October 6th, 2025 – Prospects, Pressure, and the Push to Win

The Winnipeg Jets have officially wrapped up training camp — and it’s been a grind, to say the least.

The biggest priority, above everything else, is coming out healthy… something that’s proven difficult so far.

With Cole Perfetti and Dylan Samberg sidelined long-term, and Adam Lowry still easing back — not to mention a few bumps and scares with Jonathan Toews and Dylan DeMelo — the road’s been rough. But with adversity comes opportunity.

Nikita Chibrikov, the 22-year-old fiery forward from Russia, has earned himself a look alongside Toews and Gustav Nyquist — and a two-year contract extension to go with it.

Has he truly claimed that spot ahead of Brad Lambert?
Meanwhile, Ville Heinola’s been placed on waivers — raising questions about whether he’s become a mismanaged asset for the organization.

And it all circles back to one big question: How do the Jets balance developing their young talent while staying locked in as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender?

Oh, and some guy named Conor McDavid signed….

All that and more on today’s edition of Jets @ Noon!

is Jets at noon with Cameron Vitus and Jim Toth on 680 CJ OB. Oh, hello Jim Toth. What? There’s nothing going on. Well, training camp is over for the Winnipeg Jets. Final cuts got to come in. Villia Hanaha and Walker Der. Can they clear waivers? Nothing else going on in the world of hockey. Look at Let’s just continue on. Both you and me. Well, it’s now it’s now the real season started, Jim. Now that I made fun of you missing most of training camp, I missed the last part of it myself. Uh well, you know, Jim, now that the real uh show can begin cuz it’s now the regular season or very close to it. Now we can bring out. Yeah. Veteran moves to just show up. Not the preseason anymore. I don’t even need it. I just need a game or whatever to get ready. My boat is leaking. I’ll be there at the end of training camp. Uh this hour of Jets and Noon is brought to you by Wash Method Car Wash 690 St. An’s Road VIP. take on the text line and win a VIP car wash from our good friends at Wash Meth at 2047806868. We’ll announce the winner later in the program which is coming at you live from uh Boston Pizza Studio uh for gourmet pizza and pasta bringing the team to Boston Pizza. Um Jim told you you heard of this guy named Connor M is it McDavid or is it McDavid or Mac David? Is it McDavid or Mac David? Um I don’t know. Is that the ginger? I think he might be. Yeah. And I can say that cuz I have ginger friends who love being called ginger. Yeah. Yeah. It’s a good thing you you uh classified that. One doesn’t mind at all. He’s like um I used to say that to Cory Schneider. Uh well, I didn’t. His teammates did. And he’s like, “I don’t mind. I am ginger. I like it.” Uh Conor McDavid. Okay. Listen, training camp, uh there’s lots to get to in all waiverss as I mentioned there. Um I want to get your thoughts on training camp as a whole, all the injuries and all that. And we’re heading into October. It’s a very important set of games coming up for the uh for the Winnipeg Jets, too. And they still have a cut left to be made um on the uh in the forward group. But of course, I mean, Conor McDavid, this is the big news. Two-year contract with an AAV of two and a half. Jim told I have a lot of thoughts on this this just coming down. I mean, I think Elliot Freedman was the first one to break that there was something coming up. Um well, here I’ll tell you this while you were away. Go ahead. before the preseason game against the Oilers or one of them. Um Bob Staer joined us joined us here on the show and he said that Connor will set the price and he’s not going anywhere. He’s not going to play out this year, but he will sign a short-term two or three-year deal. That was from Bob Staer on the Oilers broadcast. And that was over a week ago. And here we are. It’s a two-year deal. I am a little surprised at this. Why I’m a lot surprised. I’m a lot surprised. You’re actually upset, right? I listen if you Okay, here we go. Cam hates the Whalers. Fine. Just attach that to this. Um because it it happens to be true as well. But um this is if you’re an Oilers fan, this is fantastic. you you could not hope. Well, if this was a long-term $2.5 million $12.5 million deal, that’s obviously um that’s obviously the the you know, that would be the that would be the, you know, the cats behind on this. This is this is ridiculous