Jets exit with a whimper

The finish line arrived far too early for the Winnipeg Jets liking.

And though the Jets spoke about not wanting to end the season by laying an egg, the freefall continued with a 6-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks before a packed house Thursday at Canada Life Centre.

The Jets ended the season with four consecutive losses for a record of 35-35-12, good for 82 points. That’s the second fewest points in franchise history (in a full season) since 2015-16, when they had 78.

It’s a stark contrast from the 116 points the Jets collected one year ago when they were first in the NHL to capture the Presidents’ Trophy.

“I think we let (the fans) down, we let ourselves down,” said Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo. “Just a real bad showing to end it off.”

Arniel was feeling the same frustration.

“We got the first goal and then we kind of disrespected our opponent and came with a little bit of pond hockey, trying to be cute, trying to make these fancy plays, and a young team like that played last night and instead of keeping the hammer down and staying after them, we stopped playing,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel, who then expanded about the playoff chase that preceded the sour ending.

“We felt like we were so close, we thought we were going to get in and everybody had the belief that it was going to happen and when it doesn’t, it is a gut punch. When you are reviewing the season, you are reviewing them all and not what happened in the last four.”

The coming months will bring a full examination of where things went sideways, but the overriding feeling from the players is one of disappointment.

“You come into training camp, coming off the season we had last year, it’s playoff aspirations, Stanley Cup aspirations,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “We came well short of that. It’s tough to see things come to an end. The season hasn’t gone how we wanted it to go.”

Let’s take a closer look:

RAISING LOTTERY ODDS

The one thing about a regulation loss for the Jets is it ensured they finished 26th overall, giving them with the seventh best odds in the NHL Draft lottery on May 5.

The Jets have a 6.5 per cent chance of landing the first overall pick, 6.7 per cent chance of second overall and a 44.4 per cent chance of standing pat at seven. The chances of sliding down two spots to ninth overall is at 5.6 per cent.

When the Jets picked second overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, they finished sixth and jumped four spots to select Patrik Laine after the Toronto Maple Leafs chose Auston Matthews.

THE FINALE?

Jets centre Jonathan Toews was the one of the last players to leave the ice and he embraced with several teammates before heading down the tunnel.

Toews returned to the NHL after an absence of more than two-and-a-half years to play for his hometown team and while he enjoyed many things about being a professional hockey player again, this could be the final game of his distinguished career.

The 37-year-old is one of the most decorated players Manitoba has produced, with three Stanley Cups and two Olympic gold medals among the many items on his resume.

The third overall pick in 2006 had 11 goals and 29 points in 82 games this season, which moves him to 383 goals and 912 points in 1,149 regular season games to go along with 45 goals and 119 points in 137 Stanley Cup playoff games.

MAGIC MARKER

Jets left-winger Cole Koepke again showed the organization that he’s worth keeping around.

For a team that wants to be faster, harder to play against and increase secondary scoring, Koepke continues to show he meets all of the criteria.

“Yeah, I leave that stuff to my agent and to the team. I feel really good about the communication between both sides. Personally, I think it’s a good fit and I’ll just let them do the negotiating and see where it goes.”

Thanks to a breakaway goal that opened the scoring, his eighth this season, Koepke tied his career points (17), set last season as a member of the Boston Bruins.

The pending unrestricted free agent was just shy of the 10 goals he had last season, but that mark may have been attainable had he not gone through a stretch of healthy scratches earlier in the season.

When you consider Koepke is also a valued member of the penalty kill, bringing him back on a multi-year deal seems like a logical outcome.

THE KEY PLAY

A cross-ice feed from Macklin Celebrini to Will Smith provided the game-winning goal.

THE THREE STARS

1. Sharks C Macklin Celebrini: One goal, two assists.
2. Sharks F William Eklund: One goal two assists.
3. Sharks C Will Smith: One goal, one assist.

CELEBRATING CELEBRINI

What a remarkable finish to the season for Celebrini, who chipped in a pair of assists to finish with 45 goals, 70 assists and 115 points in his second NHL campaign.

The 19-year-old passed Hall of Famer Joe Thornton for the most points in a season in Sharks franchise history and finished fourth in the NHL in scoring behind Connor McDavid, Nikita Kucherov and Nathan MacKinnon.

“He’s a phenom,” said Lowry. “He’s one of the best players in the league. Seeing the jump from last year to this year and seeing how big of a step forward, I think that’s the one thing, it’s a true testament to how hard he works and his dedication and his skill level.

“Playing him last year, we knew he was going to be a great player in this league. Didn’t necessarily think he’d be a 110-point scorer in his second year. Watching him in the Olympics, you can see why he’s had the impact he’s had. He’s had an unbelievable year, he’s quick, he’s smart, he makes great plays.”

Celebrini is showing why he’s going to make his way into the Most Valuable Player conversation, even though the Sharks narrowly missed the playoffs.

“He’s really put it together. I know everybody is talking that he’s in the conversation for the Hart (Trophy) and it’s for good reason,” said Arniel. “He plays a really good 200-foot game. He takes as much pride keeping pucks out of his net as he does trying to score. The other thing too is that if you look at a lot of his goals, they come in the third period, in tight games, where they’re up one or down one. He scores big goals at the right time and that’s what elite players do.”

THE ADDITION

The Jets added some organizational depth by signing defenceman Garrett Brown to a two-year, two-way entry-level contract that kicks in next season.

Brown, who was chosen by the Jets in the fourth round (99th overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft, is a two-time NCAA Frozen Four champion with the Denver Pioneers.

The right-handed shooting blueliner will join the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League on an amateur tryout offer and is eligible to compete in the Calder Cup playoffs.

Brown, 22, is a mobile, puck-mover who plays a similar style to Dylan Samberg, who won a pair of Frozen Four titles with the University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs before turning pro.

EXTRA! EXTRA!

The Jets had five players suit up for all 82 games this season: centre Mark Scheifele, left-winger Kyle Connor, right-winger Gabriel Vilardi, defenceman Dylan DeMelo and Toews. It was the first time for Vilardi.

Jets goalie Eric Comrie made his 24th start and 25th appearance of the season, finishing with 27 saves.

The Jets announced their team award winners prior to the game: Morgan Barron won the Dan Snyder memorial award, Gabriel Vilardi won the community service award and Scheifele won the 3 star award.

winnipegfreepress.com/kenwiebe