LAST SEASON

It still doesn’t feel real, but the Winnipeg Jets are the reigning Presidents’ Trophy winners. The 2024-25 season will rank for some time among the very best in Jets history — yes, including both iterations of the franchise — with the team winning a record 56 games en route to a staggering 116-point campaign. They still aren’t without their flaws, but the Jets did a lot last season to establish themselves as legitimate contenders. If nothing else, they gained a ton of respect around the league.

You can’t talk about the 2024-25 Jets without first mentioning Connor Hellebuyck, who won both the Vezina Trophy and Hart Trophies after putting together inarguably the greatest individual season of the Jets 2.0 era. The 32-year-old goaltender stands alone as the very best at his position today, having recorded back-to-back-back seasons at or above a .920 save percentage in a league where scoring has skyrocketed. Hellebuyck put up his best numbers to date in 2024-25, compiling a remarkable 47-12-3 record to go with eight shutouts and a .925 save percentage in 63 games. He was an extremely deserving MVP pick, even if his playoff performance left a lot to be desired.

The Jets snuck past the St. Louis Blues in the first round of the 2025 playoffs by the thinnest of margins, winning Game 7 in overtime after scoring a tying goal with just seconds remaining in the third period. They fell to the Dallas Stars in six games in the second round, ending their season — and with it, Nikolaj Ehlers’ tenure with the Jets. The Danish winger signed with the Carolina Hurricanes in free agency this past summer, leaving a hole that the Jets have yet to adequately fill.

As long as Hellebuyck continues his dominance in the regular season, the Jets will be a safe bet to make the playoffs. They’ve got a great defensive group in front of him, even if it’s currently a little depleted by injuries. But for the first time in a while, the Jets have major questions to answer about their forward group, and they’ll be in tough to repeat as Central Division champs, let alone leading the entire league in points.

KEY ADDITIONS & DEPARTURES

Additions

Jonathan Toews, C
Gustav Nyquist, RW
Tanner Pearson, LW
Cole Koepke, LW

Departures

Nikolaj Ehlers, LW (Car)
Mason Appleton, RW (Det)
Brandon Tanev, LW (Utah)
Rasmus Kupari, C (HC Lugano)

OFFENSE

The Jets tied the Stars and Colorado Avalanche for third in the entire NHL with 277 goals last season. Kyle Connor has increasingly served as Winnipeg’s primary offensive catalyst in recent years and continued in that role last year, setting a new career high with 97 points (41 goals, 56 assists) in 82 regular-season games before leading the team with 17 points in 13 playoff contests. The 28-year-old winger is now entering the final year of his contract and will be extra motivated to put himself in line for a major payday, whether it’s in Winnipeg or somewhere else.

Mark Scheifele, Gabe Vilardi, and Cole Perfetti all remain in key roles for this Jets team, but their secondary scoring took a big hit over the summer as Ehlers departed for Carolina on a seven-year deal. Consistently overlooked for top-line duty by pretty much all of his Jets coaches, Ehlers nevertheless remained one of the league’s most efficient scorers throughout his time in Winnipeg and will be very difficult to replace. Bless them, the Jets tried, but can two veterans on the wrong side of 35 really make up for the loss of a top-six talent in his prime?

The Jets went out and made Gustav Nyquist and Jonathan Toews (!) their two key UFA acquisitions this summer, with the latter making his return to the NHL after a two-year absence. Had the Jets made these moves 10 years ago, we’d have crowned them the uncontested off-season champions — but, alas, it’s 2025. Nyquist, 36, scored 28 points in 79 games split between the Nashville Predators and Minnesota Wild last season; Toews, 37, last suited up for the Chicago Blackhawks in April 2023 and dealt with a variety of different health issues in the years before his sabbatical. The Jets would be asking a lot of these two players even if they hadn’t lost Ehlers.

Making matters more difficult, the Jets will be without captain and two-way force Adam Lowry for the first few weeks of the season as works to make his way back from off-season hip surgery. Toews may also be a little banged up. To even things out up front, don’t be surprised if the Jets assign more duties to someone like Vilardi, fresh off signing a six-year, $7.5 million AAV contract this summer.

DEFENSE

It’s already been six years since the Dustin Byfuglien era ended in Winnipeg, and while it took him a while to pick up the baton, Josh Morrissey has gradually established himself as the new bona fide No. 1 defenseman on the block in Winnipeg. It’s been extraordinary to watch Morrissey reinvent himself from a skilled puck-mover who needed a bit of sheltering to a do-it-all two-way dynamo and Norris Trophy contender, but that’s exactly what’s happened over the past three seasons and change.

Morrissey probably wouldn’t be the defenseman he is today without the steadying presence of Dylan DeMelo on his right side. Since arriving from the Ottawa Senators in 2020, DeMelo has seen his role in Winnipeg increase with each passing season, to the point that he’s firmly established himself as the Devon Toews to Morrissey’s Cale Makar. He may not have the offensive upside of some of the league’s other No. 2 defenders, but DeMelo is as steady as they come and is the perfect foil to Morrissey on the top pair.

The Jets will start the 2025-26 season without Dylan Samberg, who is expected to miss the first six to eight weeks while recovering from a broken wrist. It’s a big loss for a Jets team that got a ton of mileage out of the Samberg/Neal Pionk pairing last season, to the point they rewarded both players with hefty contract extensions earlier this year. Did you know that Pionk now makes more than Morrissey, and Samberg makes more than DeMelo? That’s the beauty of having two strong and balanced top-four pairings. (In Samberg’s absence, the Jets will likely turn to Haydn Fleury, Luke Schenn, and even Logan Stanley to pick up more of the slack).

