Winnipeg Jets Potent Scoring Keeping Thin Blueline Afloat
The Winnipeg Jets dealt with slight deficiencies in their defense even before the injuries hit. But their offense gives them a bit of a crutch.
The Winnipeg Jets are coming off a victory at home against the Colorado Avalanche, one of the teams chasing them in the standings.
Like Winnipeg, Colorado is known for a potent offense. On Tuesday night, we saw why the Jets are ahead in the standings. The defense, minus Dustin Byfuglien, rolled out all three of Ben Chiarot, Dmitry Kulikov and Joseph Morrow.
Now, the Jets would like it (and I would too) if only one of those guys played a night. Having it make up half of your defense is less than ideal. Byfuglien’s return, although not imminent, should help.
I can’t imagine the Jets won’t make a trade for a reasonably solid (albeit likely not much more) blueliner before the deadline, so hopefully that also helps. As far as that goes, my preference is Michael Del Zotto of the Canucks. We’ve been over that a few times.
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It increases the depth of the defense, but also beefs up the middle. Del Zotto isn’t better than Josh Morrissey, Jacob Trouba or Dustin Byfuglien. He might not even be better than Tyler Myers, but he’s close. It’s a reasonable upgrade.
But while we wait for Kevin Cheveldayoff and crew to find the right upgrade at the right price, and while we wait for Byfuglien to return (and hopefully stay healthy this time), the defense is going to suffer.
Thankfully, on nights like the one against the Avs, the offense was there to pick them up. Yes, the Jets were outshot 41-21. And yes, they took five penalties and surrendered four goals.
Not normally things you expect in a victory. But they killed four of those penalties and went three of four in powerplay chances on their own. Blake Wheeler even had a shorty.
And Connor Hellebuyck held up, although he wasn’t great. And yes, the Jets scored seven times. On 21 shots. The offensive lull that the team experienced just after Christmas seems to be in the rearview, as they’ve scored 12 goals in the last two games.
Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele are turning into as good of a duo in the NHL as you’ll find. They each had a goal and Wheeler had three assists and Scheifele had two. They’re sitting on 55 and 53 points after 42 games. Unreal. When Patrik Laine‘s been cold, they’ve been red hot.
When Laine’s been hot, they’ve still been red hot. I can’t imagine what it’s like to watch Nikita Kucherov nightly, because it feels like Wheeler has five points every night and he’s behind Kuch by 16.
But the Jets can survive injuries and mediocre performance on the blueline because of their ability to outscore their problems. For now.
This act won’t fly in the playoffs. I know it, you know it, you can bet the Jets front office and coaching staff is keenly aware of it as well. The Winnipeg Jets, as currently constructed, need defensive health and defensive help come playoff time.
But Cheveldayoff can be patient and look for the right deal because the Jets can still stay atop their division with the defense being what it is. But if he can find a way to shore up the defense and maybe add another regular forward? Color me excited.
Next. Winnipeg Jets Could Look to MSG for Upgrades. dark
For now, though, the Winnipeg Jets have the best point percentage (percentage of points earned out of total possible points) in the West. So they’re dangerous. And I’m pretty sure they’ll get more dangerous, too.