Winnipeg Jets: 3 Crazy Stats/Facts From This Season

Did you know it won’t take the Winnipeg Jets a whole lot to hit 100 points?  Have you wondered what’s going on with Big Buff statistically this season? We’ve got it all covered plus way more!

What’s up with Dustin Byfuglien’s stats this season?

Dustin Byfuglien hasn’t been his normal self this season. He hasn’t put up very many goals. He was injured earlier on, and just hasn’t found the scoresheet in terms of goals this year. An average season for Buff is about the high teens for goals (17,18,19), high twenty’s to mid thirty’s for assists (29+), and about low fifties for points. At his current pace, high teens for goals is looking like a huge stretch, and low fifties for points is a bit far fetched. The thing we don’t realize is that Buff is making up for his goals with a whole lot of assists.

I quickly figured out the formula to prorate a players stats. Let’s just pretend Byfuglien wasn’t injured at all this season, and we just finished all 82 games. Technically, (He could go on a hot or cold streak, so this is bound to change) Byfuglien should have put up 5.3 goals, 42.7 assists, and somewhere around a rounded 48 points. I just rounded everything else, so now he has 5 goals, 43 assists, and 48 points. Statistically, Buff has somewhat made up his lack of goals with assists.

100 points isn’t far away

Right now we are sitting second in the Central Division, and only because of games in hand. Us and Nashville both sit at the top with 77 points. We are one game in hand and 10 points ahead of the first place team not in a wild card or top three divisional spot in the Western Conference. That’s the Anaheim Ducks who knocked us out in a sweep last time we were in the playoffs.

Go back to last year, it only took the last place wild card team in the West (Predators) 94 points to make the playoffs. The next team behind them was us, the Winnipeg Jets, with 87 points. Now if you prorate the Ducks points to see what they should have at the end of the season, it’s 93 points. 93 points Vs. 87 points in the same spot, one out of the wild card, is a huge difference. It just means it’s a little more competitive. Basically to make the playoffs, the Jets need anything better than 93 points which is 94+. Technically to get 94 points, we’d have to go on a real cold streak and we’d still be in.

Now what about 100 points? It’s not far away whatsoever. The Jets only need a .500 record to get 101 points. That just shows that we shouldn’t leave our good play until the end of the season.

Nic Petan’s statistic production is regressing

It’s the start of the 2015/16 season. I’m looking at Winnipeg Jets prospects stats, and I stumble upon Nic Petan. Petan was once a 120 point player in the WHL, but never was able to repeat in the two seasons following. Looking at his stats on hockeydb.com, I found out he’s been regressing. The first year after his 120 point season wasn’t overly significant, but there wasn’t 120+ points. Nic Petan’s major drop was in his final WHL season, with only 89 points.

He failed to impress in his first NHL season. Nic went straight from the ‘dub to the NHL, which wasn’t working. The Jets sent him down and he didn’t come back to the NHL until a few games into the next season. His point production technically remained the same, so he didn’t make the Jets right out of the gate this year. He was called up due to injuries, he was and remains invisible. His production has yet again gone down and failed to impress fans.

Next: Could James Neal and Patrick Maroon be on the way to Winnipeg?

Where we went wrong

Honestly, developing players is a very hard task with a lot of judgement required. Obviously the Winnipeg Jets misjudged his NHL readiness in that first season. I feel like that’s what really hurt his development.