that he took this 12 and a half on a short-term contract. Jim, this is insane that he did this. I’m shocked. absolutely shocked. The NHL PA, I’m certain, has a lot to say about this. Oh, yeah. Um, big time in a lot of ways. And listen, Conor McDavid doesn’t care. He wants to win. This is more evident than ever before with the contract that he just took for the Evan Spilers. Are you as upset when Sydney Crosby resigns for 8.7 over and over and over again knowing that his first time $8 million was like right on par? Not for maybe Crosby, but for a guy that was like That’s That’s a great question. Crosby’s already got three cups. Crosby’s a veteran. He’s How old now? How old is Sydney Crosby? Um 38. 38. Okay. So that’s historically when he should have been making 9 10 11 million signed for 8.7. McDavid’s in his prime. He’s 28 years old at the end of this contract. See see McDavid doesn’t need money. That’s the thing. And is this selfless to the Edmonton Oilers and to the city of Edmonton and all the Oilers fans? Beyond reckoning. Beyond reckoning, but it’s ridiculous that he took 12. So, it’s absolutely ridiculous. Yeah, he should be making 14 or 15 million even even on a two-year extension. If he was making at par with Leon Dryidle, I would go okay. I thought 12 and a half is outrageous. I thought when Capri off signed for 17, even on a two or a three-year deal, he would sign for 175 or 18 for two years. And but he did this last time. The Oilers tried to give him $14 million a year. The Oilers offered him 14 AV and he said he had to run the organization again. He had to say, “No, I’ll take 12.” This is a very fair text message we just got in. You can’t be angry with Heli and Shifley who signed for eight and a half. The context of that is wildly different. There you go. Do you agree with that, Texter? Well, yeah, because Well, I don’t know. Is Hellabuk not Hell’s not Okay. No, but is it this steep of a discount? Okay. So, yes, it is. He should be making $18 million a year. He should be the highest paid player in the National Hockey League. So, when the the highest paid player is making 17, you need to be making 175 or 18. That’s what you should be doing. So, that text her and it’s a very fair comment. That’s a very fair comment about it’s a fair comment but the discount that Shifley and Helluck took at that time was not that it was maybe a million a million and a quarter if we’re being honest where the prices were for players at that time coming out of the pandemic it was a discount but not this steep this is this is six $7 million this is a massive hair this reminds me this is this is like it’s he took a 33% discount Helluck and Shiffley took 15 at the most. He took a he 30 33% discount. This reminds me of when I was covering the Coupney Ice, partly owned at the time by the Nemier brothers and Scott Nemier took $6 million to stay in Anaheim and the PA would not leave him alone is what I was saying. Well, I’m telling you the the PA is upset about this. They would not leave him alone. Let’s get some thoughts on this. Okay. Hey guys, I thought you guys were Gonzo. Uh, especially Oh, yeah. Cuz we were back. No, no, no. We’re back. We didn’t I’ll be honest with you. Thursday, I thought I was Gonzo. I was not up to par. I was not feeling well. Paul here and I and I I really want to hear from everybody on this from all sides. Um because, you know, I’m I’m I’m driven by certain things. This from from Paul. Paul says, “Not everyone’s driven by money, guys. He’s just a good old boy that wants to play and knows the team needs money to build around him.” That’s fine. That’s fine. That’s right. and the the Helluck Shifley, the Sydney Crosby. If you’re happy where you are, if if you’ve already won, which some of these players have not, but this is um I’m stunned he’s not make like so I thought with Dry Cidle at 14, this is what they did last time. I thought he would make like Dry Sidle would make 14. I’ll take 145 and we’ll see where we’re at in three years. Kevin says that’s what a leader does. This one says, “Crazy Mc Jesus is going to come.” Wait a minute. Wait a minute. What leader? Because there’s a PA going. Well, yeah. You’re supposed to lead us. Hey, hey, hey. That’s a great point. You represent us. You’re the best player on the planet and you just took a massive haircut. You’re supposed to lead us as players. It’s very true. But M I don’t think he’s in charge. Well, McDavid says, “I don’t.” McDavid just told him