It would be impossible to think Doug Armstrong and Jon Cooper are oblivious to what’s happening in Winnipeg right now with Mark Scheifele.
The general manager and head coach, respectively, of Canada’s entry into the 2026 Winter Olympics in February are no doubt paying close attention to Jets centre’s start to the new NHL season.
In fact, he’s forcing them to.
What Scheifele is displaying is a motivated body of work that includes not only a torrid offensive start to this season, but also a pace he created from last February on when he was left off Canada’s active roster at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
It was a snub that upset Scheifele, for sure. But one that also possessed him to prove the detractors wrong from that moment on and through the lead-up to the upcoming February Olympics in Italy.
Since the 4 Nations omission, the 32-year-old Jets centre has been better than a point-per-game player in both the regular season and the playoffs, and his seven goals and 10 points to lead Winnipeg out of the gate this season are a major factor in its 5-1 start.
Now, Scheifele likely won’t win the Art Ross Trophy this year or become the first Jets NHLer since Teemu Selanne to record 100 points in a season, but a career year might make it close.
As for Armstrong and Cooper, who were both involved in picking Canada’s team last year at the 4 Nations, there are plenty of personnel decisions to make over the next three-plus months.
One of those, of course, will be on Scheifele, who is versatile, talented, competitive, elite and, again, motivated. And if Canada misses for a second time on the Jets star, especially with the way he’s started this season, we might need a national summit to find out why.
Because nobody around the NHL could be that oblivious to what’s happening in Winnipeg right now with Mark Scheifele.