LA would actually be pretty high for me. Hovering around like 12-15. Doughty is really their only weak point.

Jets are very close to the bottom. Maybe only Detroit is worse
- Rexypoo

How could you possibly rate LA's D that high and consider Doughty to be their weak point?.. Lol

Seriously that's a D of total no names that few have heard of, they really would be at the bottom and I know the fancy stat crowd say Matt Roy is great but is he really? Sean Walker is another no namer, Kurtis MacDermid is a stay at home physical type dman and then it's Maata, I'd rank that somewhere pretty close to the bottom if not the worst.

Detroit's is pretty bad, Hronek is great though, honestly I'd probably rank the Jets D core around 22nd to 26th, a lot of them are pretty close though so it's really debatable.

How would Dano's return destroy Rexy's credibility?
- JetFuel

Dano's demise as a hockey player was allegedly caused by misuse by the Jets. There is great debate as to whether he was just a "flash in the pan" during part of a season with CBJ.
In a nutshell, Dano re-signing with the Jets, who still have Paul Maurice coaching, is an indication that the problem wasn't POMO or the Jets. Shot a major hole in Rexy's Dano story. Most of us just thought that Dano sucked, but Rexy stood by his story.

Dano's demise as a hockey player was allegedly caused by misuse by the Jets. There is great debate as to whether he was just a "flash in the pan" during part of a season with CBJ.
In a nutshell, Dano re-signing with the Jets, who still have Paul Maurice coaching, is an indication that the problem wasn't POMO or the Jets. Shot a major hole in Rexy's Dano story. Most of us just thought that Dano sucked, but Rexy stood by his story.
- bennythehat

Ah okay, I get you now.

How could you possibly rate LA's D that high and consider Doughty to be their weak point?.. Lol

Seriously that's a D of total no names that few have heard of, they really would be at the bottom and I know the fancy stat crowd say Matt Roy is great but is he really? Sean Walker is another no namer, Kurtis MacDermid is a stay at home physical type dman and then it's Maata, I'd rank that somewhere pretty close to the bottom if not the worst.

Detroit's is pretty bad, Hronek is great though, honestly I'd probably rank the Jets D core around 22nd to 26th, a lot of them are pretty close though so it's really debatable.
- JetFuel

Agreed. Doughty has been their best defense. Probably the best in their franchises history. I know he has some hard miles on him now, and his remaining contract is a concern, but the guy can still play and would be a #1D on the Jets.

How could you possibly rate LA's D that high and consider Doughty to be their weak point?.. Lol

Seriously that's a D of total no names that few have heard of, they really would be at the bottom and I know the fancy stat crowd say Matt Roy is great but is he really? Sean Walker is another no namer, Kurtis MacDermid is a stay at home physical type dman and then it's Maata, I'd rank that somewhere pretty close to the bottom if not the worst.

Detroit's is pretty bad, Hronek is great though, honestly I'd probably rank the Jets D core around 22nd to 26th, a lot of them are pretty close though so it's really debatable.
- JetFuel

Doughty was a big problem for LA last year. Walker, Roy, Ryan, and Maatta all had better seasons than Doughty. He’s been in decline for a while, although it’s likely not 100% natural. Drew Doughty is a very disgruntled hockey player, and it shows in his play.

Also worth noting: Matt Roy and Sean Walker would be #1 and #2 on our blueline right now, without question.

Dano's demise as a hockey player was allegedly caused by misuse by the Jets. There is great debate as to whether he was just a "flash in the pan" during part of a season with CBJ.
In a nutshell, Dano re-signing with the Jets, who still have Paul Maurice coaching, is an indication that the problem wasn't POMO or the Jets. Shot a major hole in Rexy's Dano story. Most of us just thought that Dano sucked, but Rexy stood by his story.
- bennythehat

One thing I never said is that Marko Dano himself had a personal problem with Maurice or the Jets.
I said his handling here destroyed his development, and dropped his eventual ceiling by quite a bit. Doesn’t mean Dano knows or would agree.

Agreed. Doughty has been their best defense. Probably the best in their franchises history. I know he has some hard miles on him now, and his remaining contract is a concern, but the guy can still play and would be a #1D on the Jets.
- bikeguy99

I know I was starting sh*t with Seth Jones, but if you take last season as a sample, the ranking goes:
1. Neal Pionk
2. Seth Jones
3. Drew Doughty

I agree with a lot of what you are saying but a few things.
Devon Toews hasn’t even played two full season and is already 26. Would I have liked him, sure but it’s very possible we are seeing him rated right now as highly as he ever will be. He got to play with some other very good D in New York and played with an excellent system. Now lucky for him he is going to Colorado where he will also get to play with some very good D In a decent system. If he were to come here and play with one of our lesser D all year under Maurice, I’m fairly certain the shine would come off very fast!!!
Ryan Murray is good but like you said, is Bogosian like In that he will never play a full year and is also a UFA in one year.

