The 2022-23 NHL season starts Oct. 7. With training camps open, NHL.com is taking a look at the three keys, the inside scoop on roster questions, and the projected lineup for each of the 32 teams. Today, the Winnipeg Jets.
Coach: Rick Bowness (first season)
Last season: 39-32-11, sixth place in Central Division; did not qualify for Stanley Cup Playoffs
3 KEYS
1. Culture club
Hired July 3, Bowness was expected to bring change to the Jets’ on-ice structure by making them harder to play against, stronger defensively and focused on puck possession.
But as Bowness told NHL.com in July, the biggest change he needed to bring was inside the locker room because “X’s and O’s don’t work if the culture isn’t on.” The first step was taken Sept. 16 when forward Blake Wheeler was removed as captain. Winnipeg will not have one for the upcoming season, instead it will be led by a group of alternate captains. Now the pressure is on to see who will step up and take a proactive leadership role.
2. Laser focused
It’s time for the Jets to put the past, and recent distractions, behind them, and enter the 2022-23 season with a clean slate. Bowness said that Winnipeg for “whatever reason it lost its way last year” and the players were frustrated with how last season ended. A veteran of 2,562 games as a coach or assistant, Bowness certainly has the tools to get the team back on track after the Jets missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season for the first time in five seasons. Bowness said he came to Winnipeg because he “wasn’t interested in going to a rebuild,” and with a lineup that includes forward Kyle Connor, who scored 47 goals last season and was tied for fifth last season in the NHL, the Jets should have the pieces in place to get back to the postseason.
3. Hellebuyck back
Voted as the NHL’s best goalie in 2019-20 and fourth for the Vezina Trophy in 2020-21, last season Connor Hellebuyck had the highest goals-against average (2.97) and second lowest save percentage (.910) of his career. Did the heavy workload he’s experienced since entering the NHL in 2015-16 — he leads the League in games played (381), games started (372), shots against (11,640) and saves (10,658) — finally catch up with him?
The 29-year-old is a workhorse and should still get the majority of starts under Bowness, but the new defensive system is expected to help alleviate how many shots he sees. In Bowness’ two full seasons with Dallas, the Stars allowed the ninth-fewest shots allowed per game (29.4);…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at "ice hockey" – Google News…