Is there concerns that Wheeler is a locker room problem ?

[rubikscube]

Wow...the speculation in here is something.

This whole thread is how I imagine some sort of romance drama novel would read.

Laine fanbois are just impossible to be reasoned with. I feel sorry for Blue Jackets fans now.

 

[Wandering Cynic]

Kane, Laine, Chiarot, Roslovic, and Trouba all wanted out. There’s definitely a problem in Winnipeg.

 

[Bandit]

Kane, Laine, Chiarot, Roslovic, and Trouba all wanted out. There’s definitely a problem in Winnipeg.

Geography? I met Aaron Ward when he was still at U of M and he was very unhappy to be drafted by Winnipeg, called it the "middle of nowhere". I'm sure he isn't the only one over the years.

As for Wheeler I seem to remember there being some talk about his character with the whole Coyotes situation. I remember it being talked about on a broadcast that a scout or GM said something along the lines of "I don't know about that guy..." I wish I could remember who. Now this is ancient history at this point and of course people can change, so who knows.

 

[Psych0dad]

Bryan Little is seen by almost every Jets player, coach, and fan as a pure class player and teammate. When Laine and the Finnish yellow journalist threw Little under the bus with Laine basically saying that Little wasn't good enough to play with him, I expect that lost Laine respect in the locker room, especially with vets that are close to Little. I realize that Laine is a bit of an eccentric guy, but that's a line that most players won't cross, for obvious reasons. Little was gracious about it when Laine apologized, but I think it might have frayed some relationships.

In the end, once the Jets had Scheifele, Ehlers and Connor signed long term to good contracts, they likely saw Laine as their best trade asset to acquire a foundation player at C or D. Chevy said as much. Naturally, Laine and his agents could see the writing on the wall, too.

I think it will work out well for all parties. Laine can be the face of the Jackets and the Jets get their big C to complement Scheifele.

I'll still root for Laine in Columbus. He's a great talent and an interesting personality. But I also think the Jets will be better in the long term with this move, and that will make Wheeler and Scheifele happy.

I think the expectation in Jets leadership was that Laine would just take the backseat and accept it. But he didn't just accept it, because he felt he didn't have enough opportunity to become what he expects to be. He didn't want to be second chair.

There will be those who agree with the Maurice-Wheeler line of thinking, and those who understand Laine's side better.

This was a pretty good trade from many perspectives. Jets get the 2nd line center they have needed, Jackets add a ton of firepower which they have lacked.

Laine gets out of a situation where is stuck watching a lesser player occupy his seat and lose, gets to be the #1 fwd of the team and likely used to his strengths much better than he ever was in Winnipeg. There are no more restraints on him.

PLD gets out of whatever it is that really drove him out, he gets to be closer to his dad and Jets have a top 3 Center depth in the league now.

Kekalainen gets the guy he always wanted to get in the draft.

Wheeler gets a cozy feeling of job security.

Fans get to see the "before and after" of Laine getting away from PoMos circus.

 

[Sky04]

Kane, Laine, Chiarot, Roslovic, and Trouba all wanted out. There’s definitely a problem in Winnipeg.

Look at the players you just listed with for one. All divas except for Chiarot. Trouba isn't exactly lighting things up and has a horrible contract, signing him would've been a huge mistake and they got a better defenseman in return.

 

[Sky04]

It's never Laine's fault, always someone elses...

He doesn't have to work hard, they should just hand him minutes so he can inflate his point totals!

 

[CartographerNo611]

Laine doesn’t want to be in Winnipeg

Kane has always been a head case and from the west coast

Buff was a head case in his own different way.

Chariot chased the money and went to a 06 team.

Roslovic wasn’t getting ice time.

Trouba followed the happy wife happy life motto and went to NYC.

Myers was demanding too much money and only one GM would give it him, which Benning did.

Wheeler has his faults for sure, he is not the common factor in players leaving. Bogus thread shifting blame to an easy target since Wheeler had issues in his Bruin days.

 

[BattleLevel]

Auston Matthews averaged 20:58 minutes a night in 19-20. Go ahead and lookup how many minutes Laine averaged.