GOALTENDING

Connor Hellebuyck, end of story. The Jets’ workhorse will likely surpass the 350-win mark for his career this upcoming season and remains under contract with the club through 2031 at an $8.5 million cap hit, which looks like a bargain in the wake of his MVP campaign. It’s hard to fathom where the Jets would be without Hellebuyck, and thankfully for them, they won’t have to know the answer to that question for a long, long time. He’s the best goaltender in the NHL, and he’s all theirs. With only the playoffs left for him to conquer, expect Hellebuyck to be at the top of his game yet again as he enters his 11th season in Winnipeg.

Eric Comrie returns as Hellebuyck’s backup in 2025-26 after starting his third Jets tenure with a bang last year. The 30-year-old netminder, known for his good-natured and talkative demeanor off the ice, put up a solid .914 save percentage and two shutouts in 20 games with the 2024-25 Jets. He didn’t get much run support, as evidenced by his pedestrian 9-10-1 record, but Comrie proved himself more than capable of holding up his end of the bargain while giving Hellebuyck a much-needed respite every now and then. Comrie is entering the back half of a two-year contract and is eligible for an extension at any time.

COACHING

Scott Arniel returns for his second year as head coach in Winnipeg and his fourth behind the bench, having previously served as an associate coach under Rick Bowness from 2021 to 2023. A second-round pick of the original Jets in 1981, Arniel played in Winnipeg for the majority of his career as an NHL winger and topped out at 56 points with the club in the 1983-84 season. He wrapped up his playing days with three seasons as a member of the Manitoba Moose in the late 1990s before retiring and becoming a coach for the team, eventually becoming their head coach in 2006.

Arniel parlayed a run to the 2009 Calder Cup Final with the Moose into his first NHL head coaching gig with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2010. He led the Blue Jackets to an 81-point season in 2010-11 and was on pace to fall short of that mark by a significant margin the following year before being fired at the midway mark. From there, Arniel spent more than a decade as an assistant or associate for various teams before returning to Manitoba with the Jets. You can bet he’s pretty safe after winning the Presidents’ Trophy in his first year as their head coach, although it also means expectations will be through the roof in year two.

ROOKIES

The Jets have a pretty veteran-heavy roster as it stands, and seeing as they have legitimate championship aspirations, Arniel won’t be going out of his way to let prospects audition for roster spots without a good reason. That being said, the Jets do have a decent collection of young talent, even if the Moose didn’t exactly utilize it to the greatest degree last season (they finished 25-41-6 and missed the playoffs).

Nikita Chibrikov is likely the closest of the Jets’ forward prospects to making the jump. The 22-year-old winger doesn’t stand out physically (5’10”, 170 pounds) but plays an up-tempo game centered around puck control and playmaking. Although he’s not the most consistent player, Chibrikov has more than enough offense in his game to translate to the NHL level and could be the first forward called upon if one of the Jets’ incumbents struggles or gets hurt.

There’s also Elias Salomonsson, a smooth-skating right-shot defenseman coming off a terrific rookie season with the Moose. Daily Faceoff prospect guru Steven Ellis ranked Salomonsson as the Jets’ No. 2 prospect this summer, behind only Brayden Yager, and described Salomonsson in his write-up as “a great skater with a big frame” and “as defensively sound as you’ll find in this system.” Don’t be surprised to see Salomonsson eventually slot in behind DeMelo and Pionk on the right side for the Jets.

BURNING QUESTIONS

1. Can Cole Perfetti do more? With Ehlers no longer in the picture, it tracks that the Jets might look to shift gears a little bit up front. Would it make sense for them to embrace two forward “pairs,” with Connor and Scheifele together on the top line and Perfetti with Vilardi on the second? Regardless of how they approach this upcoming season, the Jets need Perfetti to remain on his current upward trajectory. He reached 50 points for the first time in his career last year; now, they need him to show even more of the offensive flair he displayed with the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit.

2. Will Nino Niederreiter step up? It always feels like Niederreiter is more productive than he actually is, but the Swiss winger has scored 50 points in a season only twice in his career and is coming off back-to-back years in the 30s with the Jets. Signed through 2027 at a $4 million cap hit, Niederreiter is likely a better bet than Nyquist on the second line and is one of a handful of Jets who could play a bigger role with Ehlers out of the picture. This would be a great time for Niederreiter to score more than 25 goals for the first time.

3. Is it finally Ville Heinola’s time? The Jets drafted Heinola in the first round all the way back in 2019, and he’s played a total of 53 NHL games in the six seasons since. The young Finn is undeniably talented, but he’s never been given much of a leash by his coaches in the ‘Peg. With Samberg on the shelf to start, is this finally the year that Heinola gets an extended look with meaningful minutes?

PREDICTION

It was already shocking when the Jets won the Presidents’ Trophy last year. For that reason, we don’t expect them to do it again, although they should still get to the 100-point mark. Even without Ehlers, this is a very good team with a cheat code between the pipes, and Arniel still has a wide variety of intriguing options at his disposal as he looks to reshape his top six. Whether it’s Perfetti, Vilardi, Toews, Nyquist, Niederreiter, Vlad Namestnikov, or Alex Iafallo getting the bump, the Jets should still be able to make do with what they have.

The Central Division is as stacked as it gets, and it’ll always be a grind for any of those top five teams as they jostle for prime positioning. We’ll say the Jets fall short of winning the Central but still finish in a divisional playoff spot, with a solid shot at locking down home-ice advantage for the second consecutive year — and then, Hellebuyck will exorcise his playoff demons and lead them on a deep run.

Advanced stats courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and MoneyPuck

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