from Pierre LeBrun of ESPN,

As far as first impressions go in this young NHL season, Jacob Trouba certainly opened some eyes.

The 19-year-old rookie blueliner from Michigan played a whopping 25:02 in his first NHL game on Tuesday night. Oh, and he had a goal and an assist with a plus-2 rating in Winnipeg’s season-opening win at Edmonton.

But what impressed me the most was the poise he played with.

"We certainly hope that that trend continues, and that’s what we saw in preseason," Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff told ESPN.com Friday. "And he got better every preseason game. He played high minutes in each of those games. The coaching staff tried to expose him in preseason to the other team’s best players to try and gauge where he was at. That was good. And obviously the first game, you don’t want to get too far ahead of yourself, but it was nice for all parties involved to see, for sure."

continue for more on the Jets, plus some Tim Thomas talk, Leafs, Senators and Canadiens too...