Along that way I have had some questions and doubts seep in, only natural, I think. I never felt the connection or comfort that Claude Noel was a fit here and I do think we stumbled pretty hard those first few seasons as a result, but it happened, we endured it and most of all, the entire organization from management to the players learned from it and to this day I believe are better off for it. Collectively they learned to lose as a group and have since learned how to pick themselves back up, dust off and learn to become winners. Chevy bringing in his own guy in an experienced Paul Maurice was very key (I do believe Noel was more of a Chipman and co./Manitoba Moose pick to start things off, and hey, that's okay but it just didn't work out in the end).
I've always felt Chevy could have done a more competent job filling out the depth portions of the roster which always seemed to hurt us. But I have always found comfort and trust in what Kevin Cheveldayoff and co. are doing here, whether they were unproven on the job or not. I'm in the group that do see this as a process and there is a long-term plan here to sustain being a competitive organization on and off the ice. One thing is concrete, we were never going to waver from drafting and developing as the one constant root and foundation of our organization. Perhaps we didn't pick a hard line that some wanted, but you know what? it hasn't hurt us in my opinion. Whether we were going to ride this core group led by Ladd, Little, Wheeler, Enstrom, Byfuglien, etc.. was to be determined. It took some time to sort and figure out. We tied up quality NHL assets along the way, said goodbye to some (Kane, Bogosian) and hello to others. Chevy has missed on some acquisitions be it Jokinen (but he was a stop-gap until Scheifele took over it all is not lost in that 2-year UFA acquisition), Setoguchi, Ponikarovsky, etc. But I think he's hit some home runs on others in Frolik, Perreault, Stafford, Myers, etc. Some may not like the time it took but we were going to come to the realization whether or not we could ride with this group or we couldn't. As stated, Noel failed that "see what we have period" and it was prolonged and took a lot of patience to get through. It took some trial and error, but Maurice was key to that end result of 'finding out'. Had we not have been able to rely on this group, I have little to no doubt Chevy (with Maurice's guidance since his arrival) would have made quality trades to alter the direction.
All things considered, it's been 4 years and I am very happy with the NHL roster and how it's constructed/been kept together for the most part in terms of key players, our drafted and homegrown young talent in Scheifele, Trouba, Lowry, followed by rookies Chiarot and Hutchinson, all who are playing very key roles in our depth chart and are key factors to our success this year. I love our group of prospects. Some will make it, some will flounder and not make it; but that's just the way it goes. Morrissey, Ehlers, Hellebuyck, Petan, Copp, Armia, Kosmachuk, Comrie, Lipon, Lemieux, Glover, Kostalek, etc. Nice, quality group. It doesn't end there, we've got two 1st rounders to add to the cupboard this June, among other picks and selections, and I am confident we'll add some quality prospects when we make those selections. The ability to replenish the roster, have competition from within, and ammunition for trades looks to be strong headed forward here given the abundance of assets we currently have at our display. We can hold on to some, many, or all headed forward depending on how things go. That is a great thing.
I like what we have done to get to where we are in the 4 years since the relocation. I am very happy with the present. I look very much forward to our future. I like the foundation, culture and stability in which TNSE has implemented and established from the top down from David Thomson, Mark Chipman, Craig Heisinger to Kevin Cheveldayoff to the scouting department to Paul Maurice, etc. And to the players who have put in the work and formed the identity we have now and will hopefully have for years and years to come; doing things one way - The Winnipeg Jets way.
