FRED GREENSLADE
The staff for the reborn Winnipeg Jets will look vastly different than it did a year ago in Atlanta next season, with a new GM, new director of hockey ops and a whole new group of coaches.
But several members of the Thrashers organization are going to be making the move, with the Jets brass apparently opting to keep a significant portion of the scouting staff intact.
Expected to remain with the franchise are manager of player development Ryan Bowness and video coach Tony Borgford, head scout Marcel Comeau, director of player personnel Mark Dobson, pro scout John Perpich and amateur scouts Tavis MacMillan, Mark Hillier and Evgeny Bogdanovich.
Also potentially staying with the franchise will be former Thrashers assistant GM Larry Simmons, who has been doing some work with the Winnipeg group and is likely to take on a new role with the Jets.
Bowness and Borgford are dual citizens, which makes their move to Winnipeg easier, while the scouts are expected to remain based in their respective cities in North American and Europe.
Hillier is already based in St. John's, where the team's new AHL affiliate will begin play next season. Bogdanovich is the team's Russian scout and lives in St. Petersburg.
Simmons, meanwhile, would be in for the biggest change if he stays with the organization, as the Florida native has been with the Thrashers since 1998 - before the franchise began play.
As for the scouting staff, Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff had a working relationship with many of them due to his longstanding role as GM of the team's minor league franchise, the Chicago Wolves. He relied on their work at the entry draft in June, allowing Comeau to lead their efforts.
Official announcements on all of the Jets staff are expected in the near future.