Ready to step up Jets eager to prove they are more than a regular-season wonder following playoff disappointment By: Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe Posted: 5:59 PM CDT Monday, Oct. 7, 2024 Last Modified: 10:41 AM CDT Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024 Updates

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This article was published 07/10/2024 (657 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You likely won’t find them anywhere near the top of lists predicting Stanley Cup favourites. In fact, plenty of pundits have them fighting just to squeak into the playoffs.

It’s a much different story in and around the Winnipeg Jets, where players, coaches and management believe they have what it takes to hang with hockey’s heavyweights as the 2024-25 season is set to begin.

This is a group, after all, that is returning most of the faces from the 2023-24 version which finished tied for fourth-overall in the NHL with 110 points (52-24-6) and won the Jennings Trophy as the stingiest defensive squad in the leauge.

So what’s with so many seemingly sleeping on the Jets? No question a second consecutive speedy exit from the post-season is the primary culprit, one that suggested they might have been more pretender than contender.

“When you lose in the first round and don’t play the way that you wanted to, you’re going to have hunger,” said Jets centre Mark Scheifele. “How we build this thing is from within. Everyone getting a little bit better and working on their game and giving a little extra. That’s how this team is going to succeed.”

The Jets will now try to channel obvious disappointment, along with what they hope are valuable lessons learned, to ensure recent history doesn’t repeat itself.

“We were at the top of the West for a good chunk of last season. As far as expectations, that’s our expectation,” forward Mason Appleton said Monday. “To keep pushing. It’s that mindset to have that compete and stick to our structure and just wheel our way out of tough spots and be that consistent team for 82 games.”

With training camp complete, the 23-man roster set and opening night Wednesday in Edmonton, we get you ready by looking at six keys to success.

IDENTITY IMPORTANCE:

Can the Jets commit once again to strong defensive-zone play?

There was a time not long ago when the Jets were a high-flying, run-and-gun team that could outscore its mistakes and wasn’t all that good when it came to playing without the puck.

That changed during the Rick Bowness era, as the Jets transformed into a hockey club that allowed the fewest goals in the NHL and captured the Jennings Trophy.

“When we have buy-in, the results go hand-in-hand,” said Jets captain Adam Lowry. “Our team’s identity is being a hard forechecking, tenacious team. When we’re playing our best, we’re tough to generate offence on and we’re a deep team that comes at you in waves.”

The blueprint is clear and the Jets know what they’re supposed to look like when they’re on top of their game. When the Jets are committed to defending as a five-man unit, they’ve shown that they’re a tough team to beat.

“There’s a trust that the system can be successful,” said Lowry. “We’ve made steady improvements the last two years in a lot of areas, especially on the defensive side. It went from a glaring weakness of our team to one of our strengths, something that carried us through the (regular) season.”

-Wiebe

ARNIEL’S TOUCH:

Scott Arniel made a stellar substitute teacher last season, filling in for Bowness on two occasions and ensuring the Jets never missed a beat as the team went 10-5-2 in 17 games under his interim guidance.

With the classroom now his for the keeping, there’s no doubt the 62-year-old will be extremely motivated. Arniel went 45-60-18 in 123 games at the helm of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2010-11 and 2011-12, and it was fair to wonder if he’d ever get a second chance as a head coach.

The summertime summit, which included a heavy focus on analytics was a good first step, but the real test starts this week. It will be fascinating to watch how the former Jets 1.0 player handles the pressure that comes with being in control of a club that is expected to contend.

Whether it’s making adjustments on the fly or managing the ups-and-downs that come with the marathon of an 82-game season, Arniel’s moves will be under a microscope.

-McIntyre

HELLEBUYCK’S WORKLOAD:

In an era when plenty of teams are opting for a job share approach, the Jets are one of the remaining teams with a clear delineation between the starter and the backup.

Two-time Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck is a workhorse and that’s going to continue. He’s started 60 or more games five times in nine NHL seasons and hit 53 or more on two others. He also started 45 of 56 games during the pandemic season of 2020-21.

Hellebuyck turns 32 in May but has shown no signs of slowing down. After the Jets were eliminated in five games in each of the past two playoffs, some observers wonder if it’s time to have Hellebuyck start closer to 55 games than 60.

