Jets must start winning to justify extensions for GM, coach

The Winnipeg Jets have announced contract extensions for general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and head coach Paul Maurice, keeping the duo in the cockpit for the foreseeable future.

But is it prudent at this stage in the club's trajectory?

Assessing the merits

Cheveldayoff was named GM shortly after the team relocated from Atlanta, inheriting a roster that had not qualified for the playoffs in the previous four seasons. While Jets 2.0 have yet to produce a playoff win, Cheveldayoff can be credited for building a prospect base that seems capable of taking the club to new heights.

As the team was quick to point out in the extension announcement, Winnipeg's prospect group is seen as one of the best around the league.

Of Winnipeg's 44 draft picks made between 2011 and 2016, 38.6 percent of those players have already played in the NHL - second-most in the league. Nine of those picks (20.5 per cent) have played more than 70 games, also second in the NHL. Three of those players (Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, and Nikolaj Ehlers) have averaged at least 0.5 points per game since coming into the league, which leads the NHL.

In short, that's how you go about building a team in today's NHL.

For his part, Maurice - who joined the team in 2014 as Cheveldayoff's second coaching hire - has guided the team to a regular-season record of 136-112-33, with one playoff appearance that resulted in a four-game sweep.

His greatest accomplishment as a head coach was taking Carolina to the Stanley Cup Final in 2002, a five-game loss to a powerhouse Detroit club. Overall, he's earned 596 wins, putting him a tie with Toronto's Mike Babcock for 16th on the all-time list, albeit in 251 more games.

In Winnipeg, Maurice has been at the mercy of the roster given to him. And, all things considered, he's done an OK job with the team he's had to work with.

Question marks

The biggest knock, as has been mentioned, is the utter lack of tangible success achieved during Cheveldayoff's tenure.

Sure, the Jets have posted a winning record in five of his six seasons as GM, but careers are made and broken in the postseason, where Winnipeg is 0-4.

That's total games, not series wins and losses.

Cheveldayoff has been criticized for being too loyal to key pieces he inherited from Atlanta, seemingly reticent to part ways with a core group that had accomplished essentially nothing together.

His trade record, and his apparent reluctance to explore that side of player movement, has been the biggest knock on his performance as GM. He's kept the active roster in a state of neutrality while the prospect base was slowly but surely being reinforced.

Free agents have also proved reluctant to sign, but that could be more a function of location, location, location than a knock against Cheveldayoff.

As for Maurice, he's the GM's choice to take the team to the next level, and management is afforded only so many coaching changes before the accountability falls to the front office. For his career, he's got 595 losses, 120 overtime losses, and 11 ties to go along with his 596 wins, and a losing record in the playoffs (25-32).

Despite his career lengevity, whether he's a coach capable of getting the most out of this group remains to be seen, and any success or failure on his part will be a reflection of Cheveldayoff's faith in him, for better or worse.

Winnipeg's hashtag heading into 2017-18 is #RiseTogether, and that seems to be the plan off the ice with these twin extensions.

The pieces appear to be in place to get things off the ground, but failing wins when they matter most, this pilot project will go down as a poorly laid flight plan.