by Chris Billowsin Jets Flight Control0 commentstags: Jets Trades
Player Trading is a useful way for NHL Teams to supplement and refresh their roster. It becomes possible to get rid of players that need a change and giving a fresh start to the players you get or build for the future. The Winnipeg Jets are known to be a team that makes very few trades. Since they arrived in Winnipeg, GM Cheveldayoff has made only 19 trades over five years. But how has the Winnipeg Jets fared with these trades? Are they winning or losing? This article attempts to answer that question. I have created a table that tracks each trade conducted by the Jets that compares traded players according to a very simple, transparent statistic called ProGames (ProGms). ProGames counts the number of NHL and AHL games that a traded player accumulates for their new team. NHL games played count as 1.0 ProGms while AHL games played count as 0.5 ProGms, and these are accumulated across both Regular Season and Playoff Games. So a traded player who plays 20 NHL and 10 AHL games for his new team will accumulate 25 ProGms for his team. So why just games played instead of points or other stats? Because not […]
by Chris Billowsin Jets Flight Control0 commentstags: Jets Draft, Jets Improvement, Minor League Stats
The 2017 NHL Entry Draft has come and gone and the Winnipeg Jets adding to their cupboard of future hockey players. This is the seventh draft for the franchise since moving to Winnipeg. When it moved from Atlanta in 2011, the Winnipeg Jets inherited an empty cupboard of players and prospects. We just need to see the Winnipeg Jets records of marginal competitiveness for proof. The Winnipeg Jets essentially had to start restocking their prospects cupboard. Drafting and developing is the single best way for a sports franchise to build success yet you will see in the year-by-year breakdown below that the Thrashers did a very poor job of drafting good players and then did a poor job of developing them. How did I track this? By tracking each Thrasher draft prospect according to a very simple, transparent statistic called ProGames (ProGms). ProGames counts the number of NHL and AHL games that a drafted player accumulates for their new team. NHL games played count as 1.0 ProGms while AHL games played count as 0.5 ProGms, and these are accumulated across both Regular Season and Playoff Games. So a drafted player who plays 20 NHL and 10 AHL games for his […]
by Chris Billowsin Jets Flight Control0 commentstags: Jets Draft, Jets Improvement, Minor League Stats
Following the recently held 2017 NHL Entry Draft, I am updating my evaluation on the cumulative draft and develop progress of the Winnipeg Jets. Drafting is the single best way for a sports franchise to build success so its not surprising that Winnipeg Jets Management has made draft and develop its central strategy. This post (and the one that preceded it) will break down how the Jets have done with their 2011 to 2016 draft picks up to the end of 2016-17 season (which is why this evaluation goes from 2011 to 2016 even thought the 2017 draft class is listed). I have created a table that tracks each draft prospect taken by the Jets according to a very simple, transparent statistic called ProGames (ProGms). ProGames counts the number of NHL and AHL games that a drafted player accumulates for their new team. NHL games played count as 1.0 ProGms while AHL games played count as 0.5 ProGms, and these are accumulated across both Regular Season and Playoff Games. So a drafted player who plays 20 NHL and 10 AHL games for his new team will accumulate 25 ProGms for his team. While the goal of the draft is to […]
by Chris Billowsin Jets Flight Control0 commentstags: GM Tasks, Jets Free Agents, Jets Re-Signed, Jets Trades, Jets Waivers
The 2015-16 season was the fifth season of the Winnipeg Jets since the Atlanta Thrashers were purchased and moved to Winnipeg. On July 1, 2015 Cheveldayoff started his fifth year of building the franchise when the Free Agent season opened. Cheveldayoff had a successful career as a hockey executive. As an Assistant GM He won a Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in 2009-10. As a GM he also won two Calder Cups in the AHL in 2001-02 and 2007-08 and two Turner Cups in the IHL in 1997-98 and 1999-2000. So far the team he has built for Winnipeg remains consistently mediocre. There are four kinds of transactions that any General Manager can perform. They can 1) trade players, 2) re-sign existing players, 3) hire new players as free agents, and 4) claim unwanted players off waivers. The transaction season follows a July 1 to June 30 calendar. What follows is the transactions that Cheveldayoff performed in 2015-16. You will see that the ordinal value of each category is a continuation of what occurred from the previous season in 2014-15. [advanced_iframe securitykey=”f1c7736ca92d4b6153f3d7f60bd5d4d6ae63d8ee” src=”https://billo.ws/files/Jets-Transactions-2015-16.htm” width=”100%” height=”750″]
by Chris Billowsin Jets Flight Control0 commentstags: Atlanta Thrashers Relocation, Jets Draft, Jets Improvement
We are hours away from the Winnipeg Jets sixth season and its a time of new beginnings. It is also a time to recount what’s been accomplished since the Winnipeg Jets have establishing their own non-Atlanta Thrashers identity in the past five years. One word can summarize these years: Mediocrity. A mediocrity that was inherited from the Atlanta Thrashers, who were a poorly run team that struggled to be competitive. The Jets too have not been competitive but we can fairly blame the Thrashers for this. Below is an explanation how the Winnipeg Jets are still paying a debt of mediocrity because the Thrashers were inept in drafting. To start here is a season-by-season summary of the Atlanta Thrashers last five seasons before moving: Season Conference Division Regular season Postseason Finish GP W L OTL Pts GF GA GP W L GF GA Result 2006–07 Eastern Southeast 1st 82 43 28 11 97 246 245 4 0 4 6 17 Lost in Conference Quarterfinals vs. New York Rangers, 0–4 2007–08 Eastern Southeast 4th 82 34 40 8 76 216 272 — — — — — Did not qualify 2008–09 Eastern Southeast 4th 82 35 41 6 76 257 280 — […]
by Chris Billowsin Jets Flight Control0 commentstags: Jets Farm Team, Jets Improvement
NHL training camps have opened and not all of the players will get an NHL job. Not all of the players will get an AHL job either. This leaves the 3rd tier of professional hockey known as the ECHL. In my previous article on Parent and Farm Team collective performance I noted that the Jets do not play very many players at the ECHL level. Typically NHL teams use the ECHL as a place for depth goalies and defencemen to get ice time if they can’t crack the AHL lineup. The Winnipeg Jets and their AHL Farm Teams (the Ice Caps and the Moose) have used their ECHL level affiliation in that capacity up until recently. In the chart below you see the names and total numbers of players signed to a NHL or AHL contract that were sent to the ECHL affiliate. The Jets barely utilized their Colorado and Ontario affiliates in the first four years. [advanced_iframe securitykey=”f1c7736ca92d4b6153f3d7f60bd5d4d6ae63d8ee” src=”https://billo.ws/files/Winnipeg-Jets-ECHL-Usage-2011-16.htm” width=”100%” height=”1100″] This changes in the 2015-16 with the Tulsa Oilers affiliation. In 2015-16 the Jets sent down 7 different players including 4 forwards, where previously they sent down four players (mostly Goalies and Defencemen) at most. Anecdotal reporting indicates […]
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