says, “I don’t care.” KFC has to sign for 12 me 12 at eight years. Now that one from Ralph Connor should take note. So fourth period, our good friend David Pegnata is reporting the Jets are working on a deal. This is from David Pegnata that’ll range between 12 to 13 million per year. So Kyle Connor, if he makes 12.5 million or 13, will be making more money than Conor McDavid. Is Carol Kaprosoft, should Kierol Kaparov, Kier Capri off, should he be making 17 and Conor McDavid making 12 and a half? No. Look, Conor McDavid should be the highest paid player in the National Hockey League. That I don’t think there’s an argument out there. I don’t think somebody can text in or call us or sit there, you know, I don’t care who your favorite player is or who your team, you know how I feel about Capri off. I think he’s underrated and top five in the league, but nobody should be making more money than Conor McDavid. when Conor McDavid’s contract is up. Uh Jim Toth, you know how I know how you feel about Bryce Harper of the Philadelphia Phillies. You know how I feel about Bryce Harper. The NHL needs someone like Bryce Harper to call Conor McDavid right now and and and ream him out. Well, I mean, he stood up in the commissioner’s face and said blah blah blah over my whatever there’ll be a salary cap in this league. Well, easy for the guy who’s made $100 million since the day he got into the league. Yes. On endorsements and everything else. Baseball’s different. A lot of people don’t know this, Cam, but you have to be 29 years old to make money in baseball. They own you. Like, if you think your rights in the NHL till 27 or seven years served is weird. Look at baseball. If you’re not a Bryce Harper or a Vlad Guerrero or an Aaron Judge, and I’m not saying you’re grinding out because you’re making two to 300,000 a year, but it takes a long time, long, long past the average career of a baseball player to make big coin. Here’s Mike. Mike, this might be the text of the day. This one comes from Mike. Mike says, “I think it means he’s gone after two years.” Well, he’s got one more year, then another money’s going to be there. If he win, absolutely. If he wins, if he wins, he if they win, he can leave. If they don’t, after this sacrifice, he can leave. Wonder if McDavid and Edmonton have an understanding that he will get crazy money in two years or he leaves. So, here’s two things I do know. He wants to win in Edmonton. Correct. He wants to be in Edmonton. This isn’t I want to win a cup here and then I’m gone. But this is this is this is the other side of the power that Conor McDavid has. He took a pay cut. He helped you help yourself. And I’m not kidding. They wanted to give him 14 million last contract. He said, “I’ll take 125 and put a team around me. I want to win.” So, he’s doing it again. So, if in three years from now he bolts and makes $5 million on a contender, I don’t blame him and Edmonton should go, “We’re sorry. We screwed this up.” Well, it’s in oil. It’s in the Oilers court now. You cannot ask McDavid to do more than what he’s done. This is the story of this. Ask him to do more. We’re going to focus on the 12 and a half and the term. There is Is there a GM with more pressure on him now? Oh god, Jim. This drives me crazy. I This drives me totally. It’s wild, man. But like I said, Bob Staer said it’ll be a two or a three-year deal. You know what? See where they at. Good. They now have 10 pending UFAs at the end of this season. I I’m I’m going to say this. Good for Oilers fans, man. Because listen, McDavid, he just he did everything he possibly could. But to the team, to the texters point, Conor Hellabuk, Mark Shley did the same thing. Not to this extent. Not to this extent, Cam. But look, I don’t I don’t even think they’re comparable. Look, a year later, they signed those a year in advance. 