After a franchise-best year with elite offense and the league’s top defense, Winnipeg must replicate championship-caliber numbers.
The Winnipeg Jets are coming off a franchise-best season, where they finished with a 56-22-4 record but fell short of reaching the mountain top as they were eliminated in the second round by the Dallas Stars in six games. The Jets were tied for the third in goals per game last season with a 3.35 average and the league's best defence that posted a 2.32 goals against average.
Despite posting marvelous regular season numbers, it begs the question of what is needed to be considered a contender once again. The Jets lost key forward Nikolaj Ehlers and will need to replace his production. There are certain numbers they will need to stay competitive in if they want to stay in the picture. After looking back at the last 25 Stanley Cup Champions, we found common themes that teams will look to replicate.
Over the past 25 seasons, 17 Stanley Cup champions ranked in the top ten for goals per game, while 20 of them finished in the top ten for fewest goals against per game. Reaching top-ten status in both categories, as the Jets did this past season, is relatively rare as only 13 of the last 25 champions managed that feat.
However, strong performance in both areas isn’t always necessary to win. The Kings captured the Cup in 2012 and 2014 despite having one of the league’s weakest offenses, ranking 29th and 26th respectively. Similarly, the Blackhawks won in 2015 with only the 17th-best offense. Poor defensive numbers can also be overcome as Carolina won the Cup in 2006 with the 19th-ranked defense. And in 2009 and 2017, Sidney Crosby’s high-powered Penguins won it all despite finishing 17th in goals against average.
To match the standards of the last 25 Stanley Cup champions, the Jets will need to average 3.08 goals per game, which equates to roughly a top nine offensive ranking. Given their recent performance, that benchmark should be well within reach next season. On the defensive side, they will need to maintain a goals-against average of 2.61 or finish within the league’s top seven. That should not be an issue, as the Jets have had the best defense in the league over the past two seasons.
These numbers are within reach for the Jets next season and as long as they can hit the target rates, they should be considered contenders once again.
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