Jets send Scheifele for OHL seasoning

WINNIPEG • The wait is over. But in some ways, it continues.

After spending the last two weeks in limbo — sitting out for five of the last six games as a healthy scratch — the Winnipeg Jets finally decided to send top prospect Mark Scheifele back to Ontario Hockey League for the rest of the season.

General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff called the longawaited decision a difficult one, but added there was no debate that this is the right move for the 19 -year-old. With the Jets, Scheifele had been moved from his natural centre position to the wing and had played in just four of the team’s nine games. Now that he is rejoining the Barrie Colts, he will get a chance to become the centerpiece of a contending team and further his development into a topline star.

When that will occur is up to Scheifele. There is no timeline for this, said Cheveldayoff, who is asking fans to continue to be patient.

“The easy thing would have been just to say, ‘let’s just let him stay here and play and see how it goes,’” said Cheveldayoff. “But to see how it goes is the kind of unknown that you don’t want to happen with a player like this. The opportunity to go back, be a leader, continue to grow both on the game side and also on the strength side for a very good hockey team with a very good mentor, is an opportunity that we feel very strongly about.”

Scheifele was selected seventh overall in 2011, but as the re-born franchise’s first draft pick he carries with him obvious expectations. Even more so because many players from his draft class, including Philadelphia’s Sean Couturier, who was taken one spot after, have already made early impacts with their teams. For that reason, it would have been easy for Cheveldayoff to find a spot for Scheifele. But on the basis of four games, where he did not record a point and had a minus-2 rating, the consensus was that he needs more time.

“At the end of the day, the fact that you don’t rush a player shouldn’t be looked as a negative in any shape or form,” said Cheveldayoff. “For us, as an organization, we pledged at the beginning that we weren’t going to rush players just for the sake of rushing them.

“I don’t have to stand here and say, ‘look, our first-rounder is playing in the National Hockey League. ”

While the decision was not a surprise, it still comes as a bit of a disappointment. Scheifele, who had one goal in seven games with the Jets last year, had been considered NHL-ready when he competed at the world junior championship with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Jonathan Huberdeau and Dougie Hamilton. But while those players were able to make the jump, he is still not ready.

And so, the waiting game continues.

“There’s no time frame on development,” said Cheveldayoff. “I think you have to be careful with respect to just putting an age limit on things.”