The Jets have always believed in Mark Scheifele – and it’s paying off
The Winnipeg Jets made Mark Scheifele the team’s first draft pick when they took him seventh overall in 2011.
He has spent his entire NHL career – over 800 games – with the club, and even signed a seven-year extension to remain in Manitoba last season. Scheifele is now on pace for his best season ever, coming at a time where the Jets are dominating the rest of the NHL.
In a recent chat with Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli on Frankly Speaking, Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff looked back at Scheifele’s early days with the organization and the type of player he has ultimately become:
Frank Seravalli: “You mentioned a bunch of players there, but I want to go back to Scheifele because I distinctly remember that draft and then the conversation that followed. Different fan bases around the league – they watch their players and get super excited. Sean Couturier, look at what he was doing in the NHL at 18. If I remember correctly, the same area that Scheifele was taken in, but Mark just took a little bit longer. Then he burst onto the scene and got to such an elite level. As a manager, how do you block out the noise and have you gotten better at that over the course of now 14 years?
Kevin Cheveldayoff: “Well, it comes down to really the very first conversation that I had with (team owner) Mark Chipman when we were fortunate to talk about him coming into the organization. We said there’s going to be times here where we’re going to have to make tough decisions, but it’s all about development and it’s all going to be about what’s in the best long-term interest of the team. And he was perfectly fine with that. It wasn’t about having to put our shiny new toy out in the public eye there to say, look what we drafted. And very well, we could have.
“(Scheifele) came in and had an exceptional training camp and played very, very well when it came to that. But when you look at the development, and certainly even in his case there, he burst onto the scene into junior hockey a little later than others. But he was going back to a Dale Hawerchuk-coached team (Barrie Colts) where we knew what we were getting on the development side there. We knew that we wanted him specifically to be put into situations where the pressure is on his shoulders to lead a team and do those kinds of things. And I think it is important for young players to have success amongst their peers in order for them to truly have the foundational pieces in place for right now, like what we’re asking Scheifele to do and be for our organization. So he’s got a memory bank of doing that now, and he’s had a great start and has been a big part of why we are what we are right now.”
You can listen to the full episode below: