Jets’ 10 biggest offseason priorities: Will Mark Scheifele complicate challenges ahead?

A beloved coach walked away from the team. A group of young stars spoke out more and more pointedly about the team’s lack of commitment to playing the right way. And when the season officially ended Sunday night, a well-respected veteran called out the team culture as directly as he knew how.

“We’ve got to be held accountable,” Paul Stastny said, jumping in partway through Blake Wheeler’s response to my question. “We’ve got to have more respect for each other. When you don’t have that, when you don’t care about the teammate next to you — potentially — and you just care about what you’re doing or certain individual things, that starts bleeding into the game.”

Wheeler had opened the door to candour, acknowledging that the Jets’ commitment to 200-foot hockey isn’t always there and saying players need to take responsibility for not executing the systems put in front of them.

But Stastny kicked that door wide open.

He talked about how players need to respect each other more, saying that individuals need to focus more on team success, before offering an example of how he hoped coaches would hold players accountable.

“I’ll give you an example,” Stastny said. “It was Vancouver. I think they lost the game in overtime, like 10 games ago, and (Bruce) Boudreau called out one of their players. And it sucks, it sucks when something like that happens. But that player, I think the next game they played that same team, he had three points and was plus-three. He was better defensively. All it takes is one time to get embarrassed. Everyone hates it … But that’s what needs to happen.”

Thus a season that began with playoff aspirations ends without the postseason at all — and with sharp words about players who care too much about “individual things” and coaches who can’t shake them out of that attitude.

But wait, there’s more. The nature of Stastny’s words had only begun to sink in when the next round of players stepped up to the podium.

That’s when a reporter asked Mark Scheifele about his future with the Jets.

“Obviously I love it here. It’s been the only place I’ve known,” Scheifele said. “I think there’s a lot of big questions to be asked this offseason about where the team’s going and what’s all going to happen and that’ll happen tomorrow. I’d love to be in Winnipeg, but I also have to see where this is all going and what direction this team is going in and I guess we’ll see this summer.”

The idea of a player under contract until 2024 talking about his Jets future in theoretical terms was startling.

But Scheifele’s answer to another reporter’s follow-up — what does he need to hear during his exit interviews? — was downright stunning.

“I just have to know, I just have to understand where this team is going. I’m in the prime of my career. I still have so much to improve on too and I like where my game is at. I like the physical nature that my body is at. I’m only improving, I’m only getting better (and) I’m only going to be a better player next year than I was this year. I just have to know where this team is going, what the direction is, and what the changes are going to be, if any. I have to think about my career and what’s going to be best for me. I’m going to have to have talks with my agents and everyone in my family and stuff like that and figure out what I really want, so it will be a tough talk tomorrow.”

Scheifele is a foundational part of the Jets. He creates scoring chances for himself and his teammates like few other players can and surpassed the point-per-game plateau for the sixth straight season.

Together with Pierre-Luc Dubois, Scheifele is part of what should be a formidable one-two punch at centre.

But we all know the season didn’t play out that way, with Scheifele’s lack of commitment to defence letting the air out of his offensive success. For a long time, he wasn’t scoring, either, although that was more about bounces than ability. He was still creating chances at a terrific rate even if he wasn’t finishing them.

As such, Scheifele remains a good bet to outperform his $6.125 million contract next season at 29 and again at 30 the season after that.

But there is no guarantee he will be back in Winnipeg next season. The same could be said about Stastny, interim head coach Dave Lowry and more Jets occupying critical positions.

Meanwhile, Dubois needs a new contract and plans to take his time before signing one.

This makes Scheifele’s future just one of several vital issues to resolve this offseason.

We’ll dig deeper into each of these items in the coming weeks. For now, here are the Jets’ 10 biggest offseason priorities.

1. Assess Cheveldayoff’s front office — and augment it where necessary

Kevin Cheveldayoff has been Jets general manager for 11 years, trailing only David Poile and Doug Armstrong in tenure. Now Ken Wiebe reports that Cheveldayoff has signed a three-year extension to keep running the team.

Cheveldayoff built the Jets through the draft, augmenting Scheifele’s success with Connor Hellebuyck, Jacob Trouba, Adam Lowry, Josh Morrissey, Nikolaj Ehlers, Patrik Laine, Kyle Connor, Jack Roslovic and others. Free agency has never been a Winnipeg strong suit nor have trades been easy to come by, but Cheveldayoff has largely done well when backed against the wall by players wanting out — Trouba, Laine and Roslovic among others. He and his staff, including assistant GM Larry Simmons, have also been fastidious when it comes to contract details, capology and navigating LTIR.

What Cheveldayoff has not been able to do is stop the cultural issues that Stastny articulated so well from forming.

