The Winnipeg Jets’ blue line is so decimated that a former NHLer is offering to help

The Winnipeg Jets are incredibly thin on defense thanks to trades and injuries. Former NHLer John Scott has offered to help.

Things could be going better for the Winnipeg Jets to start the 2019-20 season.

Before the beginning of the new hockey season, it was nearly assured that the Jets would have growing pains on their blue line. The team traded young defenseman — and burgeoning star — Jacob Trouba to the New York Rangers, while also shipping out depth blue liners in Tyler Myers and Ben Chiarot via trade or free agency. Long-time defenseman Dustin Byfuglien also surprised many by putting his season on hold, as the blue liner of 14 years mulls retirement in a decision not expected any time in the near future.

After being many people’s dark horse Stanley Cup prediction just a few years prior, the Jets’ defense is in shambles, and it’s already impacting the team on the ice. Through three games so far this season, the Jets are 1-2 and sit at fourth place in the Central Division. The team is tied with the Columbus Blue Jackets for allowing the most goals against (14) in the early goings of the season, and relief doesn’t seem to be on the way any time soon.

Their latest blow to their defensive corps is 24-year-old Josh Morrissey, who will be held out of the team’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday night for “precautionary reasons.” Veteran defender Dmitry Kulikov also will be missing the Jets’ latest game, as he was granted a personal leave of absence from the team. As such, the Jets will ice a lineup on Tuesday night that won’t have a single defenseman that was in their top eight last season in terms of minutes played.

For reference, here’s how the Jets’ defense will look against the Penguins for their next game, via Daily Faceoff:

Ville Heinola – Neal Pionk
Anthony Bitetto – Tucker Poolman
Carl Dahlstrom – Sami Niku

That’s quite a who’s who of defensive players out there for the Jets, a stark reminder of what the team lost over the last few months. Trouba, now with the Rangers, was the Jets’ second overall defensive leader in average time on ice last season, while also being a 50-point player in the team’s previous year. Winnipeg’s first overall skating leader in average time on ice last season? Byfuglien, who has been at the core of the Jets’ defensive lineup since the 2010-11 season, and is now contemplating hanging up his skates after 14 overall seasons in the NHL.

Even though Myers and Chiarot were not the team’s big names on defense, they were relied on for at least 18 minutes of ice time each last season, according to Hockey Reference, and were often asked to shoulder tough minutes themselves. Pionk, the defenseman the Jets received in the Trouba trade, has potential, but the 24-year-old is in no way able to step into the role his predecessor once had on the Winnipeg roster.

Things are so bad in Winnipeg that even former NHLer John Scott, of NHL All-Star fame in 2016, is offering his services via Twitter to assist the Jets on the blue line.

Scott played 286 games in the NHL over 10 years, and originally entered the league as a defenseman before switching over to the wing later in his career. The Jets’ current defensive core, by comparison, has 361 NHL games combined between them. Still, it’s hard to see Scott coming out of retirement to be another warm body for the Jets over the coming season, but the sentiment is still touching nonetheless.

Either way, the Jets will have to power through with their defensive struggles for now, or find a willing trade partner as the season rolls along should they want to keep their playoff hopes alive.