Veteran signings falter, leading to a last-place standings. Rethinking the 2025-26 season, writers debate emphasizing youth versus a playoff push.
The Winnipeg Jets have a problem on their hands.
No, it’s not the fact that they started the season so poorly that they currently sit 32nd in the 32-team league after finishing No. 1 overall last year.
It’s the fact that the offseason gamble general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff took in signing aging, veteran forwards really has not seemed to fill the cup exactly as planned.
Jonathan Toews – the biggest splash, and gamble – has slowly found his way with the Jets, but is clearly not up to the task of full-time second line centreman duties.
Gustav Nyquist – the player who recorded 75 points just two seasons back – has yet to score a single goal for Winnipeg and has just eight points in his 31 games played. He’s been a healthy scratch more often than not in recent weeks.
Tanner Pearson – now a veteran, Cup-winning forward who is on his fifth team in the past seven season – is not operating at the pace that most remember from his championship days with the Los Angeles Kings.
Cole Koepke – quite possibly the strongest and fastest player of the four offseason forward signings – has been a healthy scratch 15 times.
So, after all that, the Jets remain last in the league and just got themselves out of a nasty slide that saw 11-straight losses. Of course, with the timing of the slide co-existing with the annual World Junior Hockey Championship, fans from Winnipeg got a front row seat to some of the game’s up and coming stars down in Minnesota.
Winnipeg’s scouting staff and managerial team now have to make the decision on the minds of everyone within Manitoba: Is 2025-26 a wash, or do you attempt the 2019 St. Louis Blues’ miraculous Stanley Cup run during the second half of the season to which the Blues went from last to the eventual champion during a six-month run.
For most, the answer is a resounding wash.
It’s time to tank it out.
Cheveldayoff was all but committal during his mid-season press conference to ‘doing what’s best for the team’.
What that means is up for interpretation.
While some may argue the Jets’ best bet is to get ahead and land trade or two in the coming weeks prior to the Olympic break to help get the team back in the hunt, the reality of the situation is this: Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota are the No. 1, 2 and 3 ranked teams in the league. They are all from the Central Division. If there ever was a year to dodge a postseason matchup with one of them, it would be this spring.
Winnipeg would at best be playing as the No. 1 or No. 2 wild card team in the Western Conference. Home ice advantage is critical in the playoffs, so a seven-game series in Colorado or Dallas would not be much fun.
It is time to encourage the tank job and hope the ping pong balls land in Winnipeg’s favour at the draft lottery. A Top 3 pick in a relatively strong draft would go a long way for a franchise that has not had a high draft selection since taking Patrik Laine No. 2 overall in 2016.
Laine brought a lot of talent and excitement to the Jets back then, and someone of the stature of Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg would be an immediate fix to the team’s second line.
Forget going out and buying a rental – who in all likelihood wouldn’t be interested in staying in Winnipeg long-term – but rather continue the draft and develop model, but for goodness sake, don’t forget the second part.
Waive the veterans.
And possibly, the white flag.
Carter's Take: Play The Youth#
A critical decision needs to be made on the long-term trajectory of the Jets’ roster.
Players like Nino Niederreiter, Vlad Namestnikov, Gus Nyquist, Tanner Pearson and Jonathan Toews will likely not be around much longer.
If Luke Schenn wants out, let him go. Colin Miller can fill his place any day. And after that, Elias Salomonsson and Ville Heinola.
Trade Logan Stanley. His value is at an all-time high. Get something back before he becomes an unrestricted free agent this July.
Forget loading up on other pieces from other teams. Now is not the time to bring in other veteran forwards clinging to the lifelines of their careers.
Give Colby Barlow a chance. Let Brayden Yager cook.
A youthful team is a fun team.
There will be growing pains.., ahem, San Jose… But it could be a lot of entertaining years ahead.
Imagine this youthful lineup:
Connor - Schiefele - Vilardi
Stenberg - Perfetti - Barron
Iafallo - Chibrikov - Ford
Zhilkin - Lowry - Barlow
Morrissey - DeMelo
Samberg - Pionk
Salomonsson - Heinola
Hellebuyck
Comrie
Milic/DiVincentiis
Jake's Take: Big Swings, Build Now For Later#
The core is locked up for years to come. While some are thinking the Jets may need to rebuild, what the team really needs is a mild retool.
They have impactful pieces in their lineup that simply aren't producing but could with the right players around them. That also goes for players coming in that people are worried about.
Put in the right situation, both players could become producers like putting a former 55-point player in Mangiapane with the top line forwards in Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor could make him a 50-plus point player once again.
Kotkaniemi appears to be a draft bust after going third overall in the 2018 Draft and has showed little of the upside he was drafted for. However, many teams still believe he has an impact player within him and put in the right spot, he could produce 40 or more points like he has before.
You place the young 25-year-old center with lots of potential in a second line center spot where the Jets desperately need help and line him up with impact players like Gabe Vilardi and Cole Perfetti.
Winnipeg continues Carter's plan where they call up the rookies, send down or ship out veterans and this lineup in the back half of the season looks entirely different and one full of promise.
Potential lineup with Mangiapane, Kotkaniemi
Connor - Scheifele - Mangiapane
Perfetti - Kotkaniemi - Vilardi
Barron - Lowry - Yager
Iafallo - Lambert - Chibrikov
Extra: Toews, Zhilkin
Morrissey - DeMelo
Samberg - Pionk
Salomonsson - Miller
Extra: Heinola
Hellebuyck
Milic/DiVincentiis
Called Up: Yager, Lambert, Chibrikov
Traded/Sent Down: Niederreiter, Nyquist, Namestnikov, Pearson, Koepke, Schenn, Stanley
You go through the season with this squad and you see what you have from many of your top prospects outside of Yager and Barlow, who I had both remaining in Manitoba for the remainder of the season before earning a call-up next season.
This lineup will be able to give Chevy a look into the future and get an extended look at some of these guys facing NHL competition. He will then be able to decide if certain prospects can make the cut or if they don't have it and can go into free agency knowing what holes in the lineup to fill up.
The hope would also be that this sort of lineup would lead to a potential run at a top three pick in a loaded draft class where the Jets can earn a difference making player for the future.
2026-27 Projected lineup (Excluding Potential Free Agent Adds):
Connor - Scheifele - Mangiapane
Perfetti - Kotkaniemi - Vilardi
Stenberg - Lowry - Yager
Barron - Lambert - Chibrikov
Extra: Zhilkin, Iafallo
Morrissey - DeMelo
Samberg - Pionk
Salomonsson - Heinola
Extra: Miller
Hellebuyck
Milic/DiVincentiis
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