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The Stanley Cup Finals got started on Raleigh on Tuesday. Former Winnipeg Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers did his part for the Carolina Hurricanes. Ehler staked Carolina to a 2-0 lead in the first period with his fifth and sixth goals of the playoffs. However, the Vegas Golden Knights pushed back and went on to skate to a 5-4 win in Game One.
Most Jets fans seem to root for Carolina in this series. However, there is a former Winnipeg player on the Vegas squad. Although he played just six games with Jets, Dylan Coghlan was a member of the organization during the 2024-2025 NHL season.
Winnipeg icon coming home?
Rumor has it that the Winnipeg front office is recruiting former Jets 1.0 alum Shane Doan to join the front office team. After a 21-year career as an NHL player, Doan joined the now-relocated Arizona Coyotes in 2020 as the Director of Hockey Administration. In 2023, he joined the Toronto Maple Leafs as a special assistant to the General Manager.
Recently, Doan and the Maple Leafs parted ways as John Chayka was brought in as the Leaf’s new General Manager. It has yet to be revealed exactly what Doan’s role with the Jets front office will be. If Doan is indeed hired, for better or worse, his it would be the lasted in a long list of nostalgic hires by the organization.
Free agency reunion for the Jets?
As we inch closer to July 1, Free Agent Frenzy is less than a month away. Although the Jets are never players for the top free agents available, there is one player out there that may have diminished value who may be an intriguing target fo management and the fanbase. That player is none other than former fan favourite, Patrik Laine.
The Jets selected Laine second overall in the 2016 Draft. After four seasons with the Jets, he was traded along with Jack Roslovic to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Pierre-Luc Dubois.
In his four seasons in the Peg, Laine scored 139 goals. In the six years since, just 84. To say that Laine has been a shell of the player that lit up Canada Life Centre for four seasons would be an understatement. A reunion might be mutually beneficial.
Laine is still only 28 years old. In his exit interview with the Habs, Laine mentioned that while he wasn’t activated from injured reserve, he had been fit to play for a long time. It will be worth monitoring if the Montreal Canadians receive any kind of discipline for this action. (I suspect they won’t).
Home › Forums › Jets Hangar: More Nostalgia Hires?
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