Some numbers on the Winnipeg Jets at the YoungStars Tournament
By Garret Hohl
8 years agoThe YoungStars tournament has come to a close. The Juniour Winnipeg Jets went 1-2-0 but not all is loss.
The weather was nice. The people were friendly. Hockey was played. And we got to watch some of our favourite prospects play our favourite sport.
Between Canucks’ Army and Jets’ Nation, we had four analysts sitting beside each other, which made it easy to watch the game while tracking a few numbers.
Not much can be made of a maximum of three game sample, whether by eye-test or numbers, but let’s break down some of the tournament.
Corsi
The Junior Jets were outplayed, out possessed and outscored in the first two games. They did however pull it together for the third and final match, beating the Junior Oilers in overtime.
The first game had no data recorded, and not every player played all three games. So, it should be noted that the data will be heavily impacted by how much each player played in each game.
Forwards
Some Notes:
- Michael Spacek only played in the first and third game, this means that his data was only tracked in the Jets “good game”
- Andrew Copp and Nikolaj Ehlers were the only two players to play both the latter two games and out attempt their opponents.
- Copp had a pretty decent tournament, which he will want to carry into training camp as the Jets trial him for the fourth line role.
- Ehlers was flying in the third game and dictated the pace at all times. It was exceptional to see.
- Nic Petan unfortunately saw very few 5v5 minutes in the third game, so while he played both tracked games, the sample is heavily slanted towards the weaker one.
- There was a lot of talk coming into camp about Lemieux being a darkhorse for the Jets fourth line. Lemieux had a decent showing in his agitative play but struggled in the only game he was tracked.
Defenders
Some Notes
- I overheard some talk about being disappointed in Joshua Morrissey’s play, but the numbers look good for Morrissey. The Jets only produced about 49 shot attempts, and 29 were with Josh on the ice.
- While Brennen Serville’s lack scoring in the NCAA was a bit disappointing, Serville posted decent shot metrics. He was out attempted in both games, but neither by a significant extent.
- Marcus Karlstrom is playing in the USHL this season, likely as his final chance to earn a contract from either the Jets or the Moose. He’ll need more than these numbers to earn that though.
- Aaron Harstad was a bit of a tire fire when on the ice, but at least he crushed Jake Virtanen.
Zone Entries and Exits
Zone entries and exits were tracked by Josh Wiessbock in the final game.
Entries
Some Notes:
- Defenders are rarely involved with zone entries, unless they are dumping the puck in, which is why you see the large dichotomy in numbers between the two.
- Holy crap Nikolaj Ehlers. Ehlers dominated the third game and drove a huge amount of the offense the Jets generated that game.
- Jansen Harkins is usually primarily noted for his defensive game; however, Harkins was very effective in gaining the opponent’s zone, especially given his age.
- Scott Kosmachuk struggled in the first two games, and the first half of the third, but he played much better as the games went on.
- Michael Spacek really was a highlight this tournament, given that his youth and being a fourth round selection. He may have been at an advantage though with his pro-level experience.
Exits
Some Notes:
- Joshua Morrissey was a force for a blue line that was pretty embarrassing otherwise. Combining exits and entries, Morrissey was exactly 1/3 of the Jets controlled neutral zone shifts from their backend.
- Nik Ehlers and Chase De Leo were the Jets best forwards in successfully exiting the defensive zone, although they were not that far ahead of many of the other Jets’ forwards.
Combined
Combined is simply the two added together anecdotally.
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