Will they or won’t they? Inconsistency leaves Jets’ playoff hopes up in the air By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 5:59 PM CDT Monday, Mar. 16, 2026

Will the real Winnipeg Jets please stand up?

Are they the team that laid an egg last week against the Anaheim Ducks and followed it up with another clunker against the lowly New York Rangers? Or are they the one that just completed a weekend sweep of the Colorado Avalanche and St. Louis Blues — who just happen to be the NHL’s best team and one of the league’s hottest?

It’s hard to keep track these days.

One thing is clear: with 16 regular-season games remaining, the Jets (28-28-10) have clawed to within five points of the final Western Conference wild-card spot as they get set to close out a season-long eight-game homestand Tuesday night against the Nashville Predators.

In honour of this Jekyll-and-Hyde hockey club, allow us to present a list of reasons why the Jets will make the playoffs — and why they won’t.

Hey, if they can be all over the map, so can we.

They will

The Jets will make the playoffs because they’ve been performing at a playoff pace for quite a while now.

Winnipeg has gone 6-2-2 since the Olympic break, which would translate to a 115-point season over 82 games. (They set a franchise record last year with 116 points while capturing the Presidents’ Trophy.)

Too small a sample size, you say? Fair enough.

How about 13-6-5 over the last 24 games, which equates to 106 points over a full campaign?

The Jets dug themselves an enormous hole with a disastrous 30-game span earlier this year in which they went just 6-19-5. But if you take the 12 games that preceded the nosedive and the 24 that have followed, the Jets are 22-9-5.

They won’t

The Jets will not make the playoffs because their recent record is a bit of a mirage considering the quality of opponents.

Yes, you can only play the schedule in front of you. But the Jets have been racking up wins and points against plenty of struggling opponents.

For example, since the Olympic break, six of Winnipeg’s 10 games have come against non-playoff teams. They’ve gone 4-1-1 in those games, and 2-1-1 against playoff clubs.

Looking at that solid 24-game stretch, 14 have been played against non-playoff teams. The Jets have gone 9-2-3 in those, and 4-4-2 against playoff clubs.

And if you go all the way back to the 9-3-0 start to the year, the Jets went 6-0 against non-playoff teams and 3-3-0 against playoff clubs.

But business is about to pick up. After facing Nashville on Tuesday, nine of Winnipeg’s final 15 games are against current playoff teams. It’s closer to 11 if you consider the Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks who are right in the mix.

They’re going to need to be a lot better than just .500 if they want to sneak in.

It’s also worth noting the Jets have been making some hay at home (17-13-5), but they’re about to get an extended taste of life in enemy territory. Winnipeg plays 10 of its final 15 games on the road, where they have just 11 wins in 31 games this year (11-15-5).

They will

The Jets will make the playoffs because they’ve seemingly re-discovered their defensive DNA.

The Jets surrendered just three goals in their two weekend wins against the Avalanche and Blues.

“Their defensive details are excellent,” St. Louis head coach Jim Montgomery said following Sunday’s game.

“Similar to why they had the great year last year was their defensive habits. Their five guys are connected. It’s hard to penetrate the middle of the ice against them in their own end. That’s the biggest thing. And then they play a smart hockey game.”

The Jets won’t be winning the William Jennings Trophy again this year as the stingiest team in the league. They currently sit tied for 14th overall in goals-against average at 3.03.

However, if they can keep opponents to one or two goals a night, it would help the cause.

They won’t

The Jets will not make the playoffs because Connor Hellebuyck and Eric Comrie may be masking some major flaws.

Both goaltenders were terrific this past weekend, and the underlying numbers suggest the Jets may have actually gotten lucky.

Consider this: Colorado had 18 high-danger chances to Winnipeg’s two on Saturday. Hellebuyck showed off his Vezina- and Hart-calibre form early and often and really stole the show.

It was a similar story Sunday, when St. Louis had 13 high-danger chances to Winnipeg’s five. Comrie was dialled in, winning his fifth straight start in the process.

Yes, goalies are part of the team. But getting out-chanced 31-7 over two games and coming away with four points is some Houdini-like magic.

It’s also not likely sustainable over the long run, so the Jets clearly still need to clean up their act.

They will

The Jets will make the playoffs because Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor are going to do everything they can to drag them in.

The dynamic duo have been terrific all season but seem to have found another gear down the stretch.

Scheifele, perhaps motivated by being an Olympic snub, has 12 points in his last seven games (4 goals, 8 assists) and is on track to shatter his career high of 87. He’s already up to 82 (31 G, career-high 51 A) to sit sixth in NHL scoring behind only Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon, Nikita Kucherov, Leon Draisaitl and Macklin Celebrini.

That is some elite company.

Connor, meanwhile, has scored in three straight games and is tied for the team lead with Scheifele at 31. His breakaway beauty against the Blues was the key play, and he’s tied for 13th in NHL scoring with 75 points. He, too, seems eager to show his Olympic scratches were not deserved.

They won’t

The Jets will not make the playoffs because they still aren’t getting nearly enough secondary scoring.

Captain Adam Lowry has gone 21 games without a goal. Jonathan Toews’ drought is at 20. Cole Koepke has none in 14 games. Gustav Nyquist still has just one goal all year.

Alex Iafallo has one goal in the past eight games and two in the last 19. Even Cole Perfetti — who has been playing much better lately — has only one goal on a netminder in the last nine games (his other being an empty net marker). Morgan Barron snapped his own 20-game slump with three in five games but has now gone three straight without one.

Gabe Vilardi has two in the past eight games. Vlad Namestnikov and Nino Niederreiter are both injured, and it’s unclear if either will return this season.

This has been an ongoing storyline all season and continues to this day.

Another big part of the problem is the lack of power-play success. The Jets are clicking at just 17.7 per cent, which ranks 23rd in the NHL.

Add in a middle-of-the-pack penalty kill (79 per cent, 16th-overall), and it puts even more pressure on the club to dominate at even strength, which is tough to do when you don’t have the offensive depth.

---

So how will the next 16 games play out for the Jets? Your guess is as good as ours.

At the moment, Winnipeg appears to be running in two races simultaneously: one toward the final Western Conference wild-card spot and a potential first-round date with the mighty Avalanche, and another toward the bottom of the NHL standings and a premium draft pick.

winnipegfreepress.com/mikemcintyre