SUNRISE, Fla. — Surely when Paul Maurice glances across to the opponent’s bench or analyzes video, the head coach of the Florida Panthers is at risk of seeing familiar faces and catching flashbacks to Winnipeg.
For five members of the best version of Winnipeg Jets 2.0, which battled all the way to this same conference final stage in 2018, find themselves reunited (kinda sorta) on the eastern half of the Stanley Cup bracket.
In those heady days in The Peg, when the Jets came within seven wins of glory, Maurice coached Blueshirts Jacob Trouba, Blake Wheeler, and Jack Roslovic, plus rugged Panthers D-man Dmitry Kulikov. (Florida’s fourth-line pivot, Kevin Stenlund, is a more recent Jets alumni.)
What a difference six years make.
Wheeler was the established captain then; Maurice’s conduit to the dressing room helped guide hopefuls like Trouba and Roslovic.
Now Trouba wears the “C” on his blue sweater, and depth forward Wheeler, 37, is working his way back from a three-months-plus leg rehab — hopeful to make his 2024 post-season debut this series.
“He calls me ‘Skip’ now, which he never used to call me,” Trouba says with a smile. “Skipper. I guess like a baseball manager.”
Did Maurice recognize a future NHL captain when a young Trouba joined his Jets 10 seasons ago?
“I don’t know that at 18, 19 years old, you can pick that out of anybody. It would be a very rare case where a guy walks in, and they say, ‘You can tell.’ Usually, that coach is full of s—,” Maurice says with a chuckle. “But with Jake, he grew into it.”
Those relocated Atlanta Thrashers weren’t very good in the early 2010s, Maurice reminds. Hence their ability to snag a rugged, two-way, right-shot defenceman at ninth overall in the 2012 draft.
“When he comes into the league, he’s a shooter, he’s an offensive guy, he’s a power-play guy. And in his mind, he was still there,” Maurice recalls. “But he’s a right-handed shot, and I’ve got Dustin Byfuglien — so he’s not getting out there on the power play.”
Despite his absence of power-play time, Trouba scored 10 goals and 29 points as a rookie, decent enough for sixth in Calder Trophy voting.
“He wanted to play more,” Maurice says. “He was good about it. Like, I enjoyed him. He hit hard, competes — a bit old school.”
In those formative years, Trouba partnered with Josh Morrissey. Fast forward, and you’re looking at two leaders for their respective clubs and two of the most established top-four D-men in the sport.
“We end up playing Jake and Josh against the other team’s best by the time he was 22 years old, so he got an unusual proving ground,” Maurice says. “We made the playoffs in those years when he started to get a little stronger.
“I would say that every guy in that locker room in Winnipeg was a big fan of his. He played hard, and they liked him for it, and he left a lot of really good friends there in a positive way.”
Trouba’s stock — and his reputation for initiating locomotive-like collisions — only rose in New York, where he was named captain in his fourth season and claimed Mark Messier’s NHL Leadership Award last week.
“What I think Jake needed to do was find his place,” Maurice says. “And he has grown into a dominant defenceman and a captain.”
As was the case with Trouba, New York’s Roslovic began his career in Winnipeg under Maurice.
Another talented first-round pick who would not be gifted a lineup spot at the expense of an established veteran.
“He came in on the fourth line, and his skill-set is not to play the fourth line,” Maurice says. “He’s very crafty, very quick. He can control the puck around his body and see everybody. That’s why he’s so good with the two guys he plays with [in New York].”
Unable to find his niche in Manitoba, Roslovic got dealt to Columbus — where increased ice time led to two 44-point seasons — before getting scooped up by the Rangers for this playoff run.
With Nikolaj Ehlers, Kyle Connor, Patrik Laine, Blake Wheeler, Bryan Little, and Mark Scheifele all in the fold, Roslovic saw the lowest average ice time of all Jets skaters during that 2018 semifinal run (8:29).
“There’s no room for him to get in that top six. He’s a much better player — there just wasn’t a place for him,” Maurice says. “He was probably frustrated, and he handled it well. I never had an issue with him. He just got drafted almost at the wrong time for Winnipeg. And sometimes, that’s phenomenal for the next team. Our whole [Florida] team is built on those guys.”
Roslovic was hungry for more shifts in those Winnipeg days, but he holds no ill will toward his former coach.
“Very straightforward,” Roslovic recalls of Maurice. “Very direct, which was nice as a player. You always knew where you stood.
“And obviously looking onto this [Panthers] team and their work ethic, he brings that attitude to the players and instills it in them.”
Funny enough: Only one of the five men, Kulikov, completed his final contract in Winnipeg before moving on.
Trouba and Roslovic were traded. Wheeler was bought out, inking a one-year, $800,000 deal last summer to keep his Cup dream alive. And Maurice stunned the hockey world by abruptly resigning in December of the 2021-22 campaign.
Trouba, 29, left Winnipeg four years before Wheeler, yet the two always stayed in touch. Helps that both players’ wives are close friends, too. Naturally, Trouba was jacked when the Blueshirts grabbed Wheeler in free agency.
“I was excited. Really excited,” Trouba says. “I learned a lot from Blake. I had a lot to learn as a 19-, 20-year-old in Winnipeg, and he just looked out for me. I trained with him for a summer. He kinda spent a lot of time that he didn’t need to spend with me, and it’s kind of been fun to be with him on the other side.
“Our roles are little bit switched. I hope he’s enjoying it as much as I am. But it’s been fun to have him in New York and watch him enjoy the city.”
Heck, even Maurice is rooting for Wheeler, in a way. Though, for these ex-Jets, the handshake line will be either bitter or sweet.
“I’m hoping he plays — for him,” Maurice said. “He’s a hardworking man. That injury, to come back from it, to be good, he will have done everything he possibly can to get back.”
When we’re talking conference finals, they all have.
