Jets will enter camp with roster questions The Winnipeg Jets, like most teams, have questions when you try to project an opening-night roster. There will be plenty of competition at key positions in training camp, writes TSN’s Dennis Beyak.

Dennis Beyak Play-By-Play Announcer, Hockey on TSN Archive

With NHL training camps not that far off, the Winnipeg Jets, like most teams, have questions when you try to project an opening-night roster. There will certainly be new faces up front.

Having openings is a good thing for the young players in the system, as well as players that chose to sign with the Jets this off-season. For prospects like Nic Petan and Nikolaj Ehlers (and there are others), summer workouts are much easier when you know there is a spot or two open. Go back one year and ask Adam Lowry how much easier it was heading to the gym every day knowing you were going to be given the opportunity to be an NHL regular.

In the final game last season against the Ducks, we saw Bryan Little on a line with Andrew Ladd and Drew Stafford, and Mark Scheifele with Mathieu Perreault and Blake Wheeler. Michael Frolik played the first three games of the series on the right side with Ladd and Little, but is gone after signing with the Calgary Flames this off-season. Enter the returning Alexander Burmistrov, the wild card on this roster.

As much as we expect the top two lines to stay intact, where does head coach Paul Maurice see Burmistrov fitting in? Will he start him at centre, or at wing? Lowry and Perreault flipped positions early last season, but after watching Lowry develop at centre and spend a lot of time head-to-head with Ryan Kesler in the playoffs, it’s safe to say he will play the middle. Burmistrov needs to play in your top nine, so the wing appears to be his destination.

Chris Thorburn, Anthony Peluso, Matt Fraser, Andrew Copp, Matt Halischuk and Patrice Cormier are all candidates to play on the fourth line. That’s six names, and others will be in the mix at camp. Keep in mind that every player in this group is well aware there is a spot in the top nine, the same spot Petan and Ehlers have their sights set on.

Ehlers is an interesting study. He has so much raw talent. He has put up terrific numbers in the junior, but, because of his age, can’t be sent to the American Hockey League this season. Yes, there are always things to learn in junior hockey, but the indication from Ehlers last spring was that he was done at that level. There is speculation that if he does not make the Jets he will look to play elsewhere this season. Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and the KHL are among the options. The Jets will be very careful and keep a close watch on how this plays out.

The question on the back end is how to spread the ice time to get the best out of everyone. The top four defencemen are Toby Enstrom, Tyler Myers, Dustin Byfuglien and Jacob Trouba. Enstrom is the only left shot, so someone has to play on their off side. It could very well be Byfuglien.

That would put Mark Stuart into the third pairing. Competing for the sixth spot would be Ben Chiarot, Jay Harrison, Paul Postma, Adam Pardy and Grant Clitsome. Clitsome has health issues to deal with, so his status is somewhat up in the air. That group is just the returning players. Josh Morrissey is coming off a very good year in junior and will push for a spot. Needless to say, the franchise has plenty of depth on defence.

In goal, Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson return, while Connor Hellebuyck will push for a spot after a great year in the AHL and a terrific world championship with Team USA.

So, there will be plenty of competition at camp and that’s good. Organizations need options and every those debates will become more interesting as training camp starts. For now, enjoy the final few weeks of the off-season.

A quick overview of the schedule shows 12 back-to-back situations, three more than last year. Ten of those 12 will be off the schedule by mid-January. The Jets will start the season with a four-game eastern trip, and then come home for six in a row in the longest homestand of the season. The Jets have road stretches where they will play eight of nine, and eight of 10 on the road. March sees a stretch where 10 of 13 are at the MTS Centre.