The Winnipeg Jets didn't do a lot of roster turnover again this season, and Adam Proteau suggests the Jets are going to face an uphill battle to make the playoffs this coming season – and unless they make a deep post-season run, big change should be happening.

The Winnipeg Jets are a curious group. For the past two seasons, they’ve finished with a combined 98 wins, and this past season, they finished second overall in the Central Division. But in the Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s been an altogether different story, with the Jets winning just one post-season game in each of the past two years. And now, Winnipeg has had to make some salary cap-related changes. The kind of moves that make you wonder what kind of team they’re going to be in 2024-25.

For starters, the Jets have lost a slew of veterans, most notably, forwards Sean Monahan and Tyler Toffoli, defenseman Brenden Dillon and goaltender Laurent Brossoit. In their place are goalies Eric Comrie and Kaapo Kahkonen, blueliners Colin Miller and Haydn Fleury, and forwards Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Mason Shaw. Doesn’t sound overly intimidating, does it?

It’s certainly true Winnipeg has got admirable depth at forward and on ‘D’, but compared to the way other Central teams have improved this summer, the Jets seem like they could take a step back or at least a lateral step this coming season.

More importantly, this Jets team doesn’t seem like it’s got the goods to go on a deep playoff run. Unless star goalie Connor Hellebuyck steals them some games – and if you look at his past two post-seasons, where he’s posted a save percentage of .886 or worse, he hasn’t been able to do that – Winnipeg is going to be hard-pressed to knock off the likes of the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators. It's entirely likely they make the playoffs, but what if they don't? Who's paying the price for another sub-par year?

Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff still has approximately $5.7 million in salary cap space, but some of that will likely go to RFA youngster Cole Perfetti. So until Cheveldayoff decides to make bigger moves, this is the group they’ll begin the regular-season with. Again, does this strike you as an improved team? It doesn’t for this writer. The Jets could easily wind up with a wild-card playoff berth, and if that’s the case, they likely won’t be favored to win regardless of who they’re facing.

Cheveldayoff has doubled down on his core, and while there’s an admirable quality to that approach, if it doesn’t deliver Cups, it’s not the right core. But changing things up in a major way likely won’t be Jets management’s focus until next off-season. If things remain the same, there’s no way Cheveldayoff can justify making only peripheral moves. 

Look no further than the reigning Cup-champion Florida Panthers. It would’ve been comparatively easy for the Panthers to keep going back to the battlefield with the same roster a few years ago. Instead, Florida GM Bill Zito threw caution to the wind and sent Jonathan Huberdeau and MacKenzie Weegar out to acquire the boost Matthew Tkachuk has provided for the team. The safe road isn’t always the proper road.

Maybe we’re wrong, and this is the year the Jets put it all together and win the next Cup. But there’s a reason why you won’t see many pundits picking Winnipeg to get that far. On paper, they’re not as deep a team as they were this past season, and look how that ended. It all speaks to a group that hasn’t been responding well when the games matter most, and it will be that way until they show us they’ve grown into something to remember. And right now, there just seems to be more high-bar talent on other teams in their division, let alone on consensus picks to win the Cup. 

If we’re incorrect about the Jets, an apology will follow. But we can’t escape the nagging feeling we’re right. This Jets crew is in show-don’t-tell territory, and nothing less than a couple of playoff series wins will keep its fan base happy and justify keeping the core together.