In Praise of the Jets, Trevor Zegras' Future, and the NHL Mercenary Era: Duhatschek's Notebook

So, let's talk about the Winnipeg Jets for a moment, the No. 1 team in the NHL right now and a team amid an incredible defensive stretch in which they've allowed three or fewer goals in 31 straight games, including a 2-1 win. Victory over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday. Considering how the NHL continues to improve each season, this is an exceptional accomplishment.

Only five other teams in NHL history have managed this feat. Two played in the 1920s. Two played in the 1950s. The only team that's almost comparable is the 2014-15 Minnesota Wild, and if you remember anything at all about the 2014-15 season, it's that the league's leading scorer was Jimmy Benn of the Dallas Stars, who had 87 points. . It took just 73 points to reach the top ten. In the middle of this season, Tampa Bay's Nikita Kucherov and Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon each had 67 points. So, even though it's only been nine years, we're not comparing apples to oranges here. What the planes are doing is not only remarkable, but unprecedented on some levels.

What makes it even more extraordinary is how the planes got here, in terms of the construction path they took. It's what they didn't do that led them to where they are today. Because if you follow the debate over roster construction on social media, there's only one tried-and-true method for a team to hover around the middle — which is where the Jets were last season, just pushing for the playoffs, as the ultimate playoff qualifier. In the Western Conference.

The answer, of course, was to blow it all up and start over. Instead, general manager Kevin Cheveldayov pursued a deeply unpopular strategy – one foot in, one foot out. It's an approach that some people hate so much that it borders on hostility. The Jets had to make imminent decisions on four key players on the team: Pierre-Luc Dubois, Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele, and Connor Hellebuyck. It's fair to say they were at an organizational crossroads.

Cheveldayov has been advised more than once to stay away from all these things, to get what he can and start again. Instead, the Jets parted ways with just two, Dubois and Wheeler, and signed the other two, Scheifele and Hellebuyck, to extensions (two identical seven-year contracts, each worth $59 million). Wheeler was simply bought out and Dubois was traded to Los Angeles for three players and a draft pick. When healthy, one of the three, Gabe Vilardi, has been effective offensively. The second, Alex Iafallo, is a useful player in the middle of the lineup, Mr. Fix-It in coaching parlance, and can be serviced in a calm manner. As for the third, Rasmus Kupari, he was injured, which happened to him before. The deal is leaning heavily in Winnipeg's favor, largely due to how poorly Dubois played with the Kings.

But the truth is that when the Jets opened the season, there was no indication they would finish the first half in first place. The betting odds projected a 91.5 point season. They already have 60 points in 41 games. The Jets opened the year with a 50-1 longshot to win the Stanley Cup. They're now at 18-1 – improved, but given their lofty standing, it's clear they haven't quite convinced the bookies that what they're doing is real. Eleven teams have better odds of winning the Cup, including the New Jersey Devils, who are still hanging around the playoff line.

Moreover, much of the Jets' recent success has come while last year's leading scorer, Kyle Connor (80 points in 82 games), was out due to injury. And when Scheifele was lost to an undisclosed injury less than eight minutes into the game against Chicago on Thursday, team captain Adam Lowry stepped up and manned the top line.

So, it's a great run, fueled mostly by the strong play of Hellebuyck and Laurent Brossoit in goal, and another great year from the underappreciated Josh Morrissey, who leads the team in time on the ice. Dylan DeMelo has been effective as well. Nate Schmidt had a better year, Nik Ehlers was healthy for a change and contributed 33 points, including the game-winner against the Blackhawks.

Overall, they are just an average offensive team. They win with defense, structure and ruthlessness. They tire you out with consistency and too much good decision making. They're just a tough team to play against.

On paper, they shouldn't be where they are. But as we've learned time and time again, hockey games aren't won on paper. Games are won on ice. There is a long history of successful teams that win because they are better than the sum of their individual parts.

Can it continue? It is impossible to predict. But in an era where a lot of teams think they can probably get by with good goaltending, Winnipeg may have figured it out. They have arguably their most reliable performer all year in Hellebuyck, who seems immune to the ups and downs that even the network's most paid users seem to encounter.

And we may have gotten a glimpse of what Brossoit can do when he started for Vegas in the playoffs last year and lost the top job to Adin Hill only due to injury. Sometimes, that kind of player evaluation — like Los Angeles thinking Cam Talbot has some tire wear — can make a big difference on a team, even if it's not an attention-grabbing signing or acquisition.

Someone asked me in a mailbag inquiry a while ago if my “one foot, one foot out” list building strategy ever worked.

The answer is that it depends on how you evaluate success.

Only one team out of 32 wins the Stanley Cup in any season. This means that the remaining 31 fail to achieve their ultimate goal.

These odds are very difficult to beat – in percentage terms, you are entitled to almost three championships in one century.

But if you measure success by making the most of what you have – which means tweaking your current roster as best you can (in terms of personnel and salary structure), then yes, this can work.

Winnipeg, here, now, is proof of that.

