling four lines doesn’t just create matchup issues for the opponents, but it also doesn’t top load minutes this early in the season.

Sean: I agree that it would be good to spread out some talent. Hopefully you can have 4 lines that can score. I also advocate this because you could get a better look at Kyle Connor. He’s looking at a tremendous raise come contract time but really I don’t know how good he is. I’m wondering if you put just about anyone with Scheifele and Wheeler if they will put up big numbers? Splitting them up makes him prove his skill and also hopefully spreads out the scoring.

Kyle: I understand the idea behind it, but I think the top line should be playing the most minutes. If Scheifele, Wheeler, Connor are consistently producing shouldn’t they get the most minutes? I think the Jets will experiment throughout the year and we might see Scheifele and Wheeler split up. I think it’s important to get some consistency in the lineup in the first few weeks before changing everything around.

Art: At this point their 1st round picks *should* be very late in the first round and I have always been of the opinion that once you get past the third overall pick, you’re dealing with a bit of a crap shoot in terms of what you’re getting and it only gets to be more of a guessing game the farther you go. (David Pastrnak was a 25th overall pick, I would imagine in hindsight he goes higher than Ehlers if there was a re-draft) But to your point I don’t believe it’s absolutely critical for them to keep 1st round picks, but only trade them when you know you’re going to get a key piece to help a long playoff run and then try to stock up on picks in the middle rounds. They’ve drafted well in later rounds in the past.

Sean: I have no problem dumping draft picks. In the NHL today the window to win is very very short. If come the deadline this year Winnipeg is a piece away from a championship team I’d send the first rounder away.

Kyle: Winnipeg definitely has to be careful as the cupboards are getting pretty bare in terms of prospects. The Jets have hit with several late round picks like Niku, or Lowry so they don’t necessarily need the first round pick, but it’s nice to know there are prospects that are continually getting ready for the NHL. I also agree with Sean, if trading a first round pick means winning the cup, every single fan would be in favour of that. Sometimes a team needs to give up a first round pick to make a good run.

Brian: The name Jets actually short for the “Winnipeg Jetsons” because that was ownership’s favourite show.

Kyle: Winnipeg actually houses one of the most important aerospace organizations in the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). NORAD is most famous for their excellent tracking abilities every year when they give live updates to where Santa Claus is currently delivering presents. It’s a thankless job and one I appreciate every year. Someone needs to keep tabs on the jolly cookie-monster.

Art: Why is this still a thing? Someone needs to fill me in on the origin story of this gimmick. This whole “Winnipeg doesn’t have an airport” thing makes me want to fight a horse-sized  Jakob Silfverberg