You’re all thinking it. Don’t @ me about it, but I’ll say it. Those watching the Winnipeg Jets on a nightly basis know that this is not what a Stanley Cup Champion plays like.
Well, the Winnipeg Jets uneven start is a little overplayed, but the fact of the matter is that this team expected to be playing for the President’s Trophy, the league lead in goals and, most importantly, the Stanley Cup.
They’re not nearing any of those goals quite yet. We know it’s in there. We just saw it a season ago. There were too many positives to chalk it up to a fluke. I don’t think anyone believes the Winnipeg Jets played over their heads last year.
But here we are, this season. Last year, through 22 games, the Winnipeg Jets were 14-5-3. Now, they’re 13-7-2. Not too far off, but it doesn’t feel the same.
The offense wasn’t rolling to begin the year, but now, they’re kicking. They scored 19 goals in this recent four game road trip, and that’ll play. Yeah, it’s skewed by an eight goal game, but they still scored those goals.
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Try and tell Patrik Laine his 5 goals don’t count just because the Blues have the blues. I know I’ve given Connor Hellebuyck a lot of trouble, but I think the defense is mostly to blame.
The Jets are proud employers of three very good defensemen in Dustin Byfuglien, Jacob Trouba and Josh Morrissey.
Morrissey is the lefty of the group, hanging on the top pair with Trouba. Filling in the gap next to Buff has been the biggest issue. They’ve been using Tyler Myers on his off-side, and it’s uh, not been ideal.
Recently, he’s been on his normal side, next to Joseph Morrow, which is an underwhelming pair with the way Myers had been going. It’s hard to trade sides, and off-hand defensemen often struggle with getting through the neutral zone with the different angles.
It’s difficult because Myers is clearly ahead of guys like Morrow and Ben Chiarot, but behind the big three above. And those two are not getting it done.
Tucker Poolman and Sami Niku are their top internal options, and they both have one goal and four assists this season with Manitoba. Niku is the lefty of the two. We’ll take a deeper dive on that and on a possible trade at another time.
Then there’s Bryan Little. Buoyed by Patrik Laine, he scored four points last game. He’s up to fourteen points (4G, 10A). He’s not really a problem, save for his contract, but he could be better suited without the “Second Line Center” title.
These are the main things, among Hellebuyck’s struggles, that keep the Jets out of the A-Tier of teams. They’re a step below Toronto, Tampa and Nashville. That’s the clear A-Group.
I’d put Buffalo, Boston, Winnipeg, Minnesota, Washington, San Jose and Calgary right below that. They all could ascend to the top tier. Below that, you get all the mid-level surprises and disappointing expected contenders.
Your Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers and some spare teams like Anaheim and Montreal. The Jets have a chance to ascend, with or without a trade. We’ve seen this same core come to the doorstep of the Finals just a year ago.
And hey, even if the Jets do improve, Paul Maurice and Kevin Cheveldayoff know what the weaknesses of the team is, and they might make moves to improve them anyway. I would bet on it, basically.
But for now, the team needs to see if they can improve Hellebuyck’s lead-holding abilities, the second pairing and the center position. Then we’ll talk.