Game 63: Jets vs. Wild pre-game report

After the madness that was Trade Deadline Day it is nice to get back to some actual hockey which today will see the Jets and Wild renew some Friendly Manitoba vs Minnesota Nice rivalry.  Of course we cannot mention yesterday without noting that former and now current Jets forward Matt Hendricks was re-acquired by Winnipeg to add some veteran hockey presence to one of the youngest rosters in the NHL.

Morning Skate:

As per Scott Billeck of NBC Sports lots of new faces at morning skate for the Jets including Kevin Hayes, Matt Hendricks, Par Lindholm and Nathan Beaulieu.  New look lines and D pairs via Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press as listed below.

Jets projected lines, D pairs and starting goalie:

Laine-Scheifele-Wheeler
Perreault-Hayes-Ehlers
Connor-Little-Roslovic
Copp-Lowry-Tanev

Beaulieu-Trouba
Kulikov-Myers
Chiarot-Niku.

Hellebuyck
Brossoit

Audio:

Nathan Beaulieu

Mark Scheifele

Kevin Hayes

Matt Hendricks

Coach Maurice:  Update on Josh Morrissey.  On the lineup changes he made as a result of the Jets moves on Trade Deadline Day.  What does he like about Beaulieu’s game?  When does he expect Bogdan Kiselevich.  When they trade for Kevin Hayes what kind of bump does it provide the team?  Did he need to have a conversation with Jack Roslovic with the rumours of teams wanting to acquire him?  How does he see Kevin Hayes fitting in in special teams?  On the new players ability to kill penalties and how it may allow them to shave some minutes off Wheeler/Scheifele.  Why was it important to get Matt Hendricks back on this team?  Is Matt Hendricks a modern day player/coach?  What are the challenges to bringing in five new faces?

All audio courtesy of TSN 1290 Winnipeg.

Health Update:

Coach Maurice was asked about Josh Morrissey and indicated that his top pairing defenceman will be out for March and that his window to return will be in early April.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 7 pm CT.  Be sure to head over to illegalcurve.com following the game for a recap of the action which includes post-game audio from the Jets room as well as from coach Maurice.