The Daily Faceoff Show: Jets COVID Situation, Tarasenko’s Hot Streak Headline The Show

Another day, another episode of The Daily Faceoff Show!

Tyler Yaremchuk and Mike McKenna previewed what looks to be a very interesting night of hockey on Thursday with five of the NHL’s remaining undefeated teams in action. The two of them also talked about the Jets’ COVID-19 situation, the comeback of Vlad Tarasenko, and McKenna dove into some goaltending storylines from around the league.

The Jets’ unpredictable COVID-19 situation

We’ve got a weird situation in Winnipeg.

Jets captain Blake Wheeler was placed on COVID-19 protocol on Tuesday and, shortly after that, multiple other players on the roster also tested positive. Since then, some of those initially positive test results might actually be confirmed negatives now.

This morning, it was reported that Mark Scheifele was in COVID-19 protocol, but, again, since then, he’s produced a negative test and, if he produces another one, he could be in the lineup for the team’s home opener against the Ducks on Thursday night.

That’s a lot of unpredictability, but Mike McKenna thinks it might actually be advantageous to the struggling Jets…

“I’m kind of thinking about this in a positive way for Winnipeg. Listen, they’re 0-2-1 to start, they need a win pretty badly here. Wheeler we know is out, Scheifele, who knows, maybe more players are out. But doesn’t this kind of take a little pressure off?

Even though they don’t know who’s going to be in the lineup or what it might look like, this might be one of those moments where they all go ‘ah, let’s go play, whatever happens.’ And I think the weight of the situation and the pressure of the situation of being without a win so far, it might actually take that off of their shoulders right now.

It is daunting. If they’re missing Wheeler and Sceifele, that’s a tough go for the Jets, but they do have the depth to continue to still win games.”

Vlad Tarasenko has found his game

Sticking with the Central Division, the St. Louis Blues are off to a great start this season with a 3-0-0 record.

One of the bright spots in St. Louis has been the play of Vladimir Tarasenko, a player who many figured had played his last game as a Blue just a few months ago.

Tarasenko played in just 34 games between 2019-20 and 2021 due to injury and he reportedly requested a trade out of St. Louis because he wasn’t happy with how the team had handled him. The Blues couldn’t find someone to take his big contract, so he’s back and trying to rebuild his value.

McKenna talked about Tarasenko’s future and said that he figures the Russian sniper will stick around in St. Louis…

“The root of Tarasenko’s unhappiness in St. Louis was that he didn’t think his injury was managed properly. For whatever reason, the team went back and forth with him about it and he wanted to be traded. He requested to be traded this offseason.

Does he stay a Blue? That’s the biggest question for me throughout the year. I think at this stage, this early, I think he does.

He was excellent last night. His speed was back, he was carrying the puck with confidence, he looked good on the power-play, his shot was quick off the blade, he had the game-winner. I think the key factor here is that if St. Louis keeps rolling and keeps winning, that cures all. Tarasenko finds his happy place once again and maybe he lets everything else go out the window.

If St. Louis falls off and they aren’t in contention come playoff time and Tarasenko is playing the way he is, he’ll be a valuable commodity on the market, even at his cap hit.”

Everything else…

Yaremchuk and McKenna talked about which of the remaining undefeated teams (Florida, Buffalo, Carolina, New Jersey, St. Louis, Edmonton, San Jose, and Minnesota) would last the longest without a loss. Five of these teams are in action on Thursday night.

After that, the two of them debated which big Finn from the 2016 draft has wound up being the better player five years later. Is it Patrik Laine, who’s now with the Blue Jackets? Or is it Jesse Puljujarvi, who returned to the Oilers on fire after spending a year in Finland?

McKenna then talked on Inside The Paint about some interesting goaltending storylines from around the league. Braden Holtby is thriving in Dallas after struggling in Vancouver and the battle for playing time between Sergei Bobrovsky and Spencer Knight in Florida.

Check out the full episode here…