Note: On Wednesday we ended two days of end of season media availability for the Jets including with: Adam Lowry | Cole Perfetti | Gabriel Vilardi | Dylan DeMelo | Dylan Samberg as well as coach Scott Arniel & GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. The full roster of 13 player interviews and coach/GM can be found here.
Note II: Now we enter offseason mode until the mid part of June when we start to ramp up for the NHL Draft. But we will still have plenty of Jets coverage coming your way here on site including all the stories from the last two days of end of season media with players, coach Scott Arniel and GM Kevin Cheveldayoff. As well the Illegal Curve Hockey Show runs every Saturday until early July so keep it locked there.
Jets news:
Winnipeg Sun: GM Cheveldayoff to pitch ‘Jet-for-life’ deal to Ehlers. Seemed like every single player we spoke to over the past 48 hours made a pitch for 27 to stick around next season and beyond.
Winnipeg Sun: Scratching the surface, but plenty of itch left in Jets. When you fall short of your goal you don’t pat yourself on the back for making it part of the way there. You pick yourself up and ensure next time you make it all the way.
Winnipeg Sun: Predictable lack of punch sunk Jets, GM Cheveldayoff. The big need ahead of the trade deadline didn’t change after it. And it certainly won’t change next season. Perhaps the team lets some kids take a run at those spots before deciding which direction to go in.
Winnipeg Free Press: Jets bench boss the right choice despite team’s early playoff exit. (Paywall). There was a tepid response last summer when it was announced he would be taking over for Rick Bowness. Many lamented his hiring as True North simply making the easy choice. The job Arniel and his coaching staff did with this team showed he/they were the right people to handle the responsibility.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve)
Winnipeg Free Press: Jets captain optimistic team will find ways to improve next season. (Paywall). It is going to be a fascinating offseason.
Winnipeg Free Press: Lengthy summer to-do list for Cheveldayoff. (Paywall). From potential UFAs to RFAs to players with one year left eligible to sign extensions there is gonna be lots on the plate of the GM in Winnipeg.
The Athletic Winnipeg: What we learned from Jets exit interviews, Day 1: Contracts, charters and cracked ribs. (Paywall). Missed this from Murat yesterday on his assessment of what went down on Tuesday.
Global News: Jets’ GM and coach are proud of what players accomplished, but want improvements. While we don’t know exactly what this team will look like the expectation is they will be largely the same group and the goal will not have changed, nor will the expectations.
Global News: What’s next for Jets after playoff exit? The overarching theme from two days of end of season was of a team not satisfied with where they were. One that had climbed a mountain but realized they’ve still got a ways to go.
Jets video:
TSN: Will Jets success + players re-signing help land other UFA’s? Martin Brodin weighs in on the importance for the Jets to get Ehlers signed this offseason, whether or not the term and dollar value will make sense for the team. He also talks about how other free agents may be intrigued by the idea of coming to sign and play in Winnipeg with a bunch of players loving their time there.
TSN: How Craig Button viewed the Jets season. The Jets won the Presidents’ Trophy and made it past the first round for just the third time since they returned to Winnipeg, but still fell short of the ultimate goal. TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button joined SC with Jay Onrait to discuss how Winnipeg should view their season.
Jets audio:
Sportsnet: 32 Thoughts. Kyle Bukauskas and Elliotte Friedman discuss the end of season media avails taking place in Winnipeg.
