The Winnipeg Jets have gone from first to worst.
Coming out of last year’s holiday break, the 25-10-1 Jets sat comfortably atop the Central Division, the Western Conference and the entire NHL league standings as a whole.
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Fast forward one calendar year, and the same team is sitting nearly dead-last in the 32-team league, unable to string together wins, and playing as a complete shadow of its former self.
Photo by Terry Lee/USA Today
Currently at 15-17-3, Winnipeg is second-last in the league, just one point higher than the 32nd-place Chicago Blackhawks.
It has been a disastrous first third of the season for Winnipeg, which captured the Presidents’ Trophy last season by a considerable margin.
With Connor Hellebuyck out for three weeks following arthroscopic knee surgery, the Jets plummeted below the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Minnesota Wild, Utah Mammoth and Nashville Predators in a powerful Central Division. Backup netminder Eric Comrie did not do his part, but the fault was not solely on the shoulders of the long-time AHL backstop.
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Defensive lapses, a lack of offence and a failure to generate strong possession play has the Jets in a seemingly never-ending downward spiral, even with the return of their reigning Hart Trophy and Vezina and Jennings winning goaltender.
Head coach Scott Arniel has found himself at a loss for words more often than not following less than ideal home and road performances, while his captain (who has clearly rushed himself back into the fold following his offseason hip surgery) has attempted to take the brunt of the blame for his team’s dreadful start.
General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff’s offseason gambles have come up empty, spearheaded by the loss of speedster Nikolaj Ehlers, all the way through the depth, veteran signings of Jonathan Toews, Tanner Pearson and Gustav Nyquist. Chevy’s lone salvageable signing has been Cole Koepke, who continues to finish checks, while providing a smooth-skating wing as a flank to whichever centreman he is paired up with in the team’s bottom-six.
The Jets’ top trio of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Gabe Vilardi have produced exactly as expected, but the offence pretty much stops after the top line. Josh Morrissey continues to dominate on the back-end, as he should, while Logan Stanley’s offensive outburst has somehow managed to mask his daily defensive blunders enough to keep his place in the lineup, over the strong skating Haydn Fleury, or the youngster Elias Salomonsson.
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Lowry, Luke Schenn and Cole Perfetti might actually be the three slowest skaters in the NHL at this given moment. None of the three players are seemingly able to find that top gear, with or without the puck. Oh, and when Perfetti does collect the disc, he actually finds a way to skate slower than when he was opening up to receive it.
Schenn has seen his moment of greatness flicker, while sources say that Lowry has admitted to returning sooner than he should have, and continues to deal with the effects of going under the knife this offseason.
Vlad Namestnikov and Alex Iafallo have been ‘alright’, but it is Morgan Barron who has shone in his penalty killing, depth forward role, as he continues to do everything he should to get a better look at a top-six role – something his coach appears unwilling to consider.
Dylan DeMelo, Neal Pionk and Dylan Samberg have played hockey this season. Not great hockey, not bad hockey. They have simply played hockey for the Jets this year. Not much memorable thus far.
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Where this goes from here will fall on the shoulders of Arniel, Cheveldayoff and Co. to decide if a season-long tank job is a better choice for the organization that currently holds the No. 3 selection in the 2026 NHL Draft, or if its veteran roster can pull up its collective socks to right the quickly sinking ship in time for a season-long postseason push.
Given the draft-and-develop mentality that has worked at times for the organization, and at other times, driven away top prospects, there is no time like the present to Waive some under-producers, give some of its top minor-league producers a chance, while allowing a few of the ECHL’s striking crew to play meaningful AHL minutes as the farm works its way up to the big leagues.
Whether the team decides to show out for Arniel over the next month, or opts to maintain its inconsistent evening showings, one thing is for certain, these are not the same Jets that we have seen over the course of the past two-plus seasons. And they will not return to that form unless some serious soul searching and changes occur.
For now, it’s an ‘F’ rating following the Christmas break.
