{"id":12359,"date":"2021-12-10T04:03:14","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T04:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/?p=12359"},"modified":"2021-12-10T04:03:14","modified_gmt":"2021-12-10T04:03:14","slug":"jets-should-have-brought-niku-to-finland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onhee.com\/?p=12359","title":{"rendered":"Jets Should Have Brought Niku to Finland"},"content":{"rendered":"
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www.thehockeywriters.com\/winnipeg-jets-niku-global-series\/<\/p>\n

The Winnipeg Jets have multiple Finnish players in their organization, including Sami Niku, but many of them are still in North America as the Jets prepare for their overseas games. On and off the ice, this is a mistake.<\/p>\n

The Jets haven\u2019t met expectations so far this season and that has a lot to do with\u00a0the way the defense has played. What was supposed to be a major strength for the Jets has\u00a0at times been an Achilles heel.\u00a0This presents a problem on several fronts, besides the obvious one of keeping pucks out of the Jets\u2019 net. A good puck-moving defense is essential for getting pucks into the hands of talented forwards, and their inability to do this may explain why the Jets\u2019 star forwards are off to slow starts.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no one-step solution to this problem, but there are a few things they can do better. Getting a slick puck-mover like Niku into the lineup would go a long way.<\/p>\n

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Sami Niku has the puck skills the Jets are lacking on their back end. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s odd that any defense\u00a0that includes Dustin Byfuglien, who recently scored his 500th career point, Jacob Trouba, and\u00a0budding superstar Josh Morrissey\u00a0would have trouble moving the puck. Yet the Jets\u2019 bottom-three are struggling.\u00a0With that in mind, calling up Niku is a no-brainer. Couple that with his Finnish heritage, and this was an easy choice for the Jets to get right. Yet they chose to leave Niku with the AHL\u2019s Manitoba Moose.<\/p>\n

Niku Helpful But Not a Savior<\/h2>\n

To ask Niku to solve the Jets\u2019 woes on his own is asking too much. No rookie defenseman is going to come in and \u201cfix\u201d a 7-4-1 team. That doesn\u2019t mean he can\u2019t contribute.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an argument to made for leaving him behind, it\u2019s true. He\u2019ll play top minutes with the Manitoba Moose, as Kyle Connor and Jack Roslovic did before him, and mature that way. He\u2019ll certainly play more than he would with the Jets.\u00a0Yet Niku is\u00a0coming off a stellar season in the AHL. While he hasn\u2019t been bad this year by any means, there\u2019s only so much higher he can fly at that level. At times the game already looks too easy for him in Manitoba.<\/p>\n

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Ladies and gentlemen… Sami Niku.#GoMooseGo pic.twitter.com\/zZPVMnApoc<\/p>\n

— Manitoba Moose (@ManitobaMoose) October 31, 2018<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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How badly could the Jets use a defenseman, or any player for that matter, who can make plays like the one above? We\u2019ve talked about how\u00a0Niku\u2019s style is perfect for a modern defenseman\u00a0and now is the time for the Jets to start making use of it.<\/p>\n

His skill is only part of the equation, however. The Jets are traveling to a foreign country with only one national, Patrik Laine, on the roster. At one point, before they traded Joel Armia, they might\u2019ve had as many as four. Now it\u2019s down to Laine. Bringing Niku along might relieve some of the pressure on the slow-starting Finnish phenom. It might also have given the Jets a bit of an advantage on the ice and in terms of Niku\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

Niku Wanted to Play at Home<\/h2>\n

We see it all the time in regular NHL play: a player who has been scratched in consecutive games gets into the lineup for a game in their hometown. The Jets have done it, bringing Jack Roslovic up in time to play a game in his native Columbus in 2017. Considering that this is common practice in the NHL, a little show of loyalty to a player could have paid dividends down the line and, considering that the Jets need Niku\u2019s skill set right now, what exactly was the advantage of leaving him behind?<\/p>\n

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Ryan Brandt<\/span><\/span>@Ryan_Brandt<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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On the #<\/span>DonvitoRoundtable<\/span> today Manitoba Moose asst. coach Eric Dubois said defenseman Sami Niku was disappointed to not be called up by #<\/span>NHLJets<\/span> for the #<\/span>Globalseries<\/span> games in Finland. The two had an almost 30 min conversation about it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Playing on a different ice surface in a foreign country in front of a foreign crowd in a brand new time zone, it wouldn\u2019t have hurt to get some Finnish experience in the lineup. When one of those Finns seems to be just what the doctor ordered, his recall should\u2019ve been an easy choice.<\/p>\n

Even if Niku didn\u2019t play in Finland (which would also have been a mistake in my mind, but less so), he could have helped take\u00a0some of the media attention away from Laine. It would also have been a nice gesture by the team.\u00a0You could argue, not wrongly, that nice gestures have no place when a team is trying to win games in\u00a0the ultra-competitive Central Division. Since Niku can also help the Jets win, however, this nice gesture would have been practical.<\/p>\n

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Sami Niku would have been more than just another Finnish player on the trip had he been recalled by the Jets. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

To be absolutely clear, none of this is a knock on Tucker Poolman. Poolman has done everything the Jets have asked of him, is three years older than Niku and has been a steadier player. He also has more NHL experience.\u00a0But this overseas series feels like the sort of thing that could become a turning point in the Jets\u2019 season. For Winnipeg, it would\u2019ve made sense to go into it armed to the teeth with the best possible options.<\/p>\n

Click Here: penrith panthers team jersey<\/a><\/p>\n

On and off the ice, one of those options was Niku. One hopes the Jets can gut out two wins against the Panthers. Then Niku\u2019s absense will be a non-issue. If the Jets are swept, however, some of the decisions prior to the trip are going to get a lot more scrutiny.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n