Kukla's Korner Hockey

Kukla's Korner Hockey

Jacob Trouba's Role In Winninpeg

08/06/2016 at 8:34am EDT

from Scott Campbell of the Winnipeg Free Press,

It’s been noted by some media Trouba may be concerned with his role on the team and where he fits in. This is something very real to me — let’s dig deeper.

Good players are concerned about the role they have on the team, and how comfortable they are with that situation is of vital importance. Head coach Paul Maurice finally allowed Trouba to be free of blue-line partnerMark Stuart for some good times last season and the dynamic duo of Dustin Byfuglien and Trouba performed well. That required Trouba to play the left side — not something he was totally comfortable with — but he was obviously happy to play with superb talent.

Trouba said he hoped to play one side or the other — not to be switched back and forth — but I can’t see Maurice guaranteeing any player anything. There may be nights when he needs to spread out the defensive talent over the six spots, relegating Trouba into "Stuart territory."

But for fun, let’s say Maurice guaranteed Trouba would always play in one of the top-four defence pairings with Byfuglien, Tyler Myers or Toby Enstrom. On the surface, left-shooting Enstrom would seem to be the best match, so Trouba could play his natural right-side position. Putting Myers and Byfuglien together, however, would be a disaster.

Therein lies the problem for Trouba. He’s far and away the Jets’ best choice to switch over from the right side. Myers and Byfuglien are hampered by their foot speed and quickness when tight to the puck.

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Paul Kukla founded Kukla’s Korner in 2005 and the site has since become the must-read site on the ‘net for all the latest happenings around the NHL.

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