Top Three Bold Winnipeg Jets Predictions for 2022

With the new year approaching, we look ahead to what to expect from the Winnipeg Jets in 2022. Here are three bold predictions for the Jets in the new year.

It is safe to say 2021 was a wild year for the Winnipeg Jets. The year started with the Jets kicking off the 56-game 2021 regular season in an all-Canadian Division. The Jets were able to make the playoffs and everything looked positive for Winnipeg as they swept the Edmonton Oilers in the first round.

But then, a matchup with the fourth-placed Montreal Canadiens ensued and they convincingly swept the Jets out of the playoffs. Finally, the current 2021-2022 regular season started in mid-October and Paul Maurice resigned as head coach 28 games into the season.

With all of these factors it has been a wild 2021 for the Jets, but as we turn to the new year, here are three bold predictions for 2022.

3. Perfetti challenges for the Calder

Although this is a long-term prediction that goes past 2022 and into 2023, it was still one that I wanted to include in this predictions article.

Cole Perfetti was originally drafted in the first round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft by the Jets. Because the 2020-2021 OHL season was canceled, Perfetti played for the Manitoba Moose in 2021 and impressed. He finished the season with nine goals and seventeen assists.

The nineteen-year-old started this season with the Jets and made his NHL debut. Perfetti then played in one more game with the Jets before being sent down to Manitoba. He has gotten off to a great start with the Moose this season with six goals and nine assists in seventeen games.

Currently, Perfetti is representing Canada at the 2022 World Junior Championship in Alberta and was named an assistant captain for the team.

In each stage of his development, Perfetti has played outstanding. Whether he is playing in the OHL or the AHL, Perfetti has shown why he is a top-rated prospect.

I expect Perfetti will make the jump to the NHL and become a full-time player for the Jets. There is no doubt that the young forward can become the rookie of the year in his first season with the Jets.

2. Dave Lowry Becomes the Jets head coach for next season

Paul Maurice was in his ninth season as the Jets’ bench boss before he resigned on December 17 and Kevin Cheveldayoff named Dave Lowry as the interim head coach.

Lowry has only been the Jets head coach for only for two games over the past week, and the Jets have posted a 1-1-0 record with him as the bench boss. Lowry lost his debut game 5-2 to the Capitals, but then the Jets beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 in their next game.

This short time frame is tough for a coach to make his mark behind the bench as he is still making changes to systems and strategies that were employed under Maurice. The Jets are slowly evolving from Paul Maurice’s Jets to Dave Lowry’s Jets. This past week could prove to be a crucial timeframe for Lowry to impose his strategies since the Jets had two games postponed and rather have some valuable practice time under their new coach.

There is still a long way to go this season and plenty of time for the Jets to solidify a playoff spot. If the Jets do find some consistency, and the players respond well to Lowry then our bold prediction is that Dave Lowry will lose the “interim” title and be named as the Jets head coach for the 2022-2023 season.

Lowry’s case to be named head coach will only be helped if the Jets make the playoffs and they make a run in the playoffs, but Lowry and the Jets’ first task is they need to play well the rest of the season and clinch a spot in them.