The Winnipeg Jets don't have to worry about their elite goaltender going anywhere anymore, but they do have one top-six forward facing pressure and trade speculation.

As we settle into the NHL’s 2024 off-season, it’s as good a time as any to kick off another year of THN.com's Hot Seat Radar. 

Team by team, we'll identify one player, coach or GM who is on the hot seat as someone with all kinds of pressure to produce positive results or face major consequences. We'll also feature another individual on the cold seat as someone who's so valuable to their team's success that they aren't going anywhere.

Let’s start things off in reverse alphabetical order of NHL teams by examining the Winnipeg Jets:

Jets’ Hot Seat: Nikolaj Ehlers, LW

With 25 goals and 61 points in 82 games this past season, Ehlers was one of Winnipeg’s best generators of offense. But he’s on the hot seat because of his contractual status.

Ehlers is heading into the final season of his current contract, meaning Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff could deal him by next season’s trade deadline or sooner. 

There would be no shortage of suitors for Ehlers, either as a pure rental this season or as a long-term solution for a new team. His $6-million annual salary isn’t so bulky as to scare away many teams, and even with a raise beginning in 2025-26, Ehlers is still a high-value target who will create interest from inside and outside of Winnipeg.

The 28-year-old Dane is about as reliable as they come for the Jets, but the way Ehlers responds to the pressure of being in a contract year will go a long way toward where he plies his trade over the long haul. He won’t be able to avoid speculation about his future, but if he can compartmentalize that speculation, he should be once again a key contributor — either in Winnipeg or somewhere else.

Jets’ Cold Seat: Connor Hellebuyck, G

Heading into last season, there was concern that Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele would leave the Jets as UFAs. But Cheveldayoff, Hellebuyck and Scheifele put those fears to rest when they signed seven-year, $59.5-million contracts that begin in 2024-25. 

Hellebuyck, in particular, put his mouth where his money is, winning the Vezina Trophy as the top goalie in 2023-24 with a 2.39 goals-against average and .921 save percentage. And although he didn’t have a good post-season, Hellebuyck is really in his prime right now.

The 31-year-old will have a different understudy in Jets newcomer Kaapo Kahkonen this coming season, but Hellebuyck’s status as a premier workhorse – he appeared in a whopping 60 games last season – means he’ll once again do the bulk of the heavy lifting. 

Winnipeg’s group of defensemen took a hit depth-wise this summer, but Hellebuyck is a formidable last line of defense, and he’s locked into a deal with the Jets that lasts through the 2030-31 campaign. He’s about as safe as anyone can be in Winnipeg, and his degree of success will dictate how well the Jets perform as a whole.

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