Paul Maurice resigned, claiming he was unable to get more out of the team. Lowry was unable to change the team’s course. Issues of accountability persist, with playing time being heaped upon players who used to drive results. Meanwhile, Mark Chipman has been described to me as “extremely hands-on” and “very close to the team,” which makes a person wonder if a little more clarity of roles would be a better decision.

I’m not sure if the Jets will look to create more of a front office/ownership divide — it’s hard to imagine the club paying big money for a “president of hockey operations” type of hire — but management needs a thorough evaluation. The degree to which management has been complicit in the lack of on-ice accountability needs to be assessed and addressed.

2. Rebuild the coaching staff

I don’t think that being blindsided by Maurice’s departure and then put in charge of his son’s team was the way Dave Lowry wanted to become an NHL head coach.

Whatever pushed Maurice all the way to his exit — despite summertime upgrades and additions to the roster — was probably too much for Lowry to overcome.

Meanwhile, Dave and Adam Lowry seldom spoke away from the rink all year — an arrangement that could hardly have been comfortable for the Lowry family, not to mention the various Jets players who would be consistently be made to bite their tongue during the gripe sessions that are normal in dressing rooms around the NHL.

It is completely normal — routine, even — for players to blast their coaches during tough times behind closed doors.

It is not normal to do that in front of their coaches’ kids.

For those reasons, plus the way Winnipeg’s five-on-five metrics declined and the special teams stalled, I don’t see Dave Lowry returning as head coach.

I also find it difficult to see his assistants, Charlie Huddy and Jamie Kompon, returning.

Newly extended GM Cheveldayoff needs to have the courage to assess his staff from top to bottom and recognize that the old guard did not get the job done.

Expect a coaching search to begin in earnest. The more thoroughly Winnipeg searches, the better its future will be. Just look at Darryl Sutter’s Flames and Jay Woodcroft’s Oilers. Coaching can make a huge difference for a flagging club.

3. Sit down with leadership group, buy-in not guaranteed

The single biggest thing the next coaching staff could do to improve results would be to find and instill a sense of accountability in Winnipeg’s forwards.

Performance — not pedigree, salary or history — must have the biggest influence on ice time.

This means that Ehlers and not Wheeler should be the Jets’ top right winger. It means that, for the stretches of the season where Dubois outperforms Scheifele, Dubois needs to play more than Scheifele, too.

It even means that Connor — he of 47 electric goals and 93 points — must be held to a higher defensive standard.

The challenge here is that Wheeler and Scheifele have such stature within the team that chopping away at their minutes will come with fallout.

But the size of that fallout is up to the players — Wheeler especially.

Whereas Scheifele still produces offence at elite levels and one suspects he is capable of better defensive commitment than he has shown, Wheeler is out of his prime and now produces offence at a middle-six level. Neither one has produced good defensive results, although Wheeler used to.

But how is Wheeler, the captain and salary leader at $8.25 million per year, going to take his transition to second- or third-line right winger?

Remember his words to me in this one-on-one conversation in the fall of 2019.

“I still want to be productive, I still want to have an impact on the team, I still want to have a role on the team — that’s just part of human nature and of being a player. But ultimately, if I’m doing those things and the team isn’t in a position to win, then what’s the point? I mean the clock is ticking whether I want it to or not. Whether it’s five years from now or eight years from now. I’m on the back nine of my career, for sure, so that’s all that matters.”

Those words may have been easier to speak coming off back-to-back 91-point seasons.

But Wheeler, despite scoring 60 points for the ninth time in his career, is slowing down. He is no longer one of the world’s best five-on-five players — he’s not even in the top five on his own team. Yet he played more five-on-five minutes per game than Ehlers, Dubois, Stastny and Andrew Copp.

I can’t even begin to imagine the confidence, wisdom, emotional strength and sense of security that it would take for an elite athlete like Wheeler to willfully watch his minutes fade away.

But that’s the ask.

Winnipeg isn’t winning anymore and there are better options on the wing.

It’s time for Wheeler to emulate players like Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau, helping his team win from a lower spot in the lineup. It’s too soon to say if he will find the strength to volunteer for a smaller role or if he’ll need to be cajoled into it by Chipman, Cheveldayoff and the coaching staff. It is absolutely not too soon to say that, if the Jets has tried anything on this front, they’ve been unsuccessful.

4. Sign Dubois

The Jets must sign Dubois. We recently outlined four scenarios for Dubois’ offseason, ranging from a happy long-term deal to Dubois’ departure (the Canadiens must be salivating!).

Dubois said that it’s not just about money and term — and that he could take four or five months to assess the Jets’ situation, to think about his future and more — before making his decision.

From Winnipeg’s perspective, a long-term deal would be ideal while a trade would be a huge headache and an offer sheet would almost certainly be matched.

A one-year deal, whether or not it’s signed through arbitration, would be frightening — not just because we’ve seen Trouba and Copp engineer their exits in similar fashion, but because it would put a wrench in the next item on our list.

