Terrence Lee-Imagn Images
The Winnipeg Jets provided quality drama to begin the season.
They blew out the Stanley Cup finalists 6-0, tied their second game with just over a minute to go in regulation before Mark Scheifele scored his 300th career goal in overtime, scored a buzzer-beater in their third game and won that as well in OT.
Just like that, Winnipeg went 3-0-0 in its first games of the year. Few observers are picking the Jets to win the Central Division and go on a long playoff run, so the question is, are we sleeping on them?
From this writer’s perspective, the doubts about Winnipeg are legitimate. This Jets team wasn’t perfect, and their first big test of the season is just around the corner.
The Jets started the year about as well as any of their fans or management could’ve hoped for, blowing the doors off the Edmonton Oilers. As we’ve seen with the Oilers’ following games, they aren’t exactly in peak condition right now, but that was nevertheless an impressive win for Winnipeg.
However, the two games afterward reveal some flaws opponents will exploit.
The Jets narrowly beat the lowly Chicago Blackhawks, needing 58:56 of regulation time to squeeze out their first goal against Arvid Soderblom.
And in their third game on Sunday, Winnipeg got only one regulation-time goal from Scheifele before pushing the game to extra time and getting the OT-winner from Kyle Connor. After Game 1, the Jets haven’t produced a boatload of offense outside of Scheifele. They still outchanced their opponents, which is promising, but they know that won’t cut it if they don’t convert more than two chances into goals night in and night out.
In the last two games, the Jets instead relied on star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck – who was named the NHL’s second star of the week – to deliver enough defense to barely get by two of their opponents.
#NHLJets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has been named the NHL’s second star of the past week.
He turned aside 81 of the 83 shots he’s faced and has a 3-0-0 record, a 0.66 goals against average, a .976 save percentage and one shutout in Winnipeg’s first three games of the season.
— Carter Brooks (@CBrooksie84) October 14, 2024
While Hellebuyck is the reigning Vezina Trophy winner as the NHL’s top netminder, the reality is the Jets can’t rely on him to do all the heavy lifting. We saw that reality in the past two post-seasons when Hellebuyck had a combined 2-8 record, a 4.28 goals-against average and an .878 save percentage.
Asking Hellebuyck to put the team on his back and carry them through the playoffs is asking too much. He needs support on offense from his teammates, and if the Jets can’t provide that – the way they did in the last two playoffs with a 2.90 goals-for average – they’ll underperform yet again next spring.
There’s still lots of time for the Jets to deal with what ails them. The first week was still successful, especially with the Nashville Predators and Colorado Avalanche dropping their first two games.
But it’s also risky to feel totally content with the squad so far. When you look at their upcoming schedule, you’ll see the true test of them as a unit is only beginning: after this Friday’s game against the lowly San Jose Sharks, Winnipeg takes on six teams in a row who either have serious playoff expectations (Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Seattle, Toronto and Detroit) or who’ve gotten off to great starts (Calgary).
And after they square off against Columbus at the start of November, the Jets have 10 showdowns in a row against above-average teams – Tampa Bay (twice), Florida (twice), Utah, Colorado, Dallas, the New York Rangers, Penguins and Nashville Predators.
That’s going to be a much better sample size by which to judge them. They easily could be 1-0-2 at the moment, which is why Winnipeg fans should remain excited but temper their confidence.
Related: Predicting The NHL’s Central Division Rankings In 2024-25
It’s early days, to be sure, but that doesn’t mean everyone should expect the rest of the season to go as successfully as it has so far. It almost certainly won’t, and the way the Jets respond to adversity will dictate how far they go in the playoffs next spring.
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