Everyone seems to be forgetting a couple things about our D. Demelo absolutely helped and we only had him for 13 games last year. In the playoffs Poolman was arguably the best D we had. Now that doesn’t say much considering how bad the D was but he is a solid 3rd pair guy!! No one knows for sure what we have in Heinola and Samberg but I am excited even if I do t get to see it fully till next year our D is improving. In two years our D ranking will be (subject to trades and free agency of course)

1- Heinola
2- morrisey
3- Demelo
4- Samberg
5- Pionk
6- Poolman

Then I’d say gawanke, Chisholm, Niku, Green, Stanley, lundmark and others all possibly in the mix
- Ross77

Well either of D.Toews or Murray likely would've slotted on the second pair with Pionk which would've made for a pretty good 2nd pair, doubt either would of struggled here and even with Murray's injury history for a measly 5th round pick he would've been more then worth that gamble and if he works out maybe you sign him, he's probably looking at a paycut with the market change and could be a cheap top 4 guy, all my point is that either of those two are legit top 4 dmen that went for a fairly cheap acquisition cost and would've made the Jets D core much better, as I said before I think the Jets only have two top 4 dmen, adding one of those two would of gotten the Jets up to three at least.. Lol

I know DeMelo helped but I don't see him as a top pair guy or even a top 4 guy really but over a whole season yes he'll help a bit.
Personally I'm not putting a lot of stock into the small sample size of the playin against Calgary but yeah Poolman played fairly well, he or Niku could have a big season which could make all the difference for this D core, in my opinion the Jets best dman against Calgary was easily Kulikov, he played well and was about the only Jets defenseman that could handle the physical beating the Flames were laying on the Jets and was able to give it back.

I'm not concerned with the 3rd pair, they'll be fine and they were good all last season whenever Bitetto wasn't playing, just would've liked one more legit top 4 dman added this offseason, who knows though maybe they still add one yet.

We have much different Jets D rankings... Lol

If Samberg would evolve into a LH d-man, say like David Savard (solid, reliable, steady, not flashy) of the Jackets, suddenly the Jets D would look a lot better - just missing that one stud RH d-man then.

But d-men, unless super-star material, usually take a little longer than forwards to develop, so one needs patience here with Samberg. Poolman, if he could avoid injury, could be a player who steps up to be counted this season. Niku?

Right now, yes, the Jets D probably rates in the 20-28 range in the league. But one surprise, and/or change, and that could improve dramatically.
- grahamzky

Agree with much of what you're saying here and as much as I think the Jets D core is only slightly better than it was last season(if it even is) as you say one surprise or change could improve it dramatically, imo the wildcards will be Poolman and Niku, if one or both take big steps forward in their play/impact and can stay healthy for the majority of the season the defense won't be as big an issue as I and many others think it is.

I like Sbisa far more then Beaulieu, and probably more than Forbort (tho I have not seen much of Forbort to make a real assessment). Niku really needs to make the jump into being a full time NHL D. Hopefully he can get a fair chance with a decent partner.

As for where to the Jets D rank..... It's hard to say. I believe that each team only really needs one big $$, puck moving offensive D. Jets do not have that, but they do have some solid D. I'd prefer this to the porous San Jose D which has 2 high output RD's. I think the Pens/Sharks/Yotes/Panthers/Kings/Devs/Red Wings/ Blackhawks all have some issues at D that could make an argument for being below the Jets. Especially when you consider that the Jet's 7 man D-core costs only 16M this season. For what they are, they are a great deal.
- bikeguy99

I really liked Sbisa's play as well, some of the Jets best games this past season was with a Sbisa-Beaulieu 3rd pair, am glad he's back, he can throw the fists when necessary as well which is good.

If we broke down each of those teams top 6-8
dmen it could probably be argued that they're all fairly close really, like just looking at that list of 8 teams you listed I think only the Coyotes have a worse top pair RHD then the Jets do though I think they must have a lefty playing his off hand so maybe not. It really could be debated that the Jets could D could rank anywhere from 20-31, if fully healthy I'm not sure the Wings is all that much worse really but yeah for $16M the Jets D isn't that bad I guess.