8 and a half. If they wait a year and go to free agency making 10 million, Sturken did not sign his contract yet at that point. No, but he would have had another Kap Caprioff had just signed his contract for 17. Let me put it to you this way. How much would the Oilers pay Connor Hallellabuck on the open market? That is a great question. And people are going to say, “Oh, they couldn’t afford it.” You find a way if you’re a goalie away. So, he would have been looking at 10 to 12 million and he took 8 and a half. Call the Boston Pizza Jets at noon hotline. Open 24/7 2047806800. Brought to you by Boston Pizza. coming for lunch every weekday to Boston Pizza. Get a delicious main side and high school drink for only 15 bucks only at BP. That’s the question. Hey, this is what we’re going to ask. Marat is going to be joining us from the Athletic right after 12:30. Tell me that. Uh we’re going to get into this. Um tell me right now. No, wait. Tell me that. We got Vill Han is on waiverss. We’re going to find out. I’m not sure about this at 1:00. I mean, there’s still one more cut to be done on the forward group. Cheaper has a oneway, so he’s on this team next year. Yeah. Yeah, he’s on it now. the Perfetti injury. I’ll tell you this right now before we go any further and I know we got a break. This is bigger than people think and for two reasons. I was not looking for Jonathan Tave to make Perfetti great. I was not looking for Gustav Nyquist to help Perfetti evolve. I was looking for Perfetti to help those older guys be aligned together. I think this is trouble. We’ll be right back. Let’s go back to when Hellabuk and Mark Shley signed that eight and a half and they signed at a discount. There’s no doubt about that. It was it it is such a drastic discount. It’s like those guys at that moment with the dollars that were being thrown around coming out of the pandemic, flat cap, all that stuff, it’s like they signed for like $7 million. So I believe if Mark Schiffley would have gone to free agency and we know what we know after that final year, yes, I believe he would have made 9 9 and a half. I don’t think he would get to 10, but somebody like Boston or somebody would give him 9 and a half. Absolutely. I believe Connor Hellabuk would have offers of 10 to 12 and probably settle at 10 somewhere that he thought he could win. New Jersey or something. Now New Jersey couldn’t swing it. Couldn’t even fit a six under. No, no, no. But I that’s what I believe. So they they took probably on average $2 million haircut. What does Mirana Tesha have to say about this? Good for him. He wants to win like Well, absolutely. There’s a part of me that that feels that way. Like man, what a what a victory for the team. But you’re right. The PA is not happy. But the fact that he took this money is ridiculous in my Culie in Utah just turned down 77 on an 8-year game. One part of my mind says, “Wow, good for him.” You know, he wants to win. Absolutely. The other side is like saying, “Come on, dude.” Like that’s ins that’s ridiculous. Real quick, you’re right. He’s not Capri off, but Caprioff isn’t getting national telecommunication company commercials. He’s getting state of Minnesota commercial endorsements. Definitely a part national endorsements. Brought to you by Wash Method Car Wash 690 St. Ans Road. VIP take on the Tex line to win a VIP car wash from our good friends at Wash Method. 2047806868. We’ll announce the winner later in the program, which is coming at you live from the Boston Pizza Studio for gourmet pizza and pasta. the team to Boston Pizza. Very happy to have Maradesh, Jets writer over at The Athletic on the program today. I think it’s very very special to have him on and get his thoughts on the uh on the Conor McDavid deal. First of all, hello Marad. How are you? Hey, I’m doing well. Seasons feel like they changed today in Winnipeg. Just a little chillier, so I’m ready for hockey now. Absolutely. What’s What’s your initial thoughts? See, Rod, I don’t be honest leading into this. I’m of two minds when I look at this deal. I I I I think it’s it’s almost at a point to me it’s outrageous that he that Conor McDavid has taken a 2-year deal at 12 1/2, right? There’s there’s a part of me that feels like, wow, that is in it’s ridiculous that he took that little for his services over the the next two years. And the other part of me feels like good for him. He wants to win. Absolutely. Without a doubt. Good for the fans, uh the Oilers fans, good for the city of Edmonton and all that. Where where where do you stand on this? Well, I think it’s just a testament to Edmonton not having been able to win a Stanley Cup in the 10 years of Conor McDavid’s tenure. I mean, he wants to be one of these generational players. I think I think he wants to go down with these um the Sydney Crosby’s of the world who were able to be drafted, be the superstar, win a Stanley Cup, and bring it home to the place that raised you, uh which Edmonton really has for the last 10 years. But there’s a real deadline now this year plus two more on that extension. The Oilers haven’t been able to build quite enough to