19:25. What's your point? I was talking about Laine and Wheeler

 

[Pia8988]

I think there were concerns. Wheeler said himself the previous offseason that he realized that he can be intense and that he had expected others to prepare for games/ how they spent their time off and taking it as seriously as he did. Mentioned he took the offseason to reflect on his leadership style and realized what he does to prepare isn't necessarily the only way to go about it , that the game has changed and the younger guys coming in have high end skill and that their path to where he is now is completely different just based on their skill and not necessarily having to grind their way into the top 6 after a few years in the A or in the bottom 6.
I think that being able to reflect on his actions, notice a problem, addressing it and being honest with himself and others is a sign of good leadership. Hopefully he's learned from that and has changed his approach, which by all accounts seems like he has. I think Laine being traded hurt him, as he seemed bothered/partially responsible for it during his interview. I don't think he way happy to see him leave.

Listening to Maurice on Overdrive, it didn't sound like Laine was ever really going to get a shot with Scheifele moving forward as they didn't like the fit last year. It does seem that Schiefele and Wheeler get a pass when they play like shit and are held to a different standard than the rest. To me that's all on Paul Maurice and not Wheeler as everyone should be accountable for their play.
Now hopefully Schiefele welcomes the competition with PLD coming in (says he's looking forward to it) rather than feeling threatened about potentially being dethroned from the 1C spot and having a young top end guy wanting another change of scenery.

4th line gets scored on? They get benched
Wheeler and schiefele get scored on? 4th line and kids get benched

 

[Flair Hay]

buff and trouba off the top of my head

I dont remember hearing that

 

[Flair Hay]

Kane, Laine, Chiarot, Roslovic, and Trouba all wanted out. There’s definitely a problem in Winnipeg.

I mean, we are always going to be Winnipeg. For better or for worse.

If guys dont want to play here for various reasons, that's fine. It is going to happen in our market.

These guys all wanted out for different reasons. Some partly our fault, some not at all.

Dealing with players wanting out is just part of NHL life these days. Players use their influence more than ever before.

I agree that the Jets have perhaps been more tough than they needed to be with their young up and coming top line guys. Trouba and Laine both had a better veteran player blocking them.

But I'm not convinced there is a bullet proof way to handle that situation. Playing a young player in the best role over a veteran is great for the young guy. But it isnt always best for the team.

Evander Kane not wanting to play here is practically a compliment. More so in hindsight.

 

[Flair Hay]

Look at the players you just listed with for one. All divas except for Chiarot. Trouba isn't exactly lighting things up and has a horrible contract, signing him would've been a huge mistake and they got a better defenseman in return.

Trouba and Morrissey were rock solid together, a season later still lost apart.

Chemistry is half the battle with defense pairings!

 

[Little Psycho]

He is probably a strong leader/voice in the dressing room and alot of kids nowadays cant handle that.

He seems like he is exactly what a captain should be, but things are different nowadays and people expect to be treated differently.

Interestingly enough we had a meeting about this last week. We got a couple of 21 year olds join our team and our manager said we got to be constantly encouraging and support them since they are more emotional and fragile. I'm 29 and I've never heard something like that to that degree.

 

[Brobust]

19:25. What's your point? I was talking about Laine and Wheeler

Sorry, that's my bad. Typical leafs fan brain turning words like 'Wheeler' into Matthews.

 

[Phenomenon]

I have played golf with Patrik this summer and it is hard to believe that he is an egocentric person. He was very easygoing, relaxed and good company at least in the golf course. I know about his issues during the puberty years, but they seem to be more or less memories.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Interestingly enough we had a meeting about this last week. We got a couple of 21 year olds join our team and our manager said we got to be constantly encouraging and support them since they are more emotional and fragile. I'm 29 and I've never heard something like that to that degree.

yup same in my workplace. There are alot of real young people coming in now and upper management told the supervisors that they need to be treating them extremely different. It's getting bad here where if they dont get certain things, they call in sick until they get what they want.. and the sad thing is, it ends up working.... So here, like where you are, management said there needs to be alot of encouraging and NO discouragement and have to be extremely careful with any constructive criticism at all

 

[KingJoffrey]

Wheeler is also the coach of the team. Maurice is just a puppet. And Wheeler nowadays is botton tier 2nd liner on 5on5. Only because he plays in 1st pp unit (and their best winger Ehlers don't LOL) his point totals look fine. He's 45 point player in 82 game season without that madness of favorable usage.

