Winnipeg Jets: Five Awards Jets can Win in the 2021 Season
Looking ahead to the 2021 season, here are five awards that members of the Winnipeg Jets can win when the season concludes.
The upcoming 2021 NHL season is so near. The Winnipeg Jets are scheduled to begin their campaign on January 14, against the Calgary Flames at home. What comes along with a new season are predictions.
Which players are going to perform extremely well? Which players are going to be flops? How many points will this player have?
As of right now, the Jets have a roster filled with depth and many great players who could take home major individual honors when the NHL announces their awards at season’s end.
Here are five Winnipeg Jets and the awards that they can win at the end of 2021:
5. The Calder Trophy
Ville Heinola
Ville Heinola is currently one of three Winnipeg Jets prospects who are at the World Junior Championship in Edmonton. The tournament kicked off on Christmas Day and is scheduled to conclude with the Gold Medal game on January 5.
Related Story. Three Winnipeg Prospects Named to WJC Rosters. light
After the tournament, it is expected that Heinola will join up with the Jets who, at that stage, will be in the starting days of training camp.
Heinola impressed in his short stint with the Jets in 2019. In eight games he had one goal, four assists, and a +3 plus/minus. The nineteen-year-old has excellent vision and great skating abilities, which many people took note of that last year.
Heinola can turn himself into one of the Jets’ best defensemen and he has the ability to pick up a great number of assists. If he earns a roster spot there is no doubt in my mind that Heinola can challenge for the Calder.
4. The Norris Trophy
Neal Pionk
This may be a long shot, but Neal Pionk is the Jets’ best chance at winning a Norris. The Jets acquired Pionk last offseason by way of trade with the New York Rangers. The Jets sent Jacob Trouba to New York in exchange for Pionk and a first round pick in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.
This trade benefitted the Jets in a major way. They drafted Ville Heinola with the draft pick they received from the Rangers and Pionk played extremely well in his first season in Winnipeg.
Pionk led all Jets defensemen in points and was thirteenth in the league for points by a defenseman in 2019-2020. Pionk had 6 goals and 39 assists for 45 points and was a +10.
The twenty-five-year-old defenseman only gets better each year in the league and has the potential to put up a lot of points. In a shortened season Pionk can fly under the radar and can easily find himself in the running for the Calder in July.
3. The Jim Gregory General Manager of the Year Award
Kevin Cheveldayoff
Cheveldayoff and the Jets front office made a splash this offseason. They have brought in some new players and made an interesting trade to bring back one old face to Winnipeg.
The Jets have signed Nate Thompson, Derek Forbort, and re-signed, and extended a handful of players who were either on the Jets or in the organization last season.
The biggest move Cheveldayoff made this offseason was acquiring Paul Stastny back from the Vegas Golden Knights in a trade. Winnipeg sent Carl Dahlstrom and a conditional fourth round pick to Vegas in exchange for the thirty-four-year-old.
We are only a few weeks away from seeing how Paul Maurice takes these players that Cheveldayoff acquired and signed and how he molds those players and returning players into a successful team.
Training camp will be extremely interesting considering the added depth Winnipeg now has and there will definitely be some tough roster decisions to make.
light. Related Story. The Three Top Jets Training Camp Stories
Only time will tell how the Jets will perform in 2021 and if Winnipeg has a great season, Cheveldayoff can definitely be named “GM of the Year.”
2. The Hart Memorial Trophy
Mark Scheifele
One can definitely make the argument that Mark Scheifele has been the Jets’ most consistent player over the past couple of years. Scheifele has averaged a point per game or more in the four most recent seasons and always finds himself near the top of leading the Jets in points.
2021 should be no different for Scheifele. The twenty-seven-year-old will look to build on a 2019-2020 campaign where he had 29 goals and 44 assists in 71 games.
Related Story. Predicting Scheifele's Stats in 2021. light
Scheifele is the Jets “x-factor.” He is a player that can win games for Winnipeg and change the momentum of a game in just one shift. The upcoming season may be Scheifele’s best chance at winning the Hart.
Scheifele will be seeing the same matchups nine or ten times a year due to the Jets’ new schedule and look for him to exploit favorable matchups.
2021 can finally be the first time a Jets player can win the Hart Trophy and Scheifele has the best chance of winning it.
1. The Vezina Trophy
Connor Hellebuyck
The question is whether the current Vezina Trophy holder, Connor Hellebuyck, can win the Vezina again in 2021.
The twenty-seven-year-old played outstanding for the Jets last season and is ranked as the third-best goalie in the NHL right now by the NHL Network.
Related Story. Hellebuyck Rated Third Best Goalie in NHL. light
There is no doubt that Hellebuyck can take home the trophy as the best goalie in the league for consecutive years. It will only help the Jets number thirty-seven, that the Jets improved their defense and bottom-six forwards, which may lead to fewer shots faced against.
Hellebuyck is rated extremely high around the NHL and the odds have him tied with Andrei Vasilevskiy to take home the trophy at season’s end.
It will be interesting to see if Hellebuyck can repeat his performances in 2021 and he looks the most likely of any Jets players to take home an individual award at the end of the year.
Winnipeg Jets Fans: Which player on this list is most likely to win an award at the end of 2021? Leave your comments below!
Trending. The Winnipeg Jets can get Payback in their Opening Game. light
*All Stats Provided by the NHL*