For the sake of being somewhat unpredictable, I think there may be some small surprises and some obvious guesses.
First Line: Ladd - Antropov - Kane
Nik Antropov's 6'6" frame is the largest body up front for the Jets by one inch over winger Blake Wheeler and thus is a no brainer to be the first line centre come opening night. But can he cash in with the team now that they have changed over to Winnipeg? He had career highs in Atlanta in 2009-10 with 67 points (24 goals, 43 assists), although he was playing some of the season with Ilya Kovalchuk.
For Evander Kane, he only keeps getting better and his stock should rise high enough to be a first line player on this team, beating out Bryan Little. Kane collected 43 points (19 goals, 24 assists) in his sophomore season in 2010-11 and is only going to get better.
Andrew Ladd had a career season with 59 points (29 goals, 30 assists) in 2010-11 that eclipsed his previous career year of 49 points two seasons ago in Chicago. Ladd signed a five-year contract with the Jets as an RFA and is the team's captain going into the future. His success and leadership are the cornerstone of this team going forward.
Second Line: Little - Burmistrov - Wheeler
Alexander Burmistrov had a promising rookie season with a few highlight reel goals last season with 20 points in 74 games. Being put into the NHL so quickly after being the 8th overall pick last season, his learning curve could have been somewhat affected but his talent showed through some games and he can only get better.
On his wings are two of the more talented young wingers in the game. It will remain to be seen if Bryan Little takes a centre role within Claude Noel's offensive system or if he stays on the wing to use his speed down the side. Little is coming off two sub-par seasons with 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 2009-10 and 48 points (18 goals, 30 assists) in 2010-11 after he posted 31 goals and 51 points two seasons ago.
Blake Wheeler resigned a two-year deal this summer as an RFA with the Jets looking to be a big part of the offense after he had his most productive time in the NHL with the Thrashers scoring 17 points in only 23 games at the end of last season. At 6'5", Wheeler will be a big part of the offense.
Third Line: Fehr - Slater - Cormier
With the addition of Eric Fehr, the Jets third line will have some scoring threat, as Fehr scored 21 goals in 2009-10 and scored 10 or more in the last three seasons. Being the hometown Manitoba boy will make Fehr an instant fan favourite.
Jim Slater, a longtime Thrasher, will be the grit down the middle along with a young, gritty Patrice Cormier. Slater has 100 points in 371 career games over six seasons, all in Atlanta.
Cormier played in 21 games last year with the Thrashers collecting 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist).
Fourth Line: Glass - Maxwell - Thorburn/Rypien/Jaffray
The grit of Tanner Glass, Chris Thorburn, and Rick Rypien will definitely help the Jets be a gritty team and a hard team to match up against if these pests are on.
Thorburn, a Thrasher vet, has played his last four seasons in Atlanta scoring 65 points and collecting 362 PIMs in 313 games.
Rypien, a former Manitoba Moose, has had a long history in Winnipeg and should be a fan favourite after his time with the Vancouver Canucks. Rypien collected 226 PIMs and 16 points in 119 career games with the Canucks over the past six seasons.
Glass, who was a part of the Canucks run to the Stanley Cup Final last spring, has 233 PIMs and 23 points in 184 career games with Vancouver and the Florida Panthers.
Jason Jaffray, another ex-Moose, may be given another look at joining the team, as he became a big piece of the Moose franchise, especially in their run to the Calder Cup Finals in 2009. Jaffray has 10 points in 36 career NHL games with Vancouver and the Calgary Flames.
Rounding out the fourth line is centre Ben Maxwell, a piece of the Brent Sopel trade with Montreal. Maxwell, 23, had 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist) in 12 games with the Thrashers after spending the last few years with the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL.
Next In Line: Carl Klingberg at 6'3", 205 lbs. could be another big winger the Jets could be very happy with in the near future.
Kendal McCardle could finally have a chance to break into an NHL full-time as a third or fourth line grinder. But he has many grinders to leap frog to get into the lineup full time.
Aaron Gagnon has the potential to be a third or fourth line centre, but with the depth up the middle, his training camp could spell his fortune for the upcoming season.
Great blog - good work!
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