Gritty Winger Pushing To Earn His Spot In The Jets' Starting Line-up
Jets camp is not over yet and there now appears to be four players fighting to be the extra forward with the team. Jeffrey Viel, an offseason acquisition, is fighting to make his case both figuratively and literally.
Viel Looks To Continue To Beat The Odds And Play In The NHL
Viel, 26, was never drafted by an NHL team but he has played 49 career games with the San Jose Sharks who brought him into the organization as a CHL free agent in the 18-19 season. Viel has always been someone to avoid if you are on the other team. Over the course of his junior career he played four seasons with Acadie-Bathurst Titan of the QMJHL, posting north of 100 penalty minutes every year, topping out at 132 in 2015-16.
Viel would go on to beat that number during his career in the AHL. Last season, playing with the San Jose Barracuda, he put up an eye-watering 150 penalty minutes in 60 games. That was good for third in the league behind Scott Sabourin (177) and Garret Wilson (195!).
Adding More Offense Among Viel's goals
Viel has been a relatively consistent scorer at the AHL level, but at the NHL level he has just five points in his 49 career games. In an interview earlier today the winger spoke about trying to create offense more consistently at the highest level.
«Now I'm trying to get there at the NHL level and really establish myself. I feel like at the AHL level I've had some pretty good offensive seasons with limited amount of time on the power play.»
Viel is set to play his fourth preseason game with the Jets tonight in Calgary, accompanied by the other three contenders for the 13th forward position on the club: David Gustafsson, Axel Jonsson-Fjallby and Parker Ford.
Head Coach Rick Bowness spoke about the competition between these players in his pre-game media availability but he did not seem to be willing to reveal which player might be the current favorite.
«Those all different types of players. They all have their strengths."
Whoever wins the roster spot certainly will have earned it considering how much competition there was.
| POLL | ||
2 OCTOBRE | 270 ANSWERS Gritty Winger Pushing To Earn His Spot In The Jets' Starting Line-up Will Viel make the Jets' opening night roster? | ||
| Yes | 108 | 40 % |
| No | 162 | 60 % |
| List of polls | ||
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