 

[mobilus]

Well, thank goodness for Laine there won't be that kind of oppressive pressure coming at him in Columbus.

 

[MarkWheeler]

Wheeler is also the coach of the team. Maurice is just a puppet. And Wheeler nowadays is botton tier 2nd liner on 5on5. Only because he plays in 1st pp unit (and their best winger Ehlers don't LOL) his point totals look fine. He's 45 point player in 82 game season without that madness of favorable usage.

You’re not wrong there.

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Wheeler is also the coach of the team. Maurice is just a puppet. And Wheeler nowadays is botton tier 2nd liner on 5on5. Only because he plays in 1st pp unit (and their best winger Ehlers don't LOL) his point totals look fine. He's 45 point player in 82 game season without that madness of favorable usage.

The only downside of the Laine trade is the Ehlers whining is going to get louder.

 

[BattleLevel]

Sorry, that's my bad. Typical leafs fan brain turning words like 'Wheeler' into Matthews.

Haha fair enough. I actually double checked the post I replied to making sure it wasn't about Matthews. Seems like any discussion about one brings an argument about the other

 

[BattleLevel]

The only downside of the Laine trade is the Ehlers whining is going to get louder.

Has Ehlers been whining? I haven't heard anything about that

 

[PhilJets]

Laine wanted to be in "Winnipeg".
He didnt want to be in the situation he is in there. He specifically said Jets have too many good players on top and he (put it nicely) felt he didnt fit in. Meaning , he won't unseat Wheeler until he retires. Barring major injuries. Laine most likely has nothing against Wheeler and so is Wheeler.
But Laine is up against the position of the player who has the most pull in the organization and is the captain. Jets camp probably realized he will play behind Wheeler until he is 26. Those are prime years.

(Before someone say he played most with Schiefele last year. It was forced due to Little injury. Once Eakin came in from the trade he was back in line 2.)

Finally
Those things happens. Many people liked their work but doesnt like how their career path being shaped in a company due to how superior handles it. So they moved on.
Maurice after the trade stated he should have done better to make each players be comfortable in their work environment. Wheeler also said he could have done it better.

Some still trying to deflect problem away from Jets management and leadership group. They are held to a higher standard.
There was a problem, its pretty obvious.
All of them took part in it including Laine's camp.

Nature of business, unfortunately it went the way it should.

Laine is a Columbus Blue Jackets now, lets cheer him success there.

 

[Evergreen]

People have been saying he’s very particular about his line mates for a while. He’s demanded to ply with Scheifele and has put up fits when asked to anchor a different line. Allegedly.

 

[PhilJets]

I think there were concerns. Wheeler said himself the previous offseason that he realized that he can be intense and that he had expected others to prepare for games/ how they spent their time off and taking it as seriously as he did. Mentioned he took the offseason to reflect on his leadership style and realized what he does to prepare isn't necessarily the only way to go about it , that the game has changed and the younger guys coming in have high end skill and that their path to where he is now is completely different just based on their skill and not necessarily having to grind their way into the top 6 after a few years in the A or in the bottom 6.
I think that being able to reflect on his actions, notice a problem, addressing it and being honest with himself and others is a sign of good leadership. Hopefully he's learned from that and has changed his approach, which by all accounts seems like he has. I think Laine being traded hurt him, as he seemed bothered/partially responsible for it during his interview. I don't think he way happy to see him leave.

Listening to Maurice on Overdrive, it didn't sound like Laine was ever really going to get a shot with Scheifele moving forward as they didn't like the fit last year. It does seem that Schiefele and Wheeler get a pass when they play like shit and are held to a different standard than the rest. To me that's all on Paul Maurice and not Wheeler as everyone should be accountable for their play.
Now hopefully Schiefele welcomes the competition with PLD coming in (says he's looking forward to it) rather than feeling threatened about potentially being dethroned from the 1C spot and having a young top end guy wanting another change of scenery.

If both Maurice and Chevy use analytic to come up with that reasoning (which chevy did stated). Then Nik Ehlers should be stappled to the top line.