The who’s who of who’s next Blues, Wild or Flames could be Jets first round opponent By: Ken Wiebe Posted: 6:40 PM CDT Monday, Apr. 14, 2025

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This article was published 14/04/2025 (530 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The regular-season banners have been secured and are on order.

With one game left in the regular season on Wednesday against the Anaheim Ducks, the Winnipeg Jets have one more dress rehearsal before the curtain rises on the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.

After securing top spot in the Central Division and Western Conference races and claiming the Presidents’ Trophy, the only thing left to determine is who the Jets are going to face in the opening round.

Heading into Tuesday’s action, there are still three possibilities on the horizon for the No. 1 seed to face: the St. Louis Blues, the Minnesota Wild or the Calgary Flames.

All three of those teams are playing Tuesday and depending on how things shake down, it will either be clear as day — or, it could go down to Thursday’s final day of regular-season action.

As it currently stands, the Jets would face the Blues in a rematch of the memorable 2019 opening-round series since St. Louis is in the second wild card position in the Western Conference with 94 points and one game remaining.

The Wild have 95 points with one game remaining and hold the first tiebreaker over both the Blues and Flames, so they’re in the best position right now.

In recent conversations, Jets head coach Scott Arniel and several players made it clear that there isn’t a preferred matchup and they will take things as they come.

Even if there was a preferred matchup, the Jets wouldn’t be providing that sort of bulletin-board fodder anyway.

But is there a team the Jets might match up better with?

That’s certainly up for debate, so let’s dig a little deeper into the details of how things have gone through the regular season and what challenges each group might present:

St. Louis Blues

Record: 43-30-8, 94 points, 31 RW, 39 ROW

What’s left: Tuesday at home vs Utah HC

Leading scorers: Robert Thomas (21 G, 79 P, 69 GP), Jordan Kyrou (34 G, 68 P, 81 GP), Dylan Holloway (26 G, 63 P, 77 GP), Pavel Buchnevich (19 G, 54 P, 75 GP), Brayden Schenn (17 G, 48 P, 81 GP)

Season series vs Jets: Jets won the series 3-1, Blues 1-2-1

Oct. 22 at St. Louis: Jets 3, Blues 2

Dec. 3 at Winnipeg: Blues 4, Jets 1

Feb. 22 at St. Louis: Jets 4, Blues 3 (SO)

Apr. 7 at Winnipeg: Jets 3, Blues 1

Playoff history: One meeting in 2019 in the first round, with the Blues defeating the Jets in the best-of-seven series 4-2.

The skinny: The Blues have been a different team since former Manitoba Moose forward Jim Montgomery took over as head coach from Drew Bannister on Nov. 24, posting a record of 34-18-5 (.636 winning percentage).

They’ve been even better since returning from the break for the 4 Nations Face-Off — including a 12-game winning streak they rattled off before the Jets beat them in the final meeting of the regular season last Monday.

The Blues are in the midst of a three-game losing skid (0-2-1) but are back to playing to the identity that helped them capture the Stanley Cup in 2019 — despite the fact they have only five players remaining from that roster.

Defenceman Colton Parayko returned from injury on the weekend, but the Blues figure to be missing Dylan Holloway when the playoffs begin. Among the juicy storylines in a series between the Jets and Blues would be the Schenn brothers, Luke and Brayden, going up against one another in the playoffs for the first time.

A goalie battle between Connor Hellebuyck and Jordan Binnington is also intriguing. The Blues would be back in the playoffs for the first time in three seasons, but they’ve won only one round since winning their first Stanley Cup in franchise history in 2019.

