Jeffrey Viel, who had one of the craziest no defence fights in the AHL this season, showed his game wasn’t limited to simply punching faces (although he wasn’t adverse to keeping his team protected if necessary). He formed an important part of the Identity Line (alongside Kristian Reichel and Parker Ford) with the Moose during his first season in Winnipeg.
The undrafted Quebec product had spent the previous five seasons as part of the San Jose organization playing 49 games with the Sharks in the NHL and 212 games with the Barracuda in the AHL before he was signed this past summer.
He got off to a slow start with his new team but as mentioned the Identity Line he formed alongside Kristian Reichel and Parker Ford really helped propel themselves to having excellent career seasons individually but also was a big part of pushing the team from an 11-game slide (0-10-1) to securing a playoff spot.
Viel hit new career highs for games played (69), goals (17), assists (23) and points (40) although he did spend less time in the penalty box this season. His goal totals are all the more impressive when you consider he didn’t score a goal for the first 15 games of the season.
He did get one recall by the Jets during that home-and-home series with the Minnesota Wild which looked like it was going to go off the rails after the game in Winnipeg and with things moving back to St. Paul although he didn’t get into the game in the end.
After signing a one-year NHL deal with the Jets last summer Viel is a UFA on July 1st.
We spoke about his line, how the team turned things around, the play of Kristian Reichel, how Parker Ford did in his first-year as a pro, impact of rookie netminder Thomas Milic, seeing Lambert/Chibrikov make their NHL debuts, his production this season, his plans this summer, his thoughts for next season and more.
