Winnipeg Jets Dynamic Duo is an NHL Throwback Pairing

The Winnipeg Jets, in any normal season, would look to have two slam-dunk Hart Trophy contenders. But instead, they just are one of the teams ahead of the curve in the new NHL.

The Winnipeg Jets are lucky to have Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler. Any team would be. Wheeler’s on a mission to make everyone realize his five year extension with an $8.25MM cap hit was less of a mistake than it was an underpay.

The dynamic duo have a combined 33 goals and 114 points in 45 games a piece. Wheeler (9G, 39A) and Scheifele (24G, 32A) are on pace for 106 and 102 points, respectively.

It would be amazing for the duo to break 100 points, and the first time teammates have done it since the ’09-’10 Washington Capitals, who had Alex Ovechkin and Niklas Backstrom break triple digits.

But as I was prepared to crown them, I realized they’re just part of a shift in the way the NHL game is played. In the 2015-2016 NHL season, just one player broke even 90 points. Patrick Kane lead the way with 109.

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The following year, only one player broke 90. It was Connor McDavid this time, with an even 100. Last season? Three players hit triple digits in McDavid, Nikita Kucherov and Claude Giroux.

We’re on pace for close to ten this year. Last season, Blake Wheeler’s 91 points came in at ninth overall, where it would’ve been sole possession of second place in either of the two previous campaigns.

In fact, his 68 assists topped the NHL that year (along with Giroux), but this season? Kucherov is on pace for 94 assists. He already has 53, just 15 short of last year’s leader, with 37 games remaining. Roughly half the season.

Blake Wheeler, even, already has 49 and is on pace for 89 assists. Eighty-nine assists! That was the second highest POINT TOTAL just a few years ago. The NHL is changing. Offense is on the rise, and like with baseball a few years ago, nobody has any explanation yet.

Are the pucks juiced? The sticks corked? Who could know?

I came in expecting to see that the Jets had two players on pace for 100 points, a monumental achievement. And then I realized that Tampa, Calgary, Edmonton and Colorado are all doing the same. And in most cases, at a better clip than the Jets duo.

Which explains why I had trouble finding a reasonable Vezina contender. Scoring is on the rise, ladies and gentlemen. And sure enough, goals per game are at their highest since 2005-2006 (3.05 to 3.09), the first time we’ve exceeded three a game since then.

And, obviously, save percentages are down to the lowest point since 2008-2009 (.908 to .908), the first time they’ve dipped under .911 since. With all the worry circa 2011 that scoring was down so much, things have shifted recently. But what’s the cause?

Is it more talent in the forward groups? Less in the goaltending ranks? Did the NHL step in to do something? Are the new goalie pads making their difference felt?

Maybe I’ve been making too much of Connor Hellebucyk’s struggles, as the whole crop of NHL netminders seems to be regressing. Don’t believe me? Look for yourself.

Frederik Andersen is the only goaltender to have played 30 games and boast a save percentage over .920 (.923). In fact, the next highest is .916, with uh…Jimmy Howard?

That group includes Marc-Andre Fleury (.911), Martin Jones (.903), Pekka Rinne (.915), Henrik Lundqvist (.907), Braden Holtby (.912) and more. You can’t win with strong goaltending this year, apparently.

It’s an offensive league now. If you don’t have a high-powered offense, someone does. It’s the new wave of NHL hockey. Chicks dig the power play goal?