Four Things The Winnipeg Jets Need To Return To The Stanley Cup Playoffs

I'm not gonna sugarcoat it: Last season felt like the end of something for the Winnipeg Jets.

But they still have high-level talent, even after becoming one of those teams with the ignominious distinction of winning the Presidents' Trophy one year, and missing the playoffs the next. And all it might take is better luck, fewer injuries, and some good vibes to get back into the post-season mix again.

How realistic is that? Well, they're gonna find out thanks to these four key factors:

There are a lot of teams out there for whom it's easy to say, "Well, if their goalie is elite, they'll be a playoff team."

But the Jets learned the hard way last season that if future Hall of Famer Connor Hellebuyck doesn't deliver a literal MVP-level performance, their playoff chances are slim. Hellebuyck went from winning the Vezina Trophy(the third of his career) and the Hart Trophy to more or less league-average. The team's point total dropped by 34 as a result.

That is not a coincidence. Hellebuyck has the ability to elevate mediocre teams to near-unrivaled status in the league's history. Still, the team in front of him has never really been able to return the favor. But if he's back to the level we saw in 2024-25, or really anything all that close to it, there's a lot of opportunity for the Jets to at least be in the playoffs again, even if they're not a particularly high seed in a super-competitive Central Division.

That said, there is also the possibility of trading him before the season starts.

There weren't a lot of teams with three 30-goal scorers last season.

The Colorado Avalanche (Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, and Brock Nelson), Edmonton Oilers (Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl, and Zach Hyman), Tampa Bay Lightning (Nikita Kucherov, Jake Guentzel, and Brandon Hagel), and the Jets (Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, and Gabriel Vilardi) were the only four teams with a trio of 30-goal scorers.

The problem is that no other forward had more than Alex Iafallo's 13. The reasons are mostly related to injuries, underperformance, and an odd ice-time distribution. That's all stuff that could turn around in 2026-27, but, of course, it's up to the individual players and the coaching staff to make the difference.

GM Kevin Cheveldayoff seemingly decided there wasn't a big need to make any changes up front. With the exception of Noah Gregor (four goals and nine points in 37 games with the Florida Panthers last year), Cheveldayoff didn't add a single forward with NHL experience this summer.

A bit of a beggar's belief, but I guess they're gonna sink or swim with the guys they had last year.

Somewhat infamously, the Jets don't like to provide their young players with a lot of runout.

At age 22, it's time for them to either let Brad Lambert sink or swim. It's time to see what they've got with Isak Rosen, whom they just acquired at last year's deadline.

Jets coach Scott Arniel is seemingly terrified to let those players play more than 11 minutes of ice time if they can avoid it, and if you can't find a way to prioritize their development in a lost season like 2025-26, what are you keeping them for?

The hope, then, is that 2026 No. 8 pick Viggo Bjorck doesn't suffer the same fate. The team is at least committing to him playing in North America, but it should be up to him whether they give him plenty of time with the big club or play him down in the AHL. One thing's for sure: giving a high-test talent like him just 11 minutes a night would be malpractice, so they really need to make a hard-and-fast decision.

Again, they need all the goals they can get.

From 2023 through 2025, Morrissey placed fifth, seventh, and fourth in Norris Trophy voting. The Jets finished those seasons with 95, 110, and 116 points. Last year, he didn't get a single vote, and the Jets missed the playoffs by a mile.

Maybe you call it a chicken-and-egg thing — was he considered great because they were a great team, or were they a great team because he was great? His production certainly dipped slightly, and his on-ice goal difference at 5-on-5 slipped from plus-35 to plus-20 to plus-17 over the last three seasons, and the expected-goals impact became even worse, although it hasn't slipped under the 50 percent mark yet. (50.18 percent in 2025-26, according to naturalstattrick.com)

If Morrissey can get back to the level seen in 2023-24, the Jets should have far fewer difficulties, but at age 31, is that really feasible? The D corps as a whole doesn't seem to be getting better (they added Mario Ferraro this summer, but he might not be much of a needle-mover), and everyone on a team whose best players were already aging is a year older.

Again, it really all hinges on Hellebuyck, who might not even want to be there.

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