The champagne-soaked euphoria of hoisting the Presidents’ Trophy feels like a lifetime ago. For the Winnipeg Jets, the 2024-25 season was a masterpiece of regular-season dominance—a franchise-record 56 wins, a staggering 116 points, and a league-best +86 goal differential. They were an offensive juggernaut, tied for third in goals scored, and a defensive fortress, surrendering the fewest goals in the NHL. Their power play, a perennial question mark, morphed into the league’s most lethal unit. It was, by almost every metric, a season for the ages.
Previously on the EDGE – High Stakes & Burning Questions at the Winnipeg Jets Training Camp
And yet, it ended not with a parade, but with a familiar, bitter taste of “what if?” A hard-fought seven-game series win against the Blues gave way to a six-game exit at the hands of the Dallas Stars in the second round. Now, as the puck drops on the 2025-26 campaign, the question hanging heavy in the Manitoba air is a profound one: Was last year’s historic run the new standard for a legitimate contender, or was it a lightning-in-a-bottle season that will be impossible to replicate? The answer likely lies somewhere in between, but navigating that middle ground will be the defining challenge for a team facing significant changes and sky-high expectations.
Trading Youth for Wisdom: The Great Forward Reshuffle
The Jets’ front office spent the summer making calculated, if somewhat controversial, gambles to reshape their forward corps. The most significant departure, and the one that will undoubtedly define the team’s offensive identity this season, is Nikolaj Ehlers. The dynamic Danish winger, a staple of the team’s top-six, took his 24 goals and game-breaking speed to Carolina in free agency. His loss leaves a massive void in terms of secondary scoring and pure offensive creativity. Joining him out the door were valuable depth pieces in Mason Appleton (Detroit) and Brandon Tanev (Utah), further thinning the ranks.
In their place, General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff opted for pedigree and experience over youth. The marquee signing was a storybook one: Winnipeg native and three-time Stanley Cup champion Jonathan Toews. Returning to the NHL after a two-year absence, “Captain Serious” signed a low-risk, one-year deal to bring a legendary winning presence to his hometown dressing room. He was joined by fellow veteran forwards Gustav Nyquist, a 36-year-old winger who put up a respectable 28 points last year, and Tanner Pearson.
This strategic pivot is clear: the Jets are trading the prime-aged dynamism of Ehlers for the battle-tested leadership of players who have been to the top of the mountain. It’s a bold bet that locker-room culture and championship DNA can offset the loss of raw offensive talent. The question is whether these aging veterans have enough left in the tank to be difference-makers on the ice, not just mentors off of it.
Connor and Scheifele Can’t Do It Alone
While the bottom-six saw a facelift, the top of the offensive food chain remains elite. Kyle Connor is coming off a career-best 97-point campaign (41 goals, 56 assists) and has firmly established himself as one of the league’s most dangerous offensive catalysts. He was the team’s engine last year and will be counted on to be so again. Likewise, Mark Scheifele silenced many critics with his own career-high 87 points, proving he can still produce at a premier level.
Beyond that top duo, however, the questions loom large. The most immediate pressure falls on the shoulders of Cole Perfetti. After a 50-point breakout season, the skilled young forward is now ticketed for Ehlers’ old spot on the second line. The team doesn’t just need him to replicate his production; they need him to take a significant leap forward and become a consistent, high-impact offensive driver. The same can be said for Nino Niederreiter, signed through 2027, who will be looked upon to provide more goal-scoring punch. He has yet to crack the 25-goal mark in his career, and with Ehlers gone, the Jets need him to find that next gear. Meanwhile, Gabe Vilardi begins the first season of a lucrative six-year, $7.5 million AAV contract, bringing with it the expectation of becoming a core offensive piece.
