“If you slip up, that spot is going to be gone. You have to earn your spot every single day.”

Cole Koepke shortlisted three reasons why Winnipeg was an easy selection in the early days of free agency. “The core of this team is elite and in the Stanley Cup contender window,” he said. “This team is right there.” The Jets signed the 27-year-old American forward to a one-year deal, worth $1 million US back on July 1. With less than one week in the bag at Jets camp, the Minnesota resident has learned several things about the Winnipeg way of doing things. “Everything we do here is hard,” Koepke said. “It is winning your battles, and it is doing it fast, and doing it over and over (so it) becomes second nature. It is the top guys that are leading the way, and everyone follows.”

During

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