Duck watch

With Jamie Drysdale now in Philadelphia, unexpectedly — and controversially — traded to the Flyers for Cutter Gauthier, you wonder what might be next for his friend and former Anaheim Ducks teammate Trevor Zegras, who finished second in Calder Trophy voting for his season Rising. Two years ago, or before Mason McTavish and Leo Karlsson arrived on the scene in Anaheim — and before that group of young defensemen that included Mentyukov, Tristan Luhneau and Olin Zellweger joined in — it seemed as if Zegras and Drysdale were the cornerstones of the Ducks' team. They were building around it.

now? It's tough to find a spot at Zegras' position, given the depth they'll eventually have at center once Karlsson returns from injury. Karlsson, if you remember, was drafted ahead of Adam Fantelli largely because the Ducks thought he had a greater chance to flourish at the NHL level at the position than Fantelli. Gauthier may be similar to Fantelli, someone who plays center today, but plays as a winger in the NHL.

Zegras has faced a difficult situation this season. He had just two points in his first 12 games, partly because he missed training camp, and then suffered a lower-body injury that sidelined him for 20 games. Now he's out again, with a broken ankle suffered Tuesday against Nashville, which will keep him out for six to eight weeks. So perhaps any talk about his future in the organization will become a secondary topic — and that's probably a good thing for the Ducks, who are in no rush, this year anyway, to turn things around.

Zegras appears to be playing his best hockey alongside Troy Terry. They were reunited on the line before Zegras got hurt again, and it seemed as if some of the old chemistry between them had returned. But if you look at the big picture, Zegras can be penalty-prone and undisciplined defensively. If you step back and imagine the type of organization general manager Pat Verbeek is trying to build, with Greg Cronin behind the bench, vulnerable to penalties and undisciplined, it doesn't fit where they want to go.

Then there is the money. Zegras eventually signed a three-year bridge deal with an AAV of $5.75 million to end the camp contract dispute, so the dollars aren't terrible. But it's a “show me what you got” type of contract, one that will require him to put up bigger numbers than he did this year. So, it's easy to imagine a scenario in which the Ducks move on from Zegras, if the right deal is reached. Of course, Zegras will have appeal beyond just what he does on the ice. He has charisma. He can be amazing – and not just because he can execute 'Michigan' with such aplomb. This charisma has value in any declining market that needs box office appeal. Did anyone mention San Jose?

Right now, Anaheim reminds me a little of Chicago, before its transformation in the late 2000s. They did one rebuild — centered around Tyler Arnason, Mark Bell and Kyle Calder — that went nowhere. It forced the Blackhawks to reset again, this time built around Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. It worked. This produced three Stanley Cup championships in six years. It's a rebuilding process within a rebuilding process – and not a strategy for the faint of heart.

But, historically, it is also easier for a new general manager to move on from players drafted by the previous regime. As for Zegras, the Ducks could get another piece to complement what is arguably one of the most promising young cores in the NHL. It will be interesting to see where this goes, and if it grows or if it stalls, as has happened with some rebuilds.

Finally…

The immediate fallout from the Drysdale-Gauthier trade was expected. Most in Philadelphia couldn't understand why a player wouldn't want to play in the organization, given how well they were treated, and given the Flyers' history. Gauthier was heavily criticized for his stance, and it probably did not help his cause when he decided to keep his thoughts to himself. But I'll make that distinction clear: fans have the right to take it personally; Teams shouldn't.

Loyalty is an intrinsic part of being a fan. Many people support the same team their whole lives, taking the good and the bad, and the ups and downs. It's understandable why they would be upset with a player – or, in this case, a potential player – who doesn't share the same relationship with the team they follow. But the difference? The teams brought this on themselves.

Consider that when a team processes a player's move, every manager or executive reads from the exact same playbook. They all say they will do whatever is in the best interest of the organization. This is first on every list. Everything else is secondary.

But if this is a reasonable starting point for any organization, it is also a philosophy that should have it both ways. If the organization's primary goal is to go for No. 1, why doesn't the player have the same right? Because the only thing people forget is the players We are Follow the rules. They are not obligated to explain why they do not want to play for a team. They can choose to sign a contract or wait until they qualify for free agency and then play elsewhere. These are the rules, as negotiated between players and teams in the NHL's collective bargaining agreement, that govern how the company operates. We are reminded, wearily and constantly, that hockey is first and foremost a business. If it were just sports, it would be completely different. If courtesy were important, it might be a different discussion entirely.

But if you're paying the slightest bit of attention to the evolution of professional hockey under NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, two things matter more than anything else: increased revenues and increased franchise value. For teams. For the owners who employ him.

players? They move like sheep. That's why they all seem to be independent contractors these days. I don't like it either. But the truth is that if teams put their own interests first, players have the right to say: “Yes, we will do that too.” My only sympathy really is with the loyal fan, the paying customer, who wants the players to feel the same loyalty to the team as they do. Unfortunately, that era has mostly passed. As for the owners who employ these athletes, understanding the concept of the player as a mercenary shouldn't be too difficult. After all, they brought it on themselves.

(Photo by Gabriel Velardi and Mark Shevell: Zach Bondurant/Getty Images)