Early Trading: Dreger on what's fuelling Jets' historic run

TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger joins Gino Reda to discuss the condensed scheduling issue when the NHL accommodates for international tournaments, how the Jets are maximizing their morning skate to be more efficient with ice time, what is motivating Winnipeg as the team continues to power through an historic start to the season and more.

Gino Reda: The players, fans and owners all agree international hockey is great for the game. The problem is it comes at a cost. To speak to that, here's our Insider Darren Dreger. Dregs, from February 10 to 21st the NHL won’t have a single game. That's 12 days off to make room for the 4 Nations Face-off, and the number just grows next year during the Olympic year. The games are going to be great. But does it bring up a significant issue, Dregs?

Dreger: It does, and that's the number of games played in a per week basis. Now the National Hockey League currently looks at it and tries to come up with a fair balance and right now, in this 24-25 NHL regular season, roughly in seven-day increments. Each team will play 3.25 games per week. Now that changes depending on the month and depending on the week. Of course, we can appreciate that, but you're right Gino. When you add the Olympic break next year and an All-Star break next year, you're taking out 14 available days. Fourteen available days. So that makes it very difficult for the schedule makers to adhere to that 3.25 per seven days segment. So undoubtedly, the number of games that each team is going to have to play on a weekly basis is going to increase, and it could jump to 3.35 per week. There could be weeks next season Gino where teams are playing five games in a seven-day stretch. How many? There's only two total this year across the entire National Hockey League. So now you jump over to where's the concern? Well, the concern is with each individual club. General managers and coaches are concerned with recovery time. When you're playing that number of games and you throw in travel, you don't have enough time to practise, let alone to recover. So that's why teams are not balking at the schedule. It is what it is. It's the growth of the sport, but it does potentially come at a cost as early as next year.

Reda: And as you mentioned, because the condensed schedule, we've heard a lot of coaches complain about the lack of practice time. But the Jets have figured out a way to work around this Dregs?

Dreger: Well, they have and I think that this would speak to a lot of clubs around the National Hockey League. We had Scott Arniel, the head coach of the Winnipeg Jets on the Ray & Dregs hockey podcast this week, and he talked about how they're utilizing their morning skate. Normally, as we know, a morning skate, in most cases, is optional but players will use it simply to warm up and get their legs moving and get ready for the game that is ahead. But in this case, the coaching staff of the Winnipeg Jets Gino have incorporated drills. They've started incorporating two or three drills to focus on some of the matchup challenges that they might face going into the night ahead against the team that they know that they're going to have to play differently again. So not a lot of practice time, but when you have ice time, then the coaches are getting creative in how they use that.

Reda: Listen, they’re on an historic run, the Jets now at 16-1. Now they're facing Tampa tonight, and as this all unfolds, everybody's trying to figure out why, why are the Jets so amazing this year? Connor Hellebuyck, Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, I get it, all that. But there's also something else, a little extra motivation behind the scenes.

Dreger: Yeah, it's the fuel of embarrassment to be frank, and Arniel also mentioned that on the podcast Gino. Looking back to their first-round exit at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche in five games, he acknowledged that the Winnipeg Jets almost cruised too easily through last season's regular season, then they get into the playoffs. And they hit a team that is acting like a buzz-saw. They weren't ready for it, and they lose out in five games. Well, they remember that. So as much as they want to celebrate with fans, the historic run that they're currently on to start this season, they know that it's all about the playoffs. No different than the Toronto Maple Leafs, no different than any team in the NHL that struggles when the playoffs roll around. That is what is energizing the Winnipeg Jets. And you're right to mention leadership core, from the goaltending, up front to Scheifele and Hellebuyck and the defence that they have, but those guys say, ‘look, we can't get too comfortable, we've got to keep our foot on the pedal,’ and that's going to be their challenge and also their focus as they prepare for adversity that’s sure to come here in this regular season.

Reda: Dregs, as hockey fans and people who cover the game, we're always saying, ‘man, I wish we could see more trades in the NHL.’ We just had one. It’s a minor deal albeit but could it be a taste of things to come? Could we see more deals soon?

Dreger: I think we could, based on the amount of chatter that's happening now by NHL general managers. And that's not unusual. I mean, the U.S. Thanksgiving is right around the corner. You're coming out of the Hall of Fame weekend, the general managers were face to face on Tuesday, and then a bunch of them actually went to a restaurant after the GM meetings in Toronto to watch their games, watch games around the NHL. And that face to face stuff often gets things percolating. So that's what I'm told, is that there's more talk by NHL general managers as we speak.

But here's a team I'm keeping an eye on Gino, and that's the Buffalo Sabres. You know, the Sabres are good, then they're not so good. And it's that inconsistency that's powering Kevyn Adams, the general manager there, to engage in more conversation than the average GM. Now I wouldn't say anything is imminent there, and he doesn't really want to tackle the core of their top young NHL players, but they've got a good pool of prospects. I mean, Bo Byram’s name as an example, has been out there. There's an experienced D-man. I can't see him getting traded by the Buffalo Sabres, and that's unless the return is can't miss. But I would say that Adams is among the more interested in listening to what's available on that trade front.

Reda: Good tease out there Dregs. We'll let you get back to the phones. Darren, CJ and Pierre are going to be back with the full version of Insider Trading coming up later on SportsCentre.