get over that hump and win the cup, though. Back-to-back finals is a is a great look. Uh, so I think Conor McDavid has given the Boilers tons of cap space to work with by taking the deal that he has. He’s also put a deadline on the table. And I I think without knowing him or that he said this, I think that it’s reasonable to think this is their last chance to build a winner while he’s still around. Do you think the PA will be upset? They I mean, some members often do, right? Like when Cindy Crosby used to sign those 8.7 million deal year um AAV deals, pardon me, and oh how cute 8.7 that’s his jersey number 87. Well, that for a little while artificially kept other star players money low. It was harder to justify, hey, I should get nine. Well, look at Sydney Crosby over there. And then a couple years went by and they just stopped using Crosby as a comparable in contract negotiations. I think McDavid is already there at 12 and a half. I don’t think, you know, I don’t think Kyle Connor is going to be able to um I I don’t think that there’s going to be a real issue for Kyle Connor’s contract there. Um if he asks for 12, they’re not going to say no, that’s impossible because that’s most of McDavid. I think everybody understands his is a unique situation. Okay. Well, good stuff there. Um quickly though, what do you think Kyle Connor comes in at? I think it’s about 12 if I had to guess here and now. Um, lots of structural details we can get into if you want to get into the nitty-gritty of it, but I think that that’s the sort of range and it would immediately make him Winnipeg’s highest paid player while obviously falling short of the McDavid and Capri off deals. Um, what what word you would you use to describe the training camp that the Winnipeg Jets have have just wrapped up? Injuryfilled, if I can use a hyphenated word. Yeah, I’ll let you. Oh, let Yes. And hold on, let me check the rule book. Yes, you were allowed to use that. A few judges ruling in my favor. I think I mean there have been surprises on the injury front and lack of surprise. I mean, Adam Lowry’s surgery, we knew that that had happened and okay, he’s targeting an early November return. That’s going to impact the Jets success early. Dylan Samberg breaking his wrist on just a just a freak accident play. I think he hit it on the stansion as he got hit. Um that is going to have some immediate impact for the Jets up four defenseman. Important piece of their PK. That’s going to hurt. And then Cole Perfetti catching an edge on his way into a hit or possibly right after it. And then now a high ankle sprain. These are some really important Winnipeg Jets that won’t be at their best until I don’t know midway through the year depending on how long it takes to get them back up and running once they’re healthy. That’s a problem. It’s also opportunity and I guess we can we can pivot to celebrate players like Nikita Chibberov who appear to have won jobs if if that’s the route. Yeah, let’s get into that. And and Chibberov and I had a was listening to the postgame show on Friday here in 68 Joe Bat. And I thought Christian and John Shannon and Kelly Moore had an interesting debate and John brought it up. He’s like the the Jet, I get it, there’s no room, but the Jets with Lamberts and the Cherovs and stuff kind of have to find some room here because you can’t let you know say Lambert doesn’t make it this year and and N I I brought this up on my own while I was listening. If say Nyquist has a good bounceback year and gets 60 points, you’re not resigning him. Yes, you are. Right. And and if Taves, you know, has a decent 45 50 point season, looks good there, you’re going to resign him. Do the Jets need to I know it’s win now, but start finding room for these guys other than injuries or deal them. Well, I think if they were at just another level of ability, I think that they’d be making the Jets choices for them, right? I don’t think that Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibberov are the Kyle Connor, Nikolai Eers’s Patrick Lion generation of Jets prospects. And that does it creates this awkward situation, right? Like your question is a great one. Um, should they make room in case an extended NHL runway could help turn these guys into productive middle six players? Um, sure, you’d have to accept some ups and downs as they as they made the transition. Or do they need to just stream their way out of the roster by being so good in the AHL or otherwise to to