Minnesota Wild

Record: 44-30-7, 95 points, 33 RW, 41 ROW

What’s left: Tuesday at home vs Anaheim Ducks

Leading scorers: Matt Boldy (26 G, 71 P, 81 P), Marco Rossi (24 G, 60 P, 81 GP), Kirill Kaprizov (25 G, 56 P, 40 GP), Mats Zuccarello (19 G, 52 P, 68 GP), Frederick Gaudreau (18 G, 37 P, 81 GP)

Season series vs Jets: Jets won the series 3-0, Wild 0-2-1

Oct. 13 at Winnipeg: Jets 2, Wild 1 (OT)

Nov. 25 at St. Paul: Jets 4, Wild 1

Dec. 21 at Winnipeg: Jets 5, Wild 0

Playoff history: One meeting in 2018 in the first round, with the Jets defeating the Wild in the best-of-seven series 4-1.

The skinny: There aren’t many teams that have dealt with as many injuries as the Wild have this season, but they just got Kirill Kaprizov and two-way centre Joel Eriksson Ek back in the lineup last week. Kaprizov was playing at a Hart Trophy level before he was sidelined.

It’s tough to glean much from the season series since all of the games were played before the Christmas break arrived. What we know about the Wild is that they play hard under head coach John Hynes, and they can be difficult to play against.

The Wild roster includes former Jets defencemen Zach Bogosian and Declan Chisholm.

Wild goalie Filip Gustavsson has regained the form that made him an all-star, while centre Marco Rossi took another important step in his development this season.

They’ve got playoff experience with Mats Zuccarello, and the defence corps — which is anchored by Brock Faber — figures to get a boost from 2024 first-rounder Zeev Buium, who signed his entry-level deal after concluding his college career with the University of Denver Pioneers.

The Wild haven’t advanced past the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs since 2015 (when they lost in the second round), and their post-season record since 2000 is 34-62.

Calgary Flames

Record: 39-27-7, 92 points, 30 RW, 35 ROW

What’s left: Tuesday at home vs Vegas Golden Knights, Thursday on the road vs Los Angeles Kings

Leading scorers: Nazem Kadri (32 G, 63 P, 80 GP), Jonathan Huberdeau (28 G, 61 P, 80 GP), MacKenzie Weegar (8 G, 46 P, 79 GP), Matt Coronato (24 G, 44 P, 75 GP), Blake Coleman (15 G, 38 P, 80 GP)

Season series vs Jets: Jets won the series 2-1, Flames 1-2

Oct. 26 at Calgary: Jets 5, Flames 3

Jan. 18 at Winnipeg: Flames 3, Jets 1

Jan. 26 at Winnipeg: Jets 5, Flames 2

Playoff history: Met once in the qualifying round of the 2020 bubble playoffs during the pandemic, with the Flames defeating the Jets in the best-of-five series 3-1.

The skinny: Flames head coach Ryan Huska has done a fantastic job to get the buy-in that was required to keep his team in the race this late in the season when most observers had them pencilled in as a lottery team.

The path for the Flames looks like the most difficult, with little margin for error, but the Golden Knights have already sewn up top spot in the Pacific and the Kings already know they’re set for a third consecutive date with the Edmonton Oilers.

Rookie goalie Dustin Wolf has grabbed the No. 1 job and forced his way into the Calder Trophy discussion.

Centre Nazem Kadri, who helped the Colorado Avalanche capture the Stanley Cup in 2022, is having an outstanding campaign to lead the offensive attack for a team that doesn’t score a lot.

The Flames are 30th among 32 teams in goals scored, but 15th in goals against. Jonathan Huberdeau is enjoying a bounce-back season with 28 goals — after combining for 27 in his two prior seasons after coming over in a trade with the Florida Panthers.

The Flames’ defence corps includes MacKenzie Weegar and Rasmus Andersson, both of whom supply offence to go with strong puck-moving ability and size.

Since beating the Jets in the qualifying round, the Flames have won just one series — when they outlasted the Dallas Stars in an exciting seven-game series.

There is some allure in this series for folks who remember the days of the Smythe Division, even if the Jamie Macoun cross-check on Dale Hawerchuk remains a sore spot for many.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld