"We don't look at birth certificates around here"

That was Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice responding to a question about the big per-game minutes Mark Scheifele (21) and Jacob Trouba (20) will play this season. Despite both being in only their second full NHL seasons, they will be relied upon to be contributors, or "players that can help us win," as Coach Maurice puts it. And that is totally fine with both players.

Scheifele, along with many other NHL players, spent the summer working out under the guidance of former long-time NHLer Gary Roberts. "I don't think I took a day off in the summer. I made huge gains. I ate the right food, drank the right water and did everything I could to put the best things into my body and make myself the strongest and fastest I can be."

Upon their return to the NHL the Jets made Scheifele their first pick in the 2011 Draft. Following an excellent pre-season he played seven regular season games, scored his first NHL goal in Toronto, and was then sent back to the Barrie Colts of the OHL. After his junior season was done, he joined the IceCaps for their playoffs. What would have been his second training camp was wiped out by the lockout. Because he was a first round pick he was able to leave his junior team and join the Jets for a very short camp. He played four regular season games before going back to the OHL where he became a dominant player, putting up big time numbers in both the regular season and playoffs. But many viewed his return to junior as "the Jets made a bad selection. He will not be the player they thought he would be."

That is all history now following a 13-21-34 output in 63 games last season. And he was playing the best hockey of the season when he went down with a knee injury and was done for the year. He recorded 29 points, including 12 goals in his final 39 games. In his first 16 games under Coach Maurice he went 6-5-11. But it may very well have been a late November six-game road trip where it became clear that he was an NHL player. He scored the first goal of the trip in New Jersey and the final goal of the trip – an overtime winner in Tampa. And coincidence or not, the Jets were on an 11-3-1 run when he got hurt and as other injuries piled up, won only seven of the remaining 19.

What turned out to be a huge positive for Scheifele was Maurice being named to the coaching staff of Team Canada for the World Championship in Belarus. "It was a big help to my mental state to play in the Worlds after my knee injury. I didn't have to worry about the knee coming into camp. Plus I learned a lot." By the end of the tournament Scheifele became one of the team's best face-off men.

Over the summer Maurice toyed with what his lines may look like to start the season. The combination that drew a lot of discussion, and anticipation, was Scheifele between Blake Wheeler and Evander Kane. Three players will skill, size and speed. Unfortunately early in Game 1 Kane suffered a lower body injury, so that experiment has been put on hold.

Jacob Trouba was the Jets' top pick in the 2012 Draft, number nine overall. He joined the team the following spring but did not play. After a very good training camp, he made the team for the 2013-14 season. His rookie year was probably WAY more than anyone expected. He played 25:02 in his NHL debut, a road game in Edmonton. He was a plus-2 and scored his first NHL goal. To Trouba, the big minutes were no big deal. He always played big minutes, so why not at this level?

All went well until an injury in the eighth game of the year put him out for 17 games. When all was said and done he set a franchise record for goals scored by a rookie defenceman with 10 (including a short-handed goal and an overtime goal), led all rookies in per-game average ice time at 22:26 including a career high of 27:43 in a home game in March against Vancouver, and 21 times led the Jets in per-game ice time as he played in all situations. Like Scheifele his hockey season too ended with a trip to the World Championship, as he was part of Team USA. An injury brought him home early, but did not keep him from a hard summer of preparation.

Going into his second season Trouba knows his role will be expanded. Coach has made that very clear, and that is fine with him. Trouba feels he's gotten off to a slow start. "There are areas I need to be better at and I will work on that. Need to move the puck a little quicker for one."

Both players know it will not be easier in year two. They perhaps flew under the radar for a bit of last season, but that will not be the case this season. Although opposition teams did try and expose the two youngsters last season, without a whole lot of success.

When asked about the two, this from Coach Maurice. "The sophomore jinx is not on the player, it's on the expectations of what happens to a man for four months, five months, in the summer. They are five months older, not five-year vets. So my expectations are that I'm hoping for both those guys to be a bit better than they were last year and that would be a good curve.

"We won't do it statistically, whether Scheif scores 12, it won't be looked at as a down year, it's about development, getting on the ice, playing harder roles probably first, giving them tougher assignments. But I didn't look at those two guys' names on the board and expect them to go from five months older to being a lot better than the rest of the guys in the league. That being said, in our structure and on our team, we've got them in really important positions. Positions that sometimes take players years to get to. So they are going to have some times where they look like they've really come on and we'll be excited about that, and there is going to be times both struggle a bit with their role. We've asked them to do a big job."

Yes, the NHL has become a young league, and Mark Scheifele and Jacob Trouba are two great examples. But both are ready for the challenge that lies ahead.