Burnside Western Conference Hot Seats
By Scott Burnside
Western Conference Hot Seat
Mark Scheifele, Center, Winnipeg Jets
Our belief is Winnipeg has a chance to push Colorado for residency atop the Central Division. And the easy hot seat focus on this team is obviously Pierre-Luc Dubois, who must live up to his billing after forcing a trade out of Columbus early last season and then basically never achieving liftoff in Winnipeg. Dubois, the third overall pick in 2016, is going to get there. But the player around whom the rest of the Jets organization orbits is top center Mark Scheifele who was last seen boo-hooing about being suspended after a reckless hit on Montreal’s Jake Evans early in the second round of the playoffs. Scheifele’s lack of control cost the Jets any chance in their series against Montreal and it would have been nice for him to take some responsibility for his conduct. But what we saw was more petulance than maturity which was disappointing. We saw a similar situation a couple of springs ago when Nikita Kucherov blew his stack and was suspended during what would be a four-game sweep at the hands of the wild card Columbus Blue Jackets. Kucherov emerged from that incident a better player and leader and of course the Bolts are back-to-back Cup champs. Perhaps Scheifele will follow a similar path and this will prove to have been a critical teachable moment for him. If so the Jets have to be considered a legitimate threat in the Western Conference and it will go a long way to opening a spot on the Canadian Olympic roster for Scheifele.
Craig Berube, Head Coach, St. Louis Blues
Honestly, we were a bit surprised there wasn’t more discussion about Craig Berube’s job security following the Blues’ first-round sweep at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche last summer. No one expected the injury-plagued Blues to knock off the talented Avs, but for the second season in a row following the team’s dramatic 2019 Stanley Cup win the Blues have limped out of sight when it mattered most. One longtime NHL coach and executive told us he thought Berube would need to get the Blues out of the gate in strong fashion this fall to keep GM Doug Armstrong from considering other coaching options and that Berube was going to have to “coach his ass off.” Armstrong, owner of a new contract extension, did his part by adding solid forward Pavel Buchnevich from the Rangers and two-time Cup winner Brandon Saad. We’re also positive Torey Krug will be much more comfortable in his second year as a Blue. The big question for Berube will be in recreating the kind of relentless style of play that saw them surge from the bottom of the standings to their first-ever Cup win in ‘19. And he’ll need to get disgruntled winger Vladimir Tarasenko, coming off a third shoulder surgery and offseason trade talk, to recommit to that team concept. In short, Berube has a lot on his plate and not a lot of time to clean it up.
Ken Holland, GM, Edmonton Oilers
It might have been easier to pencil in Duncan Keith’s name here as he will be a focal point of attention in Edmonton where the Oilers continue to squander the prime years of the last two Hart Trophy winners, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl. But Holland, the Hall of Fame builder who took over for Peter Chiarelli in May of 2019, bears an even greater weight of expectation for this underachieving franchise than the 38-year-old Keith, even if Keith does symbolize a summer of unexpected upheaval in Edmonton. The Oilers landed highly sought-after top six forward Zach Hyman. In fact, one NHL executive suggested Hyman could be to Connor McDavid what Chris Kunitz was to Sidney Crosby. But the blue line remains in a state of flux in large part because Holland sent prospect Caleb Jones and a conditional 2022 draft pick to Chicago for Keith. Because Holland somehow failed to get Chicago GM Stan Bowman to eat any of Keith’s salary the Oilers are now on the hook for Keith’s $5.538 million cap hit for this season and next. The blue line situation became even more complicated when top four defender Adam Larsson signed in Seattle and it was confirmed Oscar Klefbom will likely be lost for the coming season. Further eroding the blue line depth was a trade that saw Ethan Bear dealt to Carolina. Are the Oilers a better team than the one shockingly swept by Winnipeg? Discuss amongst yourselves, although one veteran western scout said he believes the Oilers are poised for great things. One thing for sure, another spring without a meaningful playoff run won’t be good for anyone’s job security in the City of Champions.
Seth Jones, Defense, Chicago Blackhawks
Hard to know where to start with the Blackhawks who continue to fend off questions of their handling of a member of their staff who was later convicted of sexual assault. A day of reckoning is surely coming on that front, as it should. On the ice, though, the Blackhawks have morphed from rebuild to, well, not entirely sure, seemingly overnight. At the center of this about-face is one of our favorite players, Seth Jones. We get that the analytics last season and maybe the last couple of seasons have not put Jones in a favorable light vis a vis other elite defensemen. Fair enough. Last season sucked for pretty much everyone in Columbus. But Jones, who will turn 27 next week, has proven at critical points to be someone who raises his game as he did against Tampa Bay and Toronto in recent playoff outings. He can log big minutes, he can chip in offense, he is a strong presence in the locker room and a person on whom you could easily sow a captain’s ‘C’ if you didn’t already have a Hall of Fame captain like Jonathan Toews. Yes, the eight-year extension Jones signed after accepting a trade to Chicago with its ginormous $9.5 million cap hit beginning next season is, well, ginormous. But if there’s a player we feel who is immune or at least mostly immune to the kind of pressure that comes with that kind of deal it’s Seth Jones. As a result we’re expecting the Blackhawks to be right in the thick of the Central Division playoff race and that Jones will be a key member of the U.S. Olympic effort in Beijing.