Jets make a bunch of moves to gear up for the playoffs
Feb 27, 2022 20:18:18 GMT -5
Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and 3 more like this
Post by Anaheim Ducks on Feb 27, 2022 20:18:18 GMT -5
The 21/22 season has been a strong year for the jets, the heavy laden hall of fame franchise players are all getting advanced in years. Nevertheless playing as if they were in the prime years of their storybook careers. the winnipeg jets sit 2nd overall in the western conference they have been humming as a team why would gm nielson make the moves he made. we caught up with gm nielson to see what he had to0 say about the frantic moves.
You've made quite a lot of moves as of late can you tell us the thought process behind you being very aggressive making all these deals
Well with the years that the core players have been having we felt that if something could make us better and support Alex and Sidney and Patrick. weve been quiet all year evaluating where we could improve and see if there was a way to give us a better chance at getting back to the finals. getting to the 3rd rou0nd l0st year showed that we still can get back on top and that is a very satisfying feeling and the hunger only became stronger to get another chip.
your first deal was with the leafs aquiring chris dreidger and Jake Gardiner for Colton Sissions and Andrej Sekera . Sissions was playing big minutes for you why the move?
We started talking about another deal that might have happened but i backed out. was a good deal it just wasnt sitting right with me. Talks then shifted to where Chris Dreidger was a deal we could make. i thought with adding chris would be a prudent move. With not being able to count on goaltending with the stellar goaltending one night and god awful goaltending the next night. also adding a battle tested vetern in Gardiner was a good fit. we thought it would benefit Colton if he got a chance to be on a team that needed him more. we have had some other deals that could work to the jets advantage. We decided that we could make a change and make a deal with the Florida Panthers. they had interest in adding hellebuyck. Tallks went from there and we felt confident that we could make a good hockey deal for both sides and i always prefer that so we were able to reach an agreement.
you were not finished you then flipped the picks you recieved in the previous deal with florida to add another elite winger in Chris Kreider.
well F them picks .
everything came together quite easily putting these deals together and once we knew Kreider was available i went to Sid, Alex and Patrick and asked them there thoughts on the player and they were quite excited. A top 6 consisting of Crosby Ovechkin Kane Miller Toffoli and Kreider would be tough on other teams. There was a strong push to make the deal. im not worried about picks all the guys have shown well all year and deserve a chance at chasing for lord stanley. the time is now and we are getting on in years and if we can do anything to make thigs happen for us to have a chance thats what i am going to. Honestly didnt see myself going all in but when the players are stlll playing at such a high level we have to try and give them some assistance.
you aquired 2 promising prospects Logan Thompson and Corson Ceulemans and then moved one ?
Getting Logan Thompson a young capable goalie of his potential helps we believe in time he can be a goaltender in the vhl.
we liked the player absolutely we did we had internal discussions with our scouting and they were very high on Juho Lammikko and he is maybe not as highly touted as Corson we felt that Lammikko is a piece you could work with now and for the future. I know other gms are going to have there 2 cents and maybe look at this as a bad deal and not see it but they also said that when i traded Brandon Saad for Erik GudBranson was a bad trade but i do believe he scored the game winner for the jets to claim our 1st championship so i will roll the dice and bet on what i know and i believe he is good for our group.
does this get you back to the finals
thats certainly the goal but the sim is fickle and all we can best hope for is good outcome.
You've made quite a lot of moves as of late can you tell us the thought process behind you being very aggressive making all these deals
Well with the years that the core players have been having we felt that if something could make us better and support Alex and Sidney and Patrick. weve been quiet all year evaluating where we could improve and see if there was a way to give us a better chance at getting back to the finals. getting to the 3rd rou0nd l0st year showed that we still can get back on top and that is a very satisfying feeling and the hunger only became stronger to get another chip.
your first deal was with the leafs aquiring chris dreidger and Jake Gardiner for Colton Sissions and Andrej Sekera . Sissions was playing big minutes for you why the move?
We started talking about another deal that might have happened but i backed out. was a good deal it just wasnt sitting right with me. Talks then shifted to where Chris Dreidger was a deal we could make. i thought with adding chris would be a prudent move. With not being able to count on goaltending with the stellar goaltending one night and god awful goaltending the next night. also adding a battle tested vetern in Gardiner was a good fit. we thought it would benefit Colton if he got a chance to be on a team that needed him more. we have had some other deals that could work to the jets advantage. We decided that we could make a change and make a deal with the Florida Panthers. they had interest in adding hellebuyck. Tallks went from there and we felt confident that we could make a good hockey deal for both sides and i always prefer that so we were able to reach an agreement.
you were not finished you then flipped the picks you recieved in the previous deal with florida to add another elite winger in Chris Kreider.
well F them picks .
everything came together quite easily putting these deals together and once we knew Kreider was available i went to Sid, Alex and Patrick and asked them there thoughts on the player and they were quite excited. A top 6 consisting of Crosby Ovechkin Kane Miller Toffoli and Kreider would be tough on other teams. There was a strong push to make the deal. im not worried about picks all the guys have shown well all year and deserve a chance at chasing for lord stanley. the time is now and we are getting on in years and if we can do anything to make thigs happen for us to have a chance thats what i am going to. Honestly didnt see myself going all in but when the players are stlll playing at such a high level we have to try and give them some assistance.
you aquired 2 promising prospects Logan Thompson and Corson Ceulemans and then moved one ?
Getting Logan Thompson a young capable goalie of his potential helps we believe in time he can be a goaltender in the vhl.
we liked the player absolutely we did we had internal discussions with our scouting and they were very high on Juho Lammikko and he is maybe not as highly touted as Corson we felt that Lammikko is a piece you could work with now and for the future. I know other gms are going to have there 2 cents and maybe look at this as a bad deal and not see it but they also said that when i traded Brandon Saad for Erik GudBranson was a bad trade but i do believe he scored the game winner for the jets to claim our 1st championship so i will roll the dice and bet on what i know and i believe he is good for our group.
does this get you back to the finals
thats certainly the goal but the sim is fickle and all we can best hope for is good outcome.
