The Winnipeg Jets are in preparation for the 2025-26 NHL season.
No, it isn't October yet, but it also isn't July 1st or June 27th anymore. The NHL's free agency period has nearly come to a crawling halt, while the 2025 NHL Draft - as weird as it may have been - is now a distant memory from two weeks' past.
Heck, even the annual Jets' development camp is long gone.
Sascha Boumedienne has been selected late in the first round, and the Jets have their top pick for the future.
He joins the group of Colby Barlow, Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov and Brayden Yager as the team's highest ranked prospects.
But beyond that, the active roster of the Jets is aging.
Data released this past week based on average age of rostered players across all 32 NHL clubs has Winnipeg right on the cusp of the bottom third, when dividing the league into threes.
- Montreal - 25.75
- Buffalo - 26.51
- Chicago - 26.62
- Ottawa - 26.88
- Philadelphia - 27.32
- Calgary - 27.63
- Anaheim - 27.71
- Columbus - 27.75
- Boston - 27.87
- NY Rangers - 27.91
- New Jersey - 28.00
- St. Louis - 28.02
- Dallas - 28.21
- Carolina - 28.25
- Toronto - 28.28
- Vegas - 28.42
- Utah - 28.43
- Minnesota - 28.43
- San Jose - 28.47
- Vancouver - 28.52
- Winnipeg - 28.68
- Seattle - 28.89
- Detroit - 28.90
- Los Angeles - 29.02
- Nashville - 29.06
- Tampa Bay - 29.08
- Washington - 29.13
- Edmonton - 29.19
- Florida - 29.49
- NY Islanders - 29.82
- Colorado - 29.88
- Pittsburah - 30.18
With an average age of 28.68 - nearly 29 - the Jets will be older and slower than that of last season. But no, older doesn't always mean worse. For instance, Edmonton and Florida, which have both been in the Stanley Cup Final the past two seasons are ranked No.'s 28 and 29, respectively. While the always challenging Colorado Avalanche are second-last with an average age of 29.88.
Sure, the signing of 37-year-old Jonathan Toews didn't help the matte this offseason, neither did the loss of 29-year-old Nikolaj Ehlers, but the 15 years experience and Cup-winning pedigree that the veteran long-time captain brings to the fold will surely be worth the extra age digits gained in the exchange.
No, the signing of Toews is not a guarantee, well, neither is his contract. But what we mean is that Winnipeg putting a one-year commitment on the local St. Vital product isn't necessarily going to bring the team vast playoff success and a Stanley Cup in 11 months.
He might not even make it through training camp.
But if all goes well, Toews will work his way to the second line and help fill that void left by Ehlers in hopes of putting together a new chapter in his legacy story.
The Jets' top line age of 25-32-28 is right on the team's average, meaning the trio of Gabe Vilardi, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor will be the gold standard as the season goes. Depth options including Nino Neiderreiter (32), Vlad Namestnikov (32), Gus Nyquist (35), Alex Iafallo (31) and Tanner Pearson (32) will certainly slow things down as far as the third and fourth lines go.
Cole Perfetti (23) will remain the lone forward under-25, unless Lambert or Yager make the jump, that is.
The majority of the Jets' defence will also have hit the 30-year-old mark by season's end, with just Logan Stanley, Haydn Fleury and Dylan Samberg finishing the year below that plateau.
Connor Hellebuyck (32) and Eric Comrie (30) are both now in their respective primes, to which the Jets will need to continue monitoring Hellebuyck's usage after back-to-back Vezina Trophy wins paired with postseason failure.
Despite their age, the Jets do still have some serious speed, but the loss of their puck-carrying, zone-entry specialist will be felt. Once again, Connor, Vilardi, Scheifele and Perfetti will be called upon to fill the void. Morrissey, Pionk and Fleury will be relied on to move pucks on the back-end, while Schenn, DeMelo and Samberg will hold down the fort behind them.
Should the roster not undergo much more construction prior to puck drop, it will be nearing an average of 30 come the postseason, and 31 in the playoffs of 2027.
Time isn't exactly on GM Kevin Cheveldayoff's hands, and for fans in Winnipeg, the time to win is now.