leave the Jets without a choice? Hibriov’s chance comes from injury. It looks like he’s going to be plug and play on that second line with Taves and Nyquist. Um, and I think that Arneal wants to be able to use him on the power play as well. Okay, great. Brad Lambert though, I mean, last year you would have expected a lot more offense from him, even on a struggling Moose team based on his offensive pedigree. It might make more sense to me that he goes down to the Manitoba Moose and just tears the cover off the ball, so to speak, having a really great year for a much deeper version of that team. How do you balance growth when you look at the Winnipeg Jets and where they’re at? like listen, they’re they’re not in development mode. They’re not looking to give prospects ice time to uh improve their game at the NHL level. This this team is is poised and has an opportunity, a real opportunity to win the Stanley Cup. And they are one of the favorites uh to to end this season, you know, in June by by lifting it, you know, if if things go according to their own plans. Um, how do you balance this situation with these with these prospects and giving them those opport those opportunities while at the same time developing them? Is is it even possible? Yeah, it’s it’s an interesting situation for me. I think the Jets have prioritized veterans and one of their strengths may be finding those um you know jack of all trade Swiss army knife veteran wingers like Anita Nita Rider Vlattis Lavn Mestnikov will be playing at center even Nyquist um and his creativity in the offensive zone. Alex Ayapollo as well. Theoretically those players could be replaced by a Brad Lambert or a Nikita Chibriov. you would lose a lot of the veteran savvy, the defensive play, uh some of that impact, and you’d gain some long-term potential. With the Jets in a win now mode, I don’t think that’s on the table at all. Um I think that those players really have to to steal those jobs and and that’s uh that’s not necessarily happening. And the other side for me on the development question is are there still lessons to be learned at the AHL level? And you know, I mentioned Lambert a second ago, so I’ll use him as an example. I think there are lessons at the AHL level. He beats people with speed at that level and in the NHL, but one thing that he hasn’t had a lot of success doing is then turning that speed into a chances in the middle of the ice. He can curl to the outside a little bit. And that happens in the AHL, too. I still think that there’s some meat on the bone in terms of lessons that he can learn at that level. And hey, maybe by the end of the day, the Jets have kept him and now he’s going to take his next steps here. But I just think that there’s still learning left to do. Yeah. And I wasn’t arguing for Lambert to make the team. But I I thought it was an interesting discussion on Friday, just the the idea that, you know, you win now, you built to this point, but you also, you know, you don’t want to just have careers go by the wayside just because you’ve built such a great team. It’s a fascinating debate. Um Mariah, I’m I’m really I think this perfetti start is ominous. Um they were already out Lowry. I was not looking for Jonathan Taves to come in and propel Perfetti to 80 points. I was not looking for Nyquist to come in and and get Perfetti to do this. I was looking at Perfetti to help get that line going and be some kind of the young scorer that would help some veterans find their games again. Was I off base on that? Like I I think this not having Perfetti is ominous. Well, I think it’ll hurt to be sure. Um, I think that he was definitely one of those players who you size up coming into the year and you say, “This is one of the best opportunities for a breakout season that you can find.” And that’s not just on the Winnipeg Jets, that’s leaguewide. Um, stepping into this top six role. That line with Nestnikov, sometimes it was the third line last year, sometimes it was the second line. I think Taves’s line will be the second line. So, there were minutes there. There’s the top power play as well that Perfetti was practicing at and looking great at. He’d scored on it last year when Nikolai was hurt. There are reasons to think that Profetti just normal development irrespective of what levels Taves and Nyquis could get to would be looking at 60 to 70 points and then you know best case scenario of Taves which I think is a little ambitious. You could go even