Will the Jets keep Luke Schenn? Neal Pionk? What’s up with the 5-on-3 power play? Mailbag

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Morgan Barron is thriving at centre. Why did the Winnipeg Jets wait so long to give him the opportunity?

What comes next for Luke Schenn, either during the playoffs or next season? Will Elias Salomonsson be NHL-ready next year? And what’s going on with the disappointing five-on-three power play?

Part two of this month’s mailbag provides answers to those questions, plus Neal Pionk’s next contract, Chaz Lucius’ retirement announcement, Colby Barlow’s post-draft progress and more. Thank you as always for the insightful questions, everyone. You’re what makes this place great.

Note: Submitted questions may be edited for clarity and style.

Why has it taken until recently to try Morgan Barron at centre? — Ross D.

Scott Arniel nailed this in his postgame comments on Monday.

“He’s always said he’s a natural centreman,” Arniel said of Barron. “I think everybody was when they were playing junior or college.”

Arniel was being lighthearted while speaking the truth: A disproportionate number of great, young players play centre. The NHL moves some of them to wing, whether they’re Gabriel Vilardi, Cole Perfetti, Mason Appleton (who played centre and right wing growing up), Rasmus Kupari (at times) or Barron. Sometimes it’s because a coach identifies a skill set deficiency: Despite Vilardi’s and Perfetti’s elite hockey sense, Arniel prefers centres to be faster skaters. Sometimes it’s just a way of keeping a good player in the lineup while deferring to a better faceoff winner or more established veteran.

Barron worked his way up to Adam Lowry’s third line in 2022-23 in his first full season with Winnipeg. Nino Niederreiter took that job for part of the stretch run (with great results) but Barron returned to the job in the playoffs against Vegas. In the small sample in which Barron was bumped to the fourth line, he did so as a wing for Kevin Stenlund, who Rick Bowness preferred for his superior faceoff ability.

It was more of the same last season. Part of Barron’s time was spent as Lowry’s left wing. Part of it was spent in various incarnations of the Jets’ fourth line, where David Gustafsson performed better than Barron did on faceoffs. (Vladislav Namestnikov’s faceoff performance was awful but the veteran was appreciated — and deferred to — for the other aspects of his game.)

Part of making it as an NHL player is earning what has always been yours over and over again. Barron is doing that right now.

Morgan Barron turns on the jets! ✈️

🇺🇸: @NHLNetwork
🇨🇦: @SportsOnPrimeCA ➡️ https://t.co/93veFI9jrZ pic.twitter.com/DblCyAl0lQ

— NHL (@NHL) April 8, 2025

I don’t particularly fault the Jets for taking this long to move Barron into the middle. I can see the logic in their previous approach and their excitement early this season when it seemed as though Kupari had turned a corner in terms of his reads. Now it’s on the Jets to recognize what they have.

When Kupari returns from concussion protocol, it may make more sense to play the fleet-footed Finn at right wing.

Luke Schenn has another year after this one on his contract. Would you assume the Jets will want to keep him and his $2.75 M on the roster for next year? — Ross D.

Yes, I fully expect the Jets to keep Schenn next season. They’re thrilled with what he brings in front of the net, in the corners and in the dressing room.

On Tuesday, I caught Barron talking about the Jets’ performance against the St. Louis Blues as though Winnipeg had felt extra-connected during the game. When I asked Barron for his thoughts, he agreed and then singled Schenn out for his role.

“Schenner has been a very vocal guy since he got here,” Barron said. “You often hear him (say), ‘Great job forwards, great job backchecking, let’s just gap up.’ That’s reassuring for us and reassuring for them. It turns into a snowball rolling down the hill and kind of gains some momentum and keeps helping each other out.”

Oliver Moore and Gabe Perreault are debuting in the NHL this week, both of whom were still on the board when the Jets selected Colby Barlow. Did the Jets whiff on their first round pick in 2023? — Aavcocup A.

I’m going to go with a short, unresearched “no” in response to your question. I understand concerns about Barlow’s development — in fact, I’ve written about some — but Barlow was viewed as a top prospect when Winnipeg drafted him with the No. 18 pick in 2023. Bob McKenzie’s final draft list does a great job aggregating scouts’ opinions and often tracks well with when players get chosen; McKenzie had Barlow 12th in his final 2023 rankings. (He had Perreault 10th and Moore 13th.)

Here at The Athletic, Barlow was ranked 17th in Scott Wheeler’s final predraft list and 20th by Corey Pronman.

An analysis of his progression since draft day would require more words than this; I’m just not ready to say the Jets whiffed by taking Barlow in a range that seemed quite appropriate for him at the time. Hopefully, for Barlow’s sake, he can build on the six-goal, five-assist tear he went on for Oshawa in Round 1 of the OHL playoffs. The Generals are through to Round 2 against top-seeded Brantford.

Murat, what’s the deal with the terrible 5-on-3 power play recently? They’ve looked … well, really bad. — Grant B.

Let’s start with some numbers. The Jets have scored four five-on-three goals this season in 12 opportunities — a 33.3 percent efficiency. This ties them with a bunch of teams for sixth-most in the NHL. On the surface, that sounds just fine. The league average for five-on-three power plays this season is 35.7 percent, compared to 31.6 percent for four-on-three power plays and 20.5 percent for five-on-four.

If you’d like to pick that apart a bit, the Jets are 22nd in terms of goals per minute spent with a five-on-three power play. They take the 22nd-most shot attempts and get the 18th-most shots on goal per minute of five-on-three time, so it’s not as though they’re shooting or scoring more than average for the situation. (Winnipeg is first in goals per minute and 10th in shots per minute at five-on-four.)

