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TSN Director of Scouting

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That the Winnipeg Jets’ return to the playoffs could be short-lived may well say less about them than the competition in the NHL’s best division.

Four straight losses to Central rivals — Minnesota, Dallas, Nashville and St. Louis — illustrate the enormity of Winnipeg’s playoff challenge. It has been made more difficult by inadequate goaltending. This is a B-minus team with C-minus goal prevention (a .901 team save percentage). That puts them at C-plus in the hyper-competitive Central.    

Below are the Jets’ individual player grades.

Three factors were considered in assigning grades: performance, results and expectations, as framed by age, previous performance and cap hit/contract average annual value (AAV). Skaters must have appeared in a minimum of 10 games and goalies, five, to be graded.

Spotlight Player Grades: There were high expectations for pillar players Andrew Ladd, Jacob Trouba and Tyler Myers, but none has played to his potential. Captain Ladd, an impending unrestricted free agent, is not scoring at his 2014-15 team-leading pace. Trouba, a rugged customer with a big shot, was considered headed for stardom but has not taken the next step. Myers, who finished 3-12-15 and plus-9 in 24 games with the Jets last season, has started 1-5-6 and minus-7 in 21 games this season. Bottom line for all three: grades in the C's.

Editor’s Note: Follow TSN Director of Scouting Craig Button at  @CraigJButton and join the discussion on his Interim Report Cards.

 

Grading System

A  Excellent
B  Very Good
C  Satisfactory
D  Poor
F  Failing
Inc. Incomplete

 

Jets' Grades By Player

 
               
Goalies Grade Age AAV W L OT Sv%
Michael Hutchinson C- 25 $575 k 5 3 1 0.915
Ondrej Pavelec C- 28 $3.9 m 5 6 1 0.906
Defencemen Grade Age AAV GP G P +/-
Dustin Byfuglien B 30 $5.2 m 21 6 11 8
Toby Enstrom B- 31 $5.8 m 21 0 6 8
Tyler Myers C+ 25 $5.5 m 21 1 6 -7
Mark Stuart C 31 $2.63 m 21 1 2 0
Jacob Trouba C- 21 $894 k 21 1 3 0
Ben Chiarot C- 24 $850 k 13 0 2 -2
Adam Pardy Inc. 31 $1.0 m 6 0 1 2
Paul Postma Inc. 26 $888 k 2 0 0 -2
Forwards Grade Age AAV GP G P +/-
Blake Wheeler A 29 $5.6 m 21 8 21 -3
Bryan Little A- 28 $4.7 m 21 9 18 -3
Mark Scheifele B 22 $863 k 21 8 13 8
Nikolaj Ehlers B 19 $894 k 21 4 10 2
Mathieu Perreault B- 27 $3.0 m 21 1 14 1
Andrew Ladd C 29 $4.4 m 21 4 12 -4
Drew Stafford C 30 $4.4 m 21 7 11 -7
Chris Thorburn C 32 $1.2 m 21 3 4 3
Andrew Copp C 21 $925 k 17 1 3 3
Anthony Peluso C 26 $675 k 10 0 2 4
Alex Burmistrov C- 24 $1.6 m 21 2 5 -4
Adam Lowry D+ 22 $828 k 21 0 5 -9