Compounding these concerns is a brutal run of injuries to start the season. Captain Adam Lowry is sidelined for the first few weeks recovering from hip surgery. Toews’s much-anticipated return is on hold, as he begins the season as an injured non-roster player. And in a cruel twist of fate, Perfetti, the very player tasked with stepping up, is on injured reserve with a high-ankle sprain. This baptism by fire has thrust prospects Nikita Chibrikov, Parker Ford, and Brad Lambert onto the opening-night roster, a situation that will test the organization’s depth from the opening faceoff.
Fortress Winnipeg: A Blue Line Under Pressure
If the forward group is a collection of question marks, the defence corps is the team’s bedrock. Over the past three seasons, Josh Morrissey has transformed himself from a solid top-pairing defenceman into a bona fide, two-way dynamo and perennial Norris Trophy contender. He is the engine of the Jets’ transition game and the quarterback of their blue line, leading all defencemen with 62 points last season. His partner, Dylan DeMelo, is the perfect foil—a steady, reliable, defence-first presence who allows Morrissey to take offensive risks.
The second pairing of Dylan Samberg and Neal Pionk provides another layer of stability. Samberg, in particular, emerged as a key shutdown player, leading the team with 120 blocked shots. However, that stability has been immediately compromised. Samberg is expected to miss the first six to eight weeks of the season with a broken wrist, forcing players like Haydn Fleury and the veteran presence Luke Schenn into larger roles.
Samberg’s absence creates an intriguing subplot that has been years in the making. It may finally force the organization to give 2019 first-round pick Ville Heinola an extended, meaningful look at the NHL level. After six seasons in North America, the skilled puck-mover has appeared in only 53 NHL games. With a major hole in the top four, the time for Heinola to prove he belongs is now or never.
Hellebuyck’s Final Frontier: Conquering the Postseason
For all the talk of forwards and defencemen, the Winnipeg Jets’ ultimate identity lies with one man. Connor Hellebuyck is not just the team’s best player; he is, by consensus, the best goaltender in the world. Coming off a season where he captured both the Vezina and Hart Trophies with a staggering 47-12-3 record and a .925 save percentage, he is the team’s cheat code. Signed through 2031, he gives the Jets a chance to win every single night. He and reliable backup Eric Comrie combined for a league-leading 10 shutouts last season, a testament to their dominance.
But every superhero has his kryptonite, and for Hellebuyck, it has been the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Despite his otherworldly regular-season numbers—he’s posted three straight years at or above a .920 save percentage—his performance in the 2025 postseason “left a lot to be desired.” The statistics are grim: Hellebuyck is currently mired in a nine-game road playoff losing streak, a stretch in which he has surrendered four or more goals in seven of those contests.
It is the final, most difficult frontier for him to conquer. No one doubts his talent, but the narrative will persist until he proves he can steal a series in late spring. For the Jets to be anything more than a regular-season powerhouse, they need their Hart Trophy winner to exorcise those playoff demons and deliver a truly signature postseason run.
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The Final Verdict: Navigating the Central Division Gauntlet
Head coach Scott Arniel, a former player for the original Jets, could not have scripted a better debut season. Winning the Presidents’ Trophy has bought him plenty of job security, but it has also raised expectations “through the roof.” He now faces the unenviable task of guiding a retooled and injured roster through the meat grinder that is the Central Division.
With perennial powerhouses like the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars showing no signs of slowing down, repeating as division champions will be a monumental task. The oddsmakers in Vegas agree, anticipating a regression from last year’s historic point total and setting the Jets’ over/under at a more modest 97.5 points.
The consensus is that the Jets are still a very good hockey team, one that should comfortably eclipse the 100-point mark and secure a divisional playoff spot. Securing home-ice advantage for a second straight year is well within reach. But their ultimate success won’t be measured in October or January. It will be defined in April and May. This is a team built from the goal out, with a world-beating goaltender and a top-tier defence. Whether their gambles up front pay off will determine their ceiling, but their floor remains incredibly high. The regular season will be the test, but the playoffs will be the final exam. And for Hellebuyck and the Jets, it’s one they are desperate to finally pass.
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