You also mentioned recently. And recently, the Jets’ five-on-three power play has looked … less than ideal. What’s going on?

The short answer is they’re not moving the puck or their feet quite as fast as they did here:

The slightly less short answer is the only awful five-on-three I could find when watching video was the one against Edmonton on the road last month. Even in other games where the Jets haven’t scored, I’ve thought their puck movement was strong, their off-puck movement was strong, and their shot selection made sense.

That was not the case against the Oilers.

Watch how the Jets without the puck move in this clip compared to the one that came before it. In some cases, they’re moving slowly and in others, they’re not moving at all. Even the puck carrier is slower.

I realize that “move faster, move more, shoot more” is basic stuff in power-play analysis but my opinion is that the Jets’ five-on-three power play has mostly been fine this season before slowing right down in a couple of recent games. I’d have to slow myself down and approach it from a different angle to deliver a more nuanced response.

Do the Jets even try to sign Neal Pionk? — Winnipegjets1972

Yes, they do. They value Pionk’s offensive ability, his success alongside Dylan Samberg, his contribution to team culture and his love of Winnipeg. The Pionk family feels at home here and I expect the Jets to make a good pitch to keep him.

I understand some concerns about Pionk’s defensive impact in recent seasons. His numbers have been way better with Samberg than without him (which actually makes a lot of sense, considering the drop-off from Samberg to Haydn Fleury). I think the Jets will bet on their all-Hermantown pair continuing to deliver top-four results for them, however you divide up the credit.

The Jets have the top Swiss and Danish goal scorers on their roster. Has any other team had two players who also led their respective nations in goals scored? Or are we alone in this obscure stat? — J M.

I liked this question so much that I sent it to Down Goes Brown. I am including your question to celebrate its uniqueness and to try to persuade DGB to pursue it through a hilarious series of twists and turns in his inimitable style.

My interpretation of your question is that you’re talking about Nikolaj Ehlers and Niederreiter, who each lead their nations in career goals scored. A single season wouldn’t do, would it? Mario Lemieux (Canada) and Jaromir Jagr (Czechia) led the NHL with 69 and 62 goals each back in 1995-96, for example, but Wayne Gretzky was (and still is) the all-time Canadian goals leader. If we’re using Canada as one of our examples, maybe the trick is to start with March 23, 1994, and follow Gretzky from Los Angeles to St. Louis and then New York in search for other country’s goal-scoring leaders.

As it turns out, that’s a successful trick: Gretzky’s 1993-94 teammate, Jari Kurri, was Finland’s all-time goals leader until Teemu Selanne passed him on April 2, 2010. I can find one other example of a team employing two different countries’ all-time goals leaders. Can anyone find another?

Will Elias Salomonsson be ready for the third pair job at right defence? — Winnipegjets1972

Yes.

Phew. Easy. Wait, you want to know if he ends up getting the job?

That’s trickier. While I don’t know and can’t guarantee that Pionk re-signs in Winnipeg, I am expecting the Jets’ top four to include Josh Morrissey, Samberg, Pionk and Dylan DeMelo. I don’t think Winnipeg can reasonably count on Schenn to step into that role if Pionk signs elsewhere, especially given the drop-off in DeMelo’s performance this season. This leaves Schenn first in line for the third-pairing right-defence job, with competition from Colin Miller.

Salomonsson will turn 21 years old before the season starts, with two years remaining on his entry-level contract. It would take a spectacular camp for Winnipeg to burn assets in the name of keeping him with the NHL club. I view Salomonsson’s long-term outlook similarly to Samberg’s — or beyond, in a best-case scenario, given Salomonsson’s youth — and wholeheartedly believe he is capable of that spectacular camp performance.

The glut of right-shot defenders creates a challenge for him, as does the ease with which Winnipeg could simply assign him to the Moose without fear of waivers. If the Jets are willing to play somebody on their off side — and it works — I wouldn’t be terribly worried about them moving lefties Logan Stanley or Ville Heinola to make room.

Is Chaz Lucius done? — Alan M.

Chaz Lucius’ playing career has come to an end. The Jets’ 2021 first-round pick has had injury issues throughout his career — with three straight seasons prior to this one derailed by injury — and now he knows why.

“Recently, I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS) which is a hereditary disorder that affects the connective tissue that stabilizes and supports the joints and organs throughout the body,” Lucius said via a statement on social media from his agency, Newport Sports. “As I struggled with incurring and recovering from various joint injuries over the past several years, I thought I was just unlucky. With this diagnosis of EDS, I now realize my body could not handle the physical nature of playing hockey.”

At his healthiest and best, Lucius showed tremendous instincts in the offensive zone, using great vision and timing to find soft ice and create scoring chances. While he was often sidelined by injury, he did manage 27 points in 54 AHL games as a young player. He excelled when competing against his peers, scoring a hat trick in the 2023 World Juniors bronze medal game.

I don’t know much about EDS but one constant in the literature I can find is that it’s difficult to diagnose. Thinking back to all of the injuries Lucius has experienced, even before the Jets drafted him in 2021, I hope he finds solace in understanding more about why he’s experienced so many joint injuries. I also remember reading this feature story by Scott Wheeler, in which Lucius walks us through all the books he’s just read and one of Lucius’ coaches compares his mindset to that of Tom Brady. He strikes me as an intelligent, motivated person who will find a way to excel in his post-playing career.

Lucius ends his statement by saying he looks forward to becoming an advocate for people afflicted with EDS. What a tremendous purpose that would be for a driven young man who kept a positive attitude throughout his injury troubles.

(Photo of Luke Schenn: James Carey Lauder / Imagn Images)

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