Five Winnipeg Jets training camp storylines to watch ahead of the 2024-25 season

The Winnipeg Jets begin their preparations for the 2024-25 season this week, as training camp starts on Thursday, Sept. 19, at the Hockey For All Centre. Here are a handful of things to watch for at camp and across the entirety of the preseason. 

Will Brad Lambert win the 2C job?

Jets 2022 first-round pick Brad Lambert has a massive training camp ahead of him, as he’ll look to earn a full-time roster spot with the NHL club after spending last season in the AHL. The 20-year-old has been flashing his electrifying talent at the Young Stars tournament in Penticton, which could serve as a great warmup to camp. 

Last season with the Manitoba Moose, he was a centre. With the departure of Sean Monahan in free agency, there’s seemingly an open competition for the second-line centre job. In mid August head coach Scott Arniel indicated that Vlad Namestnikov was “probably going to have a really good look there”.  Namestnikov was more than serviceable in that role last season, posting strong results on a second line with Alex Iafallo and Cole Perfetti. According to MoneyPuck, that line outscored their opponents 8-3 at five-on-five, controlled 60.8% of the expected goals, and provided Rick Bowness with consistently strong minutes in games that Kyle Connor missed due to injury. 

Fans will be enthralled by the “wow” plays Lambert is bound to make at camp, but will those plays have the same effect on new Head Coach Scott Arniel? There have been questions about Lambert’s defensive game although Moose head coach Mark Morrison did note that he improved markedly during the year. Additionally there is a big adjustment to the NHL which at just 20 years old could be a steep curve. The battle for second-line centre, to me, is the top storyline heading into training camp. 

What’s the latest with Nikolaj Ehlers? 

Arguably the biggest storyline surrounding the club when the 2023-24 season ended was Nikolaj Ehlers’ contract status. As a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA),  it’ll be interesting to hear from Arniel and potentially Kevin Cheveldayoff once camp begins.

The 28-year-old winger is coming off of his first 82-game season since 2017-18, posting 25 goals and 61 points in 2023-24. With top line and top power play deployment, those raw point totals could skyrocket even higher. Jets fans and media have written many words about his utilization over the years, but with Arniel calling the shots, could things change for Ehlers? 

Arniel spoke very highly of Ehlers when asked about him this summer which included referencing him as a “gamebreaker” during an appearance on Jets at Noon. When asked about those comments in his first media availability since last season, Ehlers replied by saying “That’s what you want to hear. You want to play for a team that wants you. I’ve been here for nine years. I’ve loved it.”

Whether or not he is on the top line or power play unit could change from day one of camp until opening night, but it’ll be interesting to hear Ehlers speak further to his contract status, and to see how Arniel plans on using him this season. 

Defensive roster spot battles

Another interesting storyline will be the defensive roster spot battles. While Ville Heinola is likely to have his NHL roster spot secured this year by losing his waivers exemption, the battle between him and Logan Stanley for the sixth spot will be one to keep an eye on. 

Heinola said in a pre-camp media availability that he has been waiting for this moment for a long time. “I’ve been grinding every single day just to be ready when I get the chance to be in a top six, that’s my only goal this year and I’m working towards it.” 

There’s another storyline on defence that will be more prevalent next training camp… how will Elias Salomonsson look against NHL players in drills and scrimmages? He is likely going to start the season with the Moose, where he will develop and adjust to the North American ice. A part of me does wonder what the 2022 second-round pick will look like in camp and preseason, even if it is unlikely to have an impact on the Jets opening night roster. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff did a one-on-one chat with The Athletic during the Young Stars tournament where he revealed that Arniel last summer asked if they even needed to send Salomonsson back to Europe. He went home and won a Swedish Hockey League championship which only further prepared him for his next stop in North America.

Could a rookie forward supplant a veteran?

Nikita Chibrikov played just one NHL game in 2023-24, as he made his debut alongside Lambert in a 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Chibrikov scored the game-winner in that game, and did not look out of place playing against NHL competition. After a campaign with the Moose where he posted 47 points in 70 games, is it possible that he steals a job from a veteran forward in the bottom-six? While he could steal a job, he’s not the only young forward with a chance to do so…

Last preseason, Parker Ford had plenty of momentum among Jets fans and media to potentially be the 13th forward. Ford, along with other young, up-and-coming forwards, could beat out a veteran for a bottom-six or depth forward role over the days and weeks of training camp and preseason.

It may be unlikely for a rookie forward to supplant a veteran in the preseason, but there will absolutely be a healthy competition for those roles. Rasmus Kupari struggled last season while batting through injuries, and David Gustafsson and Axel Jonsson-Fjallby‘s roster spots are also far from guaranteed. There is an opportunity for a player to surprise the coaching staff, and fans should be on the lookout for one of Chibrikov, Ford, or maybe someone else to potentially do just that in the bottom-six.

Could Scott Arniel surprise us with deployment?

Outside of Ehlers, could there be any other surprises in store for Scott Arniel and his line combinations? Or will we see a similar roster makeup to Bowness’ last season, where the line combinations of Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi and Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton got the majority of the minutes at even-strength.

Will the top pairing remain Josh Morrissey and Dylan DeMelo, after outscoring their opponents 62-35 at five-on-five last season? Will Dylan Samberg and Neal Pionk hold down the second pairing, despite Pionk’s struggles over the past handful of seasons? These are questions that are likely to be answered in the first week of camp.

Arniel is in an interesting position, having been on last year’s coaching staff that enjoyed plenty of regular season success, but clearly faltered in the playoffs. A handful of fans are waiting to see which lineup changes he may have in mind, if any. Cole Perfetti opened last season as the second-line centre, before moving to the wing before the fifth game of the season. So while Arniel could make changes to open camp, there is no guarantee it ends that way, or even sticks for any number of games to begin the season.

The last note I want to make on Arniel, is in relation to the “analytical summit” he and the coaching staff planned on having this summer. Will their findings from diving deeper into analytics influence any of the deployment or lineup decisions he makes to begin camp, or will that be something they re-visit more on a game-to-game basis during the regular season?

Perfetti’s contract status could be a massive storyline as well… if he remains unsigned into camp currently being referenced as the “nicest contract dispute ever”. These storylines will be front of mind starting Thursday, and as always is the case with training camp and preseason, we are bound to be surprised.