The Winnipeg Jets Five Reasons for Improvement Next Season
The Winnipeg Jets success in 2017-2018 was impressive and unexpected. Even most Jets optimists didn’t see the team finishing second in the whole league. But as with every team, there are reasons they could get better.
The Winnipeg Jets will have a tough road if they want to secure 114 points again. Maybe it won’t happen. They could still theoretically improve, but fail to reach the same record.
I don’t think fans particularly care about the whole ‘regular season points’ bit, as long as the Winnipeg Jets make the playoffs. It would be hard to see them missing it, but stranger things have happened.
But no team is perfect. Even those who have plenty of things break right. Everyone’s missing something. There are reasons any team can improve. I’m not going to sit here and tell you the Jets will have a better season in 2018-2019.
That would be foolish. I hope they have a better postseason. But for a regular season? Just make the playoffs. But hey, maybe they can be a powerhouse that wins 55 games.
We’re here to think about what would make a 120 point season something within reach. What would need to break right for that to happen for the Jets? It’s certainly possible, if not unlikely. Let’s find out what it would take.
Keep in mind that this will be the “Walt Disney Level Optimist” outlook for the Jets season. I don’t often wax poetic, but here we sit.
We’ve talked about the draft success of Kevin Cheveldayoff and Co., and it can’t be understated how important that was for the Winnipeg Jets development. But, there’s more in the pipeline.
The easiest, and cheapest, way to fill roster spots on your NHL team is from your own farm. Every team has prospects. Some of them are impressive and full of potential, and some of them are on the Rangers.
But the Jets have a lot left on the farm. Or at least in prospect-dom. The name that comes to the forefront is Jack Roslovic. The 21 year old forward actually played in 31 games last season, which surprised me.
But! He scored five goals and 14 total points, all at even strength. Nothing impressive there. Roslovic is listed as a center but it doesn’t appear the Jets played him there, often, and it reads as though his skill set is better suited on the wing.
He’s fast, he can pass the puck, and he possesses a decent shot. If the Jets weren’t fighting for the division, he may have earned more time last season, especially some powerplay minutes. But he could take a huge, Kyle Connor shaped step this coming season.
Kristian Vesalainen is another player who could see extended time. A big dude with a wicked shot (sound familiar?), he could be a poor man’s Patrik Laine for the bottom six.
Depth is important. Good depth is much more important. If both of these players show what they’re capable of this season, the Jets won’t miss a beat.
Young talent is what got the Winnipeg Jets where they are. No doubt about it. But those players are still young, some not even in their “prime years”.
The Winnipeg Jets leading scorer was Blake Wheeler, who is 31. The next four on the list? Ages, 20, 22, 25, 21. That would be Patrik Laine, Nikolaj Ehlers, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor, respectively.
You know what players do as they reach their mid-20s? Theoretically, they improve. It isn’t just the forwards. Jacob Trouba is 24, Josh Morrissey just 22. That’s a lot of room to grow for a lot of players that are already really good.
Defenseman especially, tend improve with more experience. Knowing where to go, what lanes to cut down and what pass to make before you even recover the puck. That sort of thing just gets better with age, and they’re still young enough to retain their top physical capability.
Adam Lowry, Andrew Copp and even Nic Petan are still young enough to improve and be really good role players. Heck, one of them could even break out.
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Laine can shoot with the best of them, but 50 goals isn’t out of the question. He’s going to hit it at some point in his career, why not now? Ehlers became more of a goal scorer, but his point total dropped just a bit. If he keeps the goals (or adds) and tacks on a few more assists, he’s a stud.
Kyle Connor just had his coming out party. Can he add to his 31 goals? Mark Scheifele is already a star, but he could play a full season. That would be nifty. Either way, you don’t have to squint to see how this team could theoretically see substantial gains from most of their roster.
Being the team that finishes second in the standings after being labeled a fringe contender, one would think not a lot went wrong. And that was true for the Jets. But it wasn’t like nothing went wrong.
The Steve Mason experiment, for one, failed. Injuries played a big part but still, it was not a success. Bryan Little also was a disappointment.
On the surface, the three year point totals of Bryan Little doesn’t say a whole lot. Seasons of 42, 47 and 43 points. Consistent! Except, the first two came in 57 and 59 games, while the last was a full 82 game set. Not great!
When your PPG numbers go drop .28 points, it’s a bad sign. Especially when you’re just entering your 30s. Age-related decline should not yet have set in. And the Winnipeg Jets gave him a big extension, so you know they want him to get back to where he was.
If he plays like he did just the year before, his point totals will be in the mid sixties. Adding 20 points from someone who might be your second-line center will be a big plus. It makes an acquisition of Paul Stastny unnecessary (although still helpful).
I don’t know why Little’s production slipped. This was his lowest per-game point output since the Jets moved to Winnipeg. He wasn’t significantly better in the early part of the season, so I won’t put fatigue out there.
It didn’t seem like bad luck, either, as his shooting percentage was just a shade below his career average. Maybe it was just one of those years, and not a decline. That would give the team a big boost from the Little guy.
The strength of the Winnipeg Jets was their goaltending. The offense was always going to be good, the defense was better than expected, but still expected to be good. Nobody saw this coming from Helly.
Connor Hellebuyck was the runner up for the Vezina and set a record for wins for American goalies. How could this position possibly improve?
Well, there’s the world in which Hellebuyck is just this good. It could happen. There are plenty of great goaltenders, why can’t he be one of them?
He could have a true historic season. At 25, he’s still young enough where improvement could be expected. Another season with a full workload and experience couldn’t hurt. The playoff showing was strong, too.
Improving on a .924 save percentage wouldn’t be impossible. That’s a really good number, but it was only 10th in the NHL. It could be done. Theoretically, his workload will decrease. He lead the NHL in minutes and games played by a goalie.
One reason for his tough workload? His backups couldn’t be trusted. Non-Hellebuyck goaltenders had a .900 save percentage this past season. That is: bad. Will Laurent Brossoit help that? Probably not, but maybe.
Eric Comrie, Steve Mason and Michael Hutchinson were bad. Comrie is the only one still around, and he’s a good prospect. Maybe he takes a step forward and splits backup duty with Brossoit. The latter wouldn’t be the first goalie to underperform in Edmonton (Or skater).
The backup situation should improve. The starter situation might be better off because of it. Helly’s gonna need that rest for a playoff run.
The Winnipeg Jets were living on borrowed time last season. They weren’t supposed to do the things they were, so everyone was just enjoying the ride and hoping for the best. That won’t be true this season.
Expectations are high. The team knows what it is capable of, and so does the whole city of Winnipeg. The pressure is on.
But you know what? That’s a good thing. This team fought hard and reached the NHL Western Conference Finals. That’s easier said than done. They dispatched the only team with a better regular season record than them, as well. With a game seven win on the road.
That’s big game experience. In the NHL, more so than any other sport I’ve seen or covered, people prioritize championship caliber in a player. Oh this dude is a good player? No Cups, no respect. It’s a tough way to look at a team sport, but here we are.
The Jets didn’t win anything, that’s true. But they got further than anyone expected. That much is undeniable. But now? We expect a championship. They expect a championship. They’re good enough to go out and get one, too.
The heat is on. But that will only provide fuel for these Jets.
Next: Jets Ink a New Backup Goalie
Will all of these things go the Jets way this coming season? I wouldn’t count on it, but it’s fun to dream about how this team could improve. There’s a lot of ways to get worse, too, and we’ll consider that soon. For now, dream big and dream well.