beyond that. All to say he was in a great spot. He doubled down on it this summer. He had a great summer of training. He looked good in camp. He created offense in the preseason games and then a freak accident to take his ankle out of the picture and high ankle sprains are tough to come back from. So yes, that is ominous, especially because he’s the young one who’s supposed to be able to stay healthy. We know Taves is coming from a long way back. Um that’s going to hurt. It’s going to hurt a lot on this team until he’s ready to go again and then take his shot at that breakout year. Billy Han, we’ll find out um in just a actually just I think under 20 minutes here if if he is going to be clearing waiverss and is going to be assigned to the Manitoba Moose or if he’s going to find himself in another organization here in the National Hockey League. Is this a mismanaged asset by the Winnipeg Jets? And uh you know who who who does this blame rest on that this has been what if you’re putting a first round pick on waiverss after 50 plus games of of NHL experience. I mean, things didn’t work out. That that that’s clear. Where where do you think the blame rests on this, Morat? Well, I think that he’s been in the system for I guess it would be six years at this stage, and that blame can be shared on all parties. The first thing for me to recognize is that Han isn’t an automatic surefire NHL player. There are warts to his game. He is undersized. He’s not quite so fast that he can dominate a game purely in a skill element. He does have good vision, good puck movement. He can be meaner than you’d expect for his size, but he’s not ending plays in the defensive zone just because he decides to because he’s so strong. There are there are warts there and and maybe he’s one of these tweeners that we talk about really great in the AHL, not an NHL player. At the same time, uh there have been multiple moments in his development where uh you’d think the Jets could have handled it better. At least I do. I remember the uh the COVID year where he spent a month on the Jets taxi squad and wasn’t returned to the Moose despite a couple of opportunities to do that. So, he went over a month without playing at either level in either league at a really key developmental time. He’s also been injured, which is nobody’s fault. We’re not blaming the Jets or Han for the ankle injuries that he had. Um so, a lot of things haven’t gone right leading to this moment and I think both parties can be involved in that. um here and now he is not one of Winnipeg’s best seven defenseman and I don’t think that the decision to wave him is automatically catastrophic or should should be you know maybe it helps the Jets cut ties maybe he gets claimed and starts a career somewhere else. Yeah. I I I think there’s you know and I always look at the player too like I remember going to watch him play for the Moose I think the second time he was sent back down and he looked like he wanted to be anywhere else. But I also give him credit because I thought last year maybe two and a half years ago and then this year like he’s he’s come around, right? Like he’s worked on his game, he’s gotten there. But to me, the organization can bear some brunt of this. But if you’re a prospect that doesn’t make it and there’s things like that, that’s on you. And I think he’s matured a bit and stuff, I actually wish him well. I if he doesn’t clear waiverss, I hope he has a great year and gets some time with the Jets via through injury. And if he is claimed on waiverss, I’d like to see what he can do. But again, I thought you nailed it, Morad. thought, you know, there are some intangibles here or some tangibles that, you know, you look at and and and then the injuries, of course, sometimes things just don’t work out. Yeah. When he started, the seas cleared for him when he was 18 years old. He wasn’t meant to make the jets that year, but then a couple of UFA signings elsewhere, Dustin Bufflin departs the team and then eventually the NHL. Josh Morrisy gets hurt, Kulicov was hurt, Nathan Bolio was hurt, and all of a sudden he’s playing big minutes against the Pittsburgh Penguins and he’s scoring his first NHL goal at 18 years old. Well, it might have seemed like he was on a rocket ship at that point to real NHL stardom someday. That was too soon. And then to your point earlier, Jim, about, hey, well, is there a downside to winning now over development? He was one of those players that got sort of um