Doughty was a big problem for LA last year. Walker, Roy, Ryan, and Maatta all had better seasons than Doughty. He’s been in decline for a while, although it’s likely not 100% natural. Drew Doughty is a very disgruntled hockey player, and it shows in his play.

Also worth noting: Matt Roy and Sean Walker would be #1 and #2 on our blueline right now, without question.
- Rexypoo

Wow Roy and Walker would really be the Jets
#1 and #2 dmen? I'd bet a lot that few Jets fans anywhere would know who those guys are.. Lol

Where did Forbort and Hutton rank on the Kings D the last few years?

Wow Roy and Walker would really be the Jets
#1 and #2 dmen? I'd bet a lot that few Jets fans anywhere would know who those guys are.. Lol

Where did Forbort and Hutton rank on the Kings D the last few years?
- JetFuel

Neither of those two LAK Dmen would ever be on the radar for an Olympic roster pick although Roy being American has at least a shot if he can continue with another good season. Roy was a 7th rounder and Walker was undrafted. Roy is definitely a rising star and Walker is a decent defenseman but neither of them is on the level of Josh Morrissey or likely Pionk. I'd rate them both a 2nd pairing defensemen on most NHL teams.

As far as ranking the Jets defense. I'd rank them the middle of the pack. Jets were 12th best in GA last season even with the loss of Buff and a plethora of injuries to Morrissey and most of the defense all season long. Hellybuyck obviously helped the GA in the 58 games he played but not enough to rank the Jets D any worse than 20th considering all the injuries. A healthy Jets defense would have made a big difference last year. How quickly we forget how bad it really was until we got healthy and DeMelo came in for reinforcement. Jets only gave up 1 goal a game since they got healthy and DeMelo arrived (last 12 games of season). Thats not bottom 20 performance and it might only improve from here.

BTW. Columbus was third-best in GA which is largely thanks to Jones and Wereneski along with a tight system from Torts. There can be no argument made that it was a result of any other Dmen because the rest lacked the ice time.

Wow Roy and Walker would really be the Jets
#1 and #2 dmen? I'd bet a lot that few Jets fans anywhere would know who those guys are.. Lol

Where did Forbort and Hutton rank on the Kings D the last few years?
- JetFuel

I totally forgot about Hutton. He was better than Doughty, too. Forbort is just a decent 5/6.

Also, I don’t particularly trust the average Jets fan to be well informed on any team outside of Winnipeg, and only the bare minimum on the Jets themselves. If I hear someone say “Connors” or spell it “Conner”, they’ve already lost my attention

Neither of those two LAK Dmen would ever be on the radar for an Olympic roster pick although Roy being American has at least a shot if he can continue with another good season. Roy was a 7th rounder and Walker was undrafted. Roy is definitely a rising star and Walker is a decent defenseman but neither of them is on the level of Josh Morrissey or likely Pionk. I'd rate them both a 2nd pairing defensemen on most NHL teams.

As far as ranking the Jets defense. I'd rank them the middle of the pack. Jets were 12th best in GA last season even with the loss of Buff and a plethora of injuries to Morrissey and most of the defense all season long. Hellybuyck obviously helped the GA in the 58 games he played but not enough to rank the Jets D any worse than 20th considering all the injuries. A healthy Jets defense would have made a big difference last year. How quickly we forget how bad it really was until we got healthy and DeMelo came in for reinforcement. Jets only gave up 1 goal a game since they got healthy and DeMelo arrived (last 12 games of season). Thats not bottom 20 performance and it might only improve from here.

BTW. Columbus was third-best in GA which is largely thanks to Jones and Wereneski along with a tight system from Torts. There can be no argument made that it was a result of any other Dmen because the rest lacked the ice time.
- jetsnation

You do realize that Morrissey and DeMelo are 2nd pairing defencemen themselves, right?
You’re also banking on a fairly aggressive rebound by Morrissey next season to rank him cleanly above both Walker and Roy. It wasn’t even a close comparison last year.

As for the Columbus defence, they had some spectacular goaltending, and ran Murray and Savard as the shutdown guys

I really liked Sbisa's play as well, some of the Jets best games this past season was with a Sbisa-Beaulieu 3rd pair, am glad he's back, he can throw the fists when necessary as well which is good.

