The Winnipeg Jets Five Reasons for Improvement Next Season
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.