Recent evidence suggests that’s unlikely to happen. Even with Laurent Brossoit delivering some of the best results of any backup last season, he only made 23 appearances (including 22 starts). With the departure of Brossoit in free agency, the Jets are going to need Kaapo Kahkonen or Eric Comrie to start somewhere in the neighbourhood of 22-to-25 games to help keep Hellebuyck fresh for the stretch run and the post-season.

Hellebuyck is also a strong candidate to play for the United States in the 4 Nations Faceoff, so those best-on-best games need to be factored into the equation as well. It says here that Hellebuyck will finish with north of 56 NHL starts but fewer than 60.

-Wiebe

SPECIAL TEAMS:

The Jets had a stellar 2023-24 regular season in spite of some not-so-special teams. Winnipeg’s power play clicked at just 18.8 per cent, which ranked 22nd in the league and worst among the 16 clubs that made the playoffs. The penalty kill wasn’t much better, sitting 21st-overall at 77.1 per cent.

Fortunately, some stellar five-on-five play, elite goaltending and attention to defensive detail masked those deficiencies, but the Jets are playing with fire if they can’t find a way to improve both.

They brought in two new assistant coaches — Davis Payne is running the power play, Dean Chynoweth the penalty kill — and tweaked the structure and the personnel. For example, Nikolaj Ehlers is on the top PP unit in a high-slot position, while Scheifele and Kyle Connor are now being deployed on the PK.

The returns during the preseason were encouraging. The PP has looked fast and crisp and creative, the PK much more aggressive. Time will tell if the Jets can now carry that over to the games that really count.

Ideally, your PP and PK percentage should exceed 100 when added together. For example, the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers were a combined 106, while the runner-up Edmonton Oilers were 105.8.

Winnipeg was just 95.9, which is perfectly fine for a bottom-feeder but not what is needed to truly be a contender.

-McIntyre

CONTRACT YEARS:

It has often been said motivation comes in many forms and there definitely should be a sense of urgency when it comes to this version of the Jets.

Even with new contracts kicking in this season for cornerstone pieces Hellebuyck and Scheifele and plenty of other core players under contract for multiple seasons, a good chunk of the supporting cast could look decidedly different next fall.

There are eight pending unrestricted free agents on the Jets’ active roster, with Ehlers the highest profile among them. He hasn’t been interested in discussing his future when the subject has been broached on multiple occasions, preferring to let his play do the talking. It’s obvious he knows what is at stake and you can understand why he’s likely going to wait before deciding if he wants to sign an extension or test the open market on July 1.

Other UFAs include forwards Appleton, Vladislav Namestnikov and Alex Iafallo, defencemen Neal Pionk, Haydn Fleury and Dylan Coghlan and Kahkonen. Pionk had one of his best seasons of his career prior to signing his four-year extension and the Jets are hopeful he can have a solid campaign on the second-pairing with Dylan Samberg.

If you dig a little deeper, you’ll see that forward Gabe Vilardi is a pending restricted free agent. As long as Vilardi stays healthy, he’s going to be highly productive and will be in line for a significant raise from the US$3.438 million he’s due this season. Other RFAs include Samberg and forwards Morgan Barron and Rasmus Kupari.

The Jets are trying to win, so don’t expect the team to be dumping a bunch of those pending UFAs prior to the deadline, unless they’re below the playoff line. That may not sit well with the asset management crowd, but it’s the cost of doing business. The Jets are much more likely to be adding at the NHL trade deadline rather than subtracting in deals for future assets.

-Wiebe

BOX OFFICE:

Like it or not, the off-ice story surrounding the Jets continues to be a hot topic, one that took on greater urgency last year when NHL commissioner Gary Bettman flew into town to talk with local businesses, community leaders and media about season tickets which dropped from 13,000 to just 9,500 in recent years.

Co-owner Mark Chipman also sounded the alarm, saying such a number was not sustainable over the long-haul but re-iterating True North was committed to keeping the NHL in Winnipeg.

The organization launched an aggressive marketing campaign, introduced more flexible, fan-friendly ticket packages. invested in upgrades at Canada Life Centre including a new state-of-the-art sound system, have made strides to improve the game-day experience (musical acts performing in the rink during intermission, enhanced concessions).

Of course, winning hockey games doesn’t hurt, either. The Jets saw their attendance really tick up after Christmas last year, with the team flying fairly high in the standings as well. Some strong on-ice play can certainly go a long way at the box office.

-McIntyre

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: @WiebesWorld