5. Build the Scheifele contingency plan

Scheifele is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent in July 2024. Players who score points tend to get paid. Free agency will finally be Scheifele’s opportunity to make up for outproducing his $6.125 million AAV contract for so long.

The Jets also have the little problem of Scheifele, still under contract, saying he needs to assess the team’s direction before making a big decision this summer.

Ideally, Winnipeg’s management and coaching are able to convince Scheifele to buy into the plan while also instilling a sense of 200-foot accountability from the star. This would give the Jets a fresh look at Scheifele and Dubois as a powerful combination down the middle — one that Cheveldayoff worked very hard to build.

But the long-term picture is getting cloudier, even if everything works out in the short run.

I don’t think it’s in Winnipeg’s best interests to be the team that pays him big money as a free agent, particularly if he’s looking for a contract that covers him off well into his 30s. We’ve seen what happens to even the very best point producers’ offence as they age; we’re seeing it right now with Wheeler.

The problem is you can’t trade Scheifele while Dubois’ future is such a big question mark. You’re set if both play to their potential and you can probably survive with just one.

6. Make room for Samberg and Heinola

Dylan Samberg and Ville Heinola entered Jets camp at the start of this season knowing that, even if they played lights-out, perfect hockey, there was no way they would make the Jets roster. Winnipeg had acquired too many veterans in the name of winning this season.

It was a defensible plan based on veteran expectations and those players’ inexperience.

But Nate Schmidt and Brenden Dillon didn’t work out quite the way they were supposed to.

Each is probably still capable of positive contributions in a situation where there is substantial structure, defensive buy-in and quality partners.

That doesn’t mean they should stand in the way of Winnipeg’s future.

Could Arizona be convinced to take on Schmidt’s $5.95 million cap hit? Will some of the contenders who kicked tires on Dillon ($3.9 million AAV) at the trade deadline come calling again this offseason? It’s also possible Winnipeg moves Dylan DeMelo ($3 million AAV) to make room.

Either way, Morrissey and Neal Pionk are the fixtures. At least one of those veterans will remain with the Jets. And if Samberg and Heinola reach training camp without a realistic shot at a roster spot, Winnipeg will have failed.

7. Thank Stastny

Stastny scored the goal that launched Winnipeg into the 2018 Western Conference finals. He also played his 1,000th NHL game and scored his 800th career point as a Jet.

This year, he scored 44 points while playing a committed two-way game and providing a defensive conscience for lines that often left the defensive zone to him.

His biggest impact may yet be his willingness to speak difficult truths.

I wonder now if Winnipeg kept him past the trade deadline in part because he helps the team win and in part to provide a sense of stability to a dressing room that seems to need more of it.

Either way, it’s difficult to imagine a 36-year-old player with Stastny’s pedigree choosing Winnipeg as his best bet at the Stanley Cup next season.

I suppose it’s no guarantee that contenders line up for his services but my guess is this chapter ends here and now. What a valuable one it’s been.

8. Re-re-evaluate the commitment to development

One year ago, the gripe was about pending free agent defencemen taking minutes from Heinola, Samberg and others.

Giving choice minutes to veterans made more sense this season than last — the veterans were meant to be better and are all under contract.

Still, the Jets managed to trade for pending UFA Zach Sanford and promote him over Evgeny Svechnikov, Jansen Harkins and the rest of their own youth. Sanford scored zero goals and four assists in 18 games for Winnipeg while playing more than more productive players under contract — Svechnikov, Harkins and Morgan Barron.

None of those three younger players projects to be a top-six player. We’re not talking about stars here. But the Jets could go a long way toward solving their problems by giving their own players some of the opportunity typically reserved for pending UFAs.

9. Re-sign Comrie, Svechnikov, Appleton and Harkins

It’s possible that Svechnikov and Harkins are not in Winnipeg’s long-term plans. Appleton and Comrie definitely are.

Appleton should be a straightforward signing as an arbitration-eligible restricted free agent.

Comrie should be easy to keep in the fold, too, given how much he loves the team and the team loves him.

The Jets did make life harder on themselves by letting Comrie become what’s called a Group VI unrestricted free agent. Had he played three more games this season (and played at least 30 minutes in those games) Comrie would be a restricted free agent this summer, fully under team control.

Now Comrie is an unrestricted free agent. It’s possible his next Jets contract just got more expensive or even that he signs elsewhere. Winnipeg needs to sort this out — especially, given the way he seems to be a viable backup solution in goal after being a question mark for so long.

10. Cheer for the New York Rangers and prepare for the draft

This one is all about turning New York’s second-round pick, acquired as part of the Copp return, into a first-rounder.

Winnipeg gets the Rangers’ first-round pick instead if New York wins two playoff rounds, with Copp playing at least half of their games along the way.

(Photo: Jonathan Kozub / NHLI via Getty Images)