3 factors that will make or break the Winnipeg Jets after the All-Star Break
The Winnipeg Jets entered the All-Star Break with three straight losses. Now that the break is over, it’s time for one of the NHL’s premier teams to get back on track.
The Winnipeg Jets looked like the NHL’s best team from December 2nd to January 20th, posting a record of 18-2-2 (38 points). But in their three games before the All-Star Break, they snagged just one of a possible six points. While this is no reason to panic, and you can even say the Jets reached the break at the right time, it doesn’t mean there shouldn’t be concern in Winnipeg.
But this is an outstanding hockey team, and if a few key players or groups step up, then expect the Jets to return to what has become familiar winning ways. This isn’t to say they will emulate that 18-2-2 record in their next 22 contests, but another five-to-eight-game winning streak is nowhere near impossible.
Winnipeg saw one player return recently, and if they produce at a monster rate again, they will turn this team around. And that is where we will begin this conversation of three X-Factors who will make or break the Jets season.
Kyle Connor needs to rediscover his game from earlier in the year
Kyle Connor was one of the Jets best forwards before he went down with a lower-body injury, but in the five games since his return, he has been ultra-pedestrian, logging just one point. The winger averaged over a point per game when the Jets placed him on injured reserve back in December, with 28 in 26 contests.
He was also leading the team in goals with 17, which nearly doubled the second and third-place skaters at the time. Next to Connor Hellebuyck, it’s clear Connor was the Jets MVP, but it’s since become clear the injury has set him back.
And not just that, the entire team has also suffered before the break, telling us the Jets needed time off more than most of the league’s other 31 teams. If Connor rediscovers what made him a major scoring threat earlier in the season, expect the Jets to rediscover their game as a unit.
Connor Hellebuyck must reignite his Vezina-like year
Connor Hellebuyck has been an annual contender for the Vezina for the last seven seasons and has even won the award. The 30-year-old has been sensational this season, but in the contests leading to the break, that hasn’t quite been the case. Over the last two games, one of the NHL’s most reliable goaltenders has allowed six goals on 49 shots, rendering his save percentage to just 0.878.
The sheer upside is that poor performances like these are nothing more than outliers at the moment. But few on the Jets need a better start to the final one-third of the season than a game-changer like Hellebuyck. That said, it shouldn’t leave the team exempt from rediscovering what made them one of the league’s best to begin with.
Winnipeg hasn’t scored well lately, and despite Hellebuyck allowing three goals in each of his past two games, it still should have been enough to force overtime. That didn’t happen, and it led to losses against a pair of teams that a Western Conference representative could find themselves facing in the Stanley Cup Final - the Boston Bruins and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
If Hellebuyck steps up, then he can single-handedly make life easier for his skaters if they keep struggling. But if he doesn’t, then someone else apart from the forward we talked about earlier must.
The Jets playmakers must step up as a unit
Luckily for the Jets, Kyle Connor and Connor Hellebuyck are not the only playmakers on this hockey team. When the former went down with an injury, several skaters stepped up and have since produced outstanding numbers, but as mentioned in the previous section, they collectively faded.
Mark Scheifele has since become their top points producer in Connor’s absence, but a lower-body injury sidelined him for a few weeks. However, the 30-year-old appears ready to return. This will also mark the first time Scheifele will share the ice with Connor since the latter went down nearly two months ago, and that alone could rebuild the unit’s chemistry.
But there is also Nikolaj Ehlers, Josh Morrissey, and Cole Perfetti, who must also trend north when Sceifele and Connor find their respective games. Should all of the above produce consistently, it will work wonders for a Jets team that looked so good toward the end of the calendar year and well into January, and they may easily reembark on a monster run during this important stretch of the season.
The Winnipeg Jets season will continue on Tuesday against a rather weak Pittsburgh Penguins team, so perhaps they will finally set the stage with a statement win.
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(Statistics provided by Hockey-Reference)