Jets’ Namestnikov proving versatility in lineup as Bowness tries to spark offence

EL SEGUNDO, California — At a time when most teams heading toward the Stanley Cup playoffs are ramping up and refining their respective games, Rick Bowness has once again been forced to turn to the blender in hopes of igniting a stagnant offence.

With only nine goals scored during the past five games — while getting blanked twice — the Jets are flip flopping Vladislav Namestnikov for Nikolaj Ehlers as they look to give the top-six a spark and the checking line more of a natural finisher.

While the first inclination for many is to assume that Ehlers is being demoted, let’s take a deep breath before jumping to that conclusion.

The line centred by Adam Lowry has been the most consistent of the four during this recent stretch of games and they play a massive role at five-on-five by often going head-to-head against the opposition’s most offensive players.

The point being, skating with Lowry doesn’t mean Ehlers is necessarily in for a reduction in ice time.

“With (Ehlers), we want him to utilize his speed and maximize his skill set — that’s carrying the puck through the neutral zone, that’s finding the seams in the offensive zone,” said Lowry. “He stretches out defences and our job is to forecheck and get him back the puck and create the space for him to use his speed. That’s what we’re going to look to do.

“We want him to hold onto pucks and create plays. We know how skilled he is, the playmaker and the play driver that he is. Me and (Mason Appleton) are very simple players, so it’s adapting to the different skillsets. (Ehlers) is so fast that he pushes defences back, he gives you the opportunity to enter into the zone with the puck under control because they’re so concerned about his speed. In the grand scheme of things, you just want to make sure that you’re all on the same page. We’ve been playing really well with Vladdy and hopefully he goes up there and finds that instant chemistry and that (Ehlers) comes in with us and it’s a seamless transition as well.”

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Ehlers isn’t being asked to morph into a defensive specialist, nor is he being added to this line to stifle his creativity and become more of a straight-line player.

“I want him skating with the puck. I don’t want him changing whatsoever,” said Jets head coach Rick Bowness. “You’re after him every day, get the puck and skate, get the puck and skate. He didn’t skate with it last game, he didn’t. And we need him to get the puck and skate. We’ll see how it goes, but they’ll give him some size and it should clear out some space for him to give him a little more room with the puck.

“Listen, from day one we’ve wanted (Ehlers) getting the puck and skating with it. That’s when he’s at his best. He just got it a couple times the other night, he wasn’t moving and he gave the puck away. So we’ll try something else.”

The other part of this equation relates directly to Mark Scheifele, who has been held without a goal in eight consecutive games and chipped in just two assists during that span while being on the ice for far too many goals against.

Scheifele leads the Jets in goals this season with 38, but he hasn’t been nearly as dangerous of late and he’s been held without a single shot attempt in three of the past eight games.

Asked directly about what he needs to see more of from Scheifele, Bowness went into great detail around one goal in mind.

“He’s got 38 goals. Shoot the puck,” said Bowness. “We can’t go into every game, (saying) ‘We need you to shoot the puck, OK.’ But when your chance is there, you’ve got to shoot the puck. You can’t be looking for — and this is where this team gets itself in trouble. When we’re looking to make that extra play that’s there, instead of putting it on the net. That’s why the shot totals are down and the goals for are down. And that’s exactly what’s wrong. We look for the extra play. And we’re trying to pound that out of their heads. Shots create scrambles. Bad passes are deflected and now you’re defending. So do you want to create an offensive scramble? Or do you want to chase the game going that way?

“There’s got to be a lot more commitment from all of them to shoot, but especially Mark. He’s got a great shot, he’s got a great release. If it’s there, don’t look for the next play. The next play should be a shot on net.”

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Namestnikov has quickly grown into the Jets latest version of the human jumper cables, a job that most recently belonged to Mathieu Perreault.

Need someone to slide into a second-line centre job when Pierre-Luc Dubois is out with injury?

Tap Namestnikov for the job.

Need someone to move beside Lowry on the checking line?

Namestnikov is ready and raring to go.

Need someone to try and help get Scheifele going again?

Call Namestnikov, someone who once skated alongside Nikita Kucherov with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

“It’s his hockey IQ. He hangs on to plays and knows where people are,” said Bowness. “He can find people. And doesn’t throw the puck away. That’s the biggest thing. He hangs on to it. When you’re playing with those two guys and you want to be a puck possession team, the third guy on the line can’t be getting it throwing it away. Vladdy will get it, and he’ll hang on to it and buy time for them to support him.”

Namestnikov had most of his offensive success with Ehlers and Wheeler and this will be his first time playing alongside Scheifele.

“For me, nothing changes. I still have to be a responsible two-way player,” said Namestnikov. “My mindset doesn’t change. I just have to get those guys the puck and win all my battles in the corner. Just play my game. I think it’s always work ethic first, then work the skill in. I’ve played with many types of players before. I’m excited to get a chance to play with these guys.

“The main thing is we have to find a way to win these games,” Namestnikov added. “We need this line to work and the rest of the lines as well. It starts with work ethic and we go from there.”

That Bowness is leaving Dubois between Kyle Connor and Nino Niederreiter is a smart decision, at least for the time being.

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And depending on what happens with the Scheifele line, another option would be to reunite Ehlers with Dubois and Connor.

Ultimately, that decision likely depends on whether or not Scheifele can regain his form and that Wheeler can help rekindle some of the past magic.

The Jets remain eighth in the Western Conference standings and they currently hold a four-point lead over the Calgary Flames in the chase for the second wild card berth.

Of the eight games left for the Jets, only three will be played against teams above the playoff line, but two of them will be against the teams chasing them, the Flames and Nashville Predators. 

“We’ve got to make sure our details are right, but if you look at the last several games, our game has come a long ways from when we were struggling,” said Lowry. “We’ve got two pretty important games (against the Flames and Predators) coming up too. You don’t want to look too far ahead and that doesn’t make any of the other games less important. You want to get that asterisk next to your name as quickly as possible and that starts (Tuesday) with our game against San Jose.”

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