If we broke down each of those teams top 6-8
dmen it could probably be argued that they're all fairly close really, like just looking at that list of 8 teams you listed I think only the Coyotes have a worse top pair RHD then the Jets do though I think they must have a lefty playing his off hand so maybe not. It really could be debated that the Jets could D could rank anywhere from 20-31, if fully healthy I'm not sure the Wings is all that much worse really but yeah for $16M the Jets D isn't that bad I guess.
- JetFuel

Sbisa was just as bad last year as he was his entire career. Beaulieu is useful as a #6, but can’t play his offside. Doesn’t have the talent level to adapt without a drop off.

I do have to take issue with the idea that either of Demers or Hjalmarsson somehow being the worst starting right side D.
Demers put up surprisingly strong numbers next to OEL (which is impressive due to OEL’s precipitous decline since 2017), and Hjalmarsson is still the best pure shutdown defenceman of his entire generation

You do realize that Morrissey and DeMelo are 2nd pairing defencemen themselves, right?
You’re also banking on a fairly aggressive rebound by Morrissey next season to rank him cleanly above both Walker and Roy. It wasn’t even a close comparison last year.

As for the Columbus defence, they had some spectacular goaltending, and ran Murray and Savard as the shutdown guys
- Rexypoo

Morrissey won't be playing with Poolman, that alone should make the difference in his play this year.

Neither of those two LAK Dmen would ever be on the radar for an Olympic roster pick although Roy being American has at least a shot if he can continue with another good season. Roy was a 7th rounder and Walker was undrafted. Roy is definitely a rising star and Walker is a decent defenseman but neither of them is on the level of Josh Morrissey or likely Pionk. I'd rate them both a 2nd pairing defensemen on most NHL teams.

As far as ranking the Jets defense. I'd rank them the middle of the pack. Jets were 12th best in GA last season even with the loss of Buff and a plethora of injuries to Morrissey and most of the defense all season long. Hellybuyck obviously helped the GA in the 58 games he played but not enough to rank the Jets D any worse than 20th considering all the injuries. A healthy Jets defense would have made a big difference last year. How quickly we forget how bad it really was until we got healthy and DeMelo came in for reinforcement. Jets only gave up 1 goal a game since they got healthy and DeMelo arrived (last 12 games of season). Thats not bottom 20 performance and it might only improve from here.

BTW. Columbus was third-best in GA which is largely thanks to Jones and Wereneski along with a tight system from Torts. There can be no argument made that it was a result of any other Dmen because the rest lacked the ice time.
- jetsnation

Jets defense/system gave up the 2nd most high danger chances for the final 10 games. Only reason you think they looked good was that Jets goaltending had the 5th highest sv%

Morrissey won't be playing with Poolman, that alone should make the difference in his play this year.
- BWJumper

I also suspect JoMo was dealing with an injury for long stretches.
Regardless, Morrissey’s fall off in play wasn’t on Poolman. His numbers fell hard even if you account for teammates and usage, and you can’t tell me dear old Tucker had Morrissey making stupid decisions all through the year he wouldn’t have in previous seasons

I totally forgot about Hutton. He was better than Doughty, too. Forbort is just a decent 5/6.

Also, I don’t particularly trust the average Jets fan to be well informed on any team outside of Winnipeg, and only the bare minimum on the Jets themselves. If I hear someone say “Connors” or spell it “Conner”, they’ve already lost my attention
- Rexypoo

Would Hutton have been a better signing then Forbort?

I also suspect JoMo was dealing with an injury for long stretches.
Regardless, Morrissey’s fall off in play wasn’t on Poolman. His numbers fell hard even if you account for teammates and usage, and you can’t tell me dear old Tucker had Morrissey making stupid decisions all through the year he wouldn’t have in previous seasons
- Rexypoo

I tend to believe that Poolman was outmatched playing against the other teams best, meaning Morrissey didn't trust his partner and was trying to do too much which led to those mistakes. But yeah Morrissey did play bad last year.

Neither of those two LAK Dmen would ever be on the radar for an Olympic roster pick although Roy being American has at least a shot if he can continue with another good season. Roy was a 7th rounder and Walker was undrafted. Roy is definitely a rising star and Walker is a decent defenseman but neither of them is on the level of Josh Morrissey or likely Pionk. I'd rate them both a 2nd pairing defensemen on most NHL teams.

As far as ranking the Jets defense. I'd rank them the middle of the pack. Jets were 12th best in GA last season even with the loss of Buff and a plethora of injuries to Morrissey and most of the defense all season long. Hellybuyck obviously helped the GA in the 58 games he played but not enough to rank the Jets D any worse than 20th considering all the injuries. A healthy Jets defense would have made a big difference last year. How quickly we forget how bad it really was until we got healthy and DeMelo came in for reinforcement. Jets only gave up 1 goal a game since they got healthy and DeMelo arrived (last 12 games of season). Thats not bottom 20 performance and it might only improve from here.

