Winnipeg Jets head coach Rick Bowness, amidst the Jets’ six-game losing streak, has come under some fire from fans and pundits about his player usage and lines. It’s warranted.
Bowness Unwilling To Separate Underperforming First-Liners Connor & Scheifele
There’s a meme going around on TikTok that depicts a person doing the same thing over and over again, but inexplicably enjoying it every time. It’s accompanied by the audio “Hahahaha! Again!” which comes from the movie Trolls: The Beat Goes On.
It appears some think that’s how Bowness treats coming up with line combinations. The 69-year-old, at least in this author’s opinion, is a good coach and good man who has evolved with the game and has the respect of his players. Prior to this slump, when the Jets were battling for first in the Central Division, criticisms of his deployment were minimal.
However, considering general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff has made the Jets’ the most talented they’ve ever been in 2.0 history with the Sean Monahan and Tyler Toffoli additions but the talent on paper is not performing on the ice, the spotlight has turned to Bowness and how he’s using the talent at his disposal.
Like every coach, Bowness has shortcomings, and the the Jets’ current losing streak is laying them bare. Stubbornness seems to be his primary one.
The main piece of criticism levelled at Bowness recently is his unwillingness to separate Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor or break up the first line. The Connor, Scheifele, and Alex Iafallo trio got caved in at even strength over the first five games of the losing streak, but Bowness — and associate coach Scott Arniel, who filled in for the final three games of the five-game eastern road trip when Bowness went back to Winnipeg for a medical procedure — were not willing to start a game with different lines. As fellow THW Jets’ writer Brian Finlayson noted in his remarks after the Jets lost to the Vegas Golden Knights on March 28, the Connor/Scheifele/Iafallo trio didn’t have a single positive game in underlying metrics in the five losses and for the season are among the worst lines the Jets have iced in chances, shots, and goals.
Bowness clearly likes his second line of Nikolaj Ehlers, Monahan, and Toffoli due to the players’ histories and chemistry and seems to consider his third line of Nino Niederreiter, Adam Lowry, and Mason Appleton pretty much untouchable.
However, lines should not be untouchable when a team is struggling so profoundly, especially one like the Jets who seem to make collapsing down the stretch and stumbling into the playoffs an annual tradition. There’s certainly credence to the argument Bowness and company should have, at some point recently, come up with new looks to deploy at a game’s outset.
Arniel showed willingness to throw the lines into a blender when losing by a bunch. He did so, for example, when they were down 6-1 to the New York Islanders after two, but it’s hard to assess line effectiveness in “garbage time” when an opponent isn’t pressing.
Gabriel Vilardi’s return to the lineup against the Ottawa Senators on March 30 after missing a month with an enlarged spleen and an undisclosed injury also forced Bowness to make a change, but he didn’t split up Connor and Scheifele. Instead, he just rreplaced Iafallo with Vilardi.
However, the Connor/Scheifele/Vilardi trio had historically not been that strong, and didn’t even last the night against the Senators. The were on the ice for both second-period goals against, first allowing a four-on-one Boris Katchouk easily converted, then failing to manage the puck in the defensive zone and allowing Ridly Greig to score from in tight.
In the third, Bowness finally split up Connor and Scheifele, reuniting the Ehlers/Scheifele/Vilardi line that absolutely dominated for a stretch in December while Connor was injured. Those three should comprise the top line going forward.
However, some options for new looks if the Connor/Scheifele combination is set in stone include to put Ehlers or Toffoli on the right wing, or put Ehlers on the left wing with Scheifele and Iafallo. Some other options include promoting Niederreiter or Vladislav Namestnikov — both experienced and versatile players who can play both wings — to the top six, bumping Iafallo down.
Some Players Not Being Held As Accountable As Others
As soon as Bowness came onto the scene prior to the 2022-23 season, he promised he’d put an accountability structure in place and, more importantly, promised it would apply to every member of his team regardless of their paycheque. Overall, he walked the walk, stripping Blake Wheeler of the captaincy almost immediately, making everyone sign a pledge committing to a strong culture and values, calling out his players publicly at times throughout the season and after their first-round playoff exist, and healthy scratching a couple players a few times when their play sagged.
Overall, the team has been better for his “suffer-no-fools” attitude. However, it seems some players have been able to elude the accountability structure lately and aren’t being held to the same standards as others.
Cole Perfetti is the prime example. He had an excellent first half of the season, but when he fell into an extended scoring slump, he was demoted to the fourth line, then regularly healthy scratched. The 22-year-old played just five games in March.
Conversely, there’s Neal Pionk, who is locked into the second-defensive-pairing assignment no matter how much he struggles, and lately, he’s struggled a lot at preventing offence and with puck possession. He was a minus-4 against the Islanders and a minus-3 against the Golden Knights.
Then there’s Connor, who seems exempt from Bowness’ demand that every player give their best effort defensively. Connor is perhaps one of the NHL’s most flawed superstars as when he’s not scoring — which he hasn’t in the losing streak — he’s a liability. Plus/minus is not always the most meaningful stat, but when you’re minus-10 over six games, you’re doing something wrong.
Does the back-check in the video on the Edmonton Oilers’ overtime goal — which comes after his poor offensive-zone decision to try and cut to the net — scream “full effort?”
Bowness’ Defensive Deployment, Scratches Confusing
Perfetti, when he struggles, gets scratched, but Connor and Pionk don’t, so one has to ask why. It it just because they make significantly more money (Connor, $7.14 million, Pionk, $5.875 million, Perfetti $900,000) and it looks bad to park high-paid guys in the press box? If so, that’s a case of worrying about optics over what’s best for the team. If so, it’s also inconsistent, as Nate Schmidt has been a healthy scratch and makes $5.95 million.
Cheveldayoff, in addition to Toffoli, acquired Colin Miller at the trade deadline from the New Jersey Devils in hopes he’d be an upgrade over Pionk on the second pairing, or at the very least, Schmidt and/or Logan Stanley on the third pairing.
However, since arriving in Winnipeg, Miller has played just three games and Schmidt and Stanley keep getting put into lineup with the justification being that with eight healthy defensemen on the roster, it’s important to keep everyone fresh. Even more strangely, Dylan Samberg — who advanced stats show is the Jets’ best shutdown defenseman — has also been told to take a seat a couple of times recently.
One could argue at this point, with the Jets trying to cling onto the top-three position in the Central Division they’ve held for almost the entire campaign, should simply be icing their best players every night and are long past the point of doing a rotation. Bowness has praised Stanley recently, but just because he’s fought a few times and been physical doesn’t make him the best option.
Jets Need Bowness To Help Them Be Their Best
The Jets have just eight games left in the regular season and despite their struggles, their magic number for clinching a playoff berth is down to four. Since “flipping the switch” in the postseason isn’t a real thing, the Jets need to get things sorted out soon so they can go into their Stanley Cup quest feeling relatively good about themselves. If they enter the postseason playing how they are now, they’ll be an easy first-round out regardless of their opponent.
Related: Jets’ Losing Streak Will Continue Until Special Teams Improve
Bowness can help his team get things sorted out by deploying lines proven to be successful. It will be interesting to see the combinations for their next game, which is Monday, April 1 against the Los Angeles Kings.