I don’t want to say cast aside, but not a ton of NHL opportunity as the Jets brought in veterans and tried to win. Now, had he been elite, he’d probably be in the NHL, but um you know, he wasn’t. And so, that opportunity didn’t come to him. And now there might be more to him than Winnipeg will see. Uh but it’s not one of those catastrophes. It’s just one of those sadder stories and maybe more common in the NHL than we like to think. And Hayden Flurry got a deal at 29. So, yeah, you never know. Yeah, you never know. Yeah, that’s for sure. Maradesh, uh, Jets writer with the Athletic Mor, thanks so much. Really appreciate you jumping on. Thanks for having me, guys. Yeah, enjoy the start of the season. We’ll have you back for sure. But great stuff. Yeah, he’s got a lot of content out this weekend, too. So, read it. Yeah. No, definitely go ahead and read his stuff. I was not bored reading his stuff, never bored. Really good stuff. Um, we got to take a break. We’ll uh we’ll come back. Miss your chance. Get your thoughts on the show today. Call the Boston Pizza Jets and Noon Hotline. Open 24/7 20478-6800. Brought to you by Boston Pizza. Coming for lunch every weekday to Boston Pizza. Get a delicious main side and ice cold drink for only 15 bucks. Only at BP. Do you know how many power plays the Florida Panthers had over the weekend against the Tampa Bay Lightning? That was They need to shorten the preseason when that stuff happens. Okay, I’ll And you know me, I don’t mind that. Now, how many penalties were doled out? How many power plays did the Panthers have? And how many power plays did they score on? I’ll tell you when we come back. Do they need to fix their man advantage? B. Well, Jim, the Florida Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning, 65 penalties were doled out. 29 to the Panthers and uh 36 to the Lightning over that seven nothing game down in Florida at a preseason. Uh the Panthers had 20 power plays over that. And they had um How many did they score on? Six. That’s an awful power play. You got to work on Yeah. It’s only running at 30%. That’s total horse hockey. Terrible. Um, look, I This is why the preseason’s too long is when things like that happen. Uh, I really really two of my favorite coaches in the National Hockey League are John Cooper, probably my favorite of all time, and Paul Maurice. I But this is two different guys, right? And the fact that a guy that was kicked out came back and played is asinine. Um, you got to stop games like that. And you made the point during the break like yeah I don’t know if you can or what the NHL would do but do you not walk down the hall not like John Tordella in Vancouver but do you not walk down the hall and go do you want to do you want to end this like let’s just I mean and this will never be happening and I’m kind of saying this tongue and cheek jokingly but there almost needs to be like a white flag that the general managers have and they just and they just throw it in the ice and say that’s it we’re done. This is ridiculous. Now if this was the regular season I’d be all for it. Yeah. Like that’s a rivalry. They don’t like each other. They’ve taken cheap shots on each other and stuff. I I I’m all about this rivalry, but I I would have ended that game after two periods. I’m like, what are we doing here? Somebody’s going to get hurt. And now you could say the coaches could tell their guys, hey, stop it and just play hockey. But then you go out there and somebody sticks you. Yeah. Well, I mean, what are you supposed to do? Yeah. So, I I would just call totally degenerated. I mean, it wasn’t even a And I like this stuff. Like I said, if it was a regular season game, I’d be like, man, this is a great rivalry. Five. How How quick did the penalties start? or like it stopped as soon as those those first penalties started coming in. It wasn’t even a hockey game anymore. No. Anyways, yeah. But congratulations to the Florida Panthers. Congratulations to the Florida Panthers. What did Paul Murice one time say? No, it’s just an honor to be out there with them today. Yeah, it’s just an honor to be out there on the ice with them. Yeah, with the Minnesota Wild. Yeah, with the Minnesota Wild today. Exactly. I look for more Maurice G. Thank you very much, Jared Forte, for producing the show. That’s it for me. Lot of big week. Big week. Preview the season. Preview the Jets. Yeah, we’re going to start that tomorrow. See if Billy clears waivers. All right. See you.