BTW. Columbus was third-best in GA which is largely thanks to Jones and Wereneski along with a tight system from Torts. There can be no argument made that it was a result of any other Dmen because the rest lacked the ice time.
- jetsnation

Wow, crazy that two guys almost no one has heard of are both 2nd pair guys on most teams, also crazy that one was a 7th round pick and the other was an undrafted free agent meanwhile the masters of the draft and develop model here in Winnipeg are waiver wire reliant to fill out their D core.. 😃

Well I wasn't trying to rank the 19-20 Jets D core but so far it isn't much different, agree the injuries they suffered did hurt, even the injuries to Beaulieu and Kulikov were a bigger loss then most probably thought they were.
I think DeMelo helped but I also think his impact is being a overblown a bit.
The Jets D core would for sure rank somewhere in the bottom third of the league.

As for the Jackets I think you're really dismissing the contributions of Gavrikov and Savard, they were both playing 19+ minutes a night and Murray was almost 20 minutes when he was in the lineup. I know Werenski/Jones play 23+ minutes a game but their other Dmen also contribute to that low goals against and so does Columbus' excellent goalie tandem.

Would Hutton have been a better signing then Forbort?
- JetFuel

For LA? Or another strong possession team? Yes. For us? No.
We wouldn’t know how to use him like LA did, and he seems primed for a bit of regression after a big year.
I think Hutton is someone who you can play with a Karlsson or a Klingberg and have good results, but still be drowned by a bad partner on a bottom pairing. He’s a Morrissey Jr.

Although, this does make me think we should be trading Wheeler for Erik Karlsson. His contract is bad, and he has a hard pivoting last I checked, but he’s still elite.

Sbisa was just as bad last year as he was his entire career. Beaulieu is useful as a #6, but can’t play his offside. Doesn’t have the talent level to adapt without a drop off.

I do have to take issue with the idea that either of Demers or Hjalmarsson somehow being the worst starting right side D.
Demers put up surprisingly strong numbers next to OEL (which is impressive due to OEL’s precipitous decline since 2017), and Hjalmarsson is still the best pure shutdown defenceman of his entire generation
- Rexypoo

Sbisa was fine last season and so was Beaulieu, Beaulieu really stabilized the 3rd pair and even did well when moved up next to Pionk.

Like I said one of the Coyotes LHD was probably playing his offhand, I really wasn't sure who their top RHD was, it's not possible OEL is contributing to Demers strong numbers?
I'm a big Hjalmarsson fan, don't have to tell me how good he is but wasn't it you saying he's in decline and wouldn't be a good addition for the Jets if they could somehow acquire him??

For LA? Or another strong possession team? Yes. For us? No.
We wouldn’t know how to use him like LA did, and he seems primed for a bit of regression after a big year.
I think Hutton is someone who you can play with a Karlsson or a Klingberg and have good results, but still be drowned by a bad partner on a bottom pairing. He’s a Morrissey Jr.

Although, this does make me think we should be trading Wheeler for Erik Karlsson. His contract is bad, and he has a hard pivoting last I checked, but he’s still elite.
- Rexypoo

So Hutton wouldn't be a fine 2nd pair partner for Pionk? Not any better than Forbort?

Wheeler for Erik Karlsson is never happening much like the dreamed about Pietrangelo signing was never happening so idk why anyone would ever suggest such a thing.

Sbisa was fine last season and so was Beaulieu, Beaulieu really stabilized the 3rd pair and even did well when moved up next to Pionk.

Like I said one of the Coyotes LHD was probably playing his offhand, I really wasn't sure who their top RHD was, it's not possible OEL is contributing to Demers strong numbers?
I'm a big Hjalmarsson fan, don't have to tell me how good he is but wasn't it you saying he's in decline and wouldn't be a good addition for the Jets if they could somehow acquire him??
- JetFuel

Sbisa was brutal. His numbers were brutal. He was also a penalty generator.

To answer your OEL point, not. He’s been struggling for a while. Thats a toxic contract.

Hjalmarsson probably is in decline by now, but at the rate it’s happening, he’s still our best defensive player at 38. He’s also played on his offside almost his entire career. Some guys can do it. Miro Heiskanen chiefly among them