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Despite some changes, Jets still have troubling questions this year |
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The beauty and agony of being a Winnipeg Jets fan seems to get underscored with every passing season. Since the Manitoban city regained an NHL franchise in 2011, supporters of the team have at once been thrilled by its presence, yet increasingly exasperated by its lack of on-ice success.
And as the 2017-18 season draws closer, you wonder if the results this year are going to be frustratingly familiar.
On the one hand, you can't say Jets management’s plan of caution and a steady hand hasn’t reaped some fantastic rewards. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has added youngster Jacob Trouba and Tyler Myers to a defense corps that already employed two accomplished members in Tobias Enstrom and Dustin Byfuglien. And up front, center Mark Scheifele and wingers Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers form the core of Winnipeg’s top talents no older than 24. In addition, team captain Blake Wheeler, center Bryan Little and forward Mathieu Perreault provide solid contributions from the contingent of veterans. There is certainly a base of skill on which to flourish.
That said, the Jets have made the playoffs just once in the six seasons they’ve been in Winnipeg, and that playoff appearance ended with them being swept by the Anaheim Ducks. They’ve won 40 or more games in only two of five full seasons, and last year – their second-most successful season ever, with 40 wins – they finished seven points behind the Nashville Predators for the final Western Conference playoff spot despite going 8-2-0 in their final 10 games.
To be fair, the injury bug did gnaw on the organization’s bones – Myers played just 11 games, Trouba and Enstrom both played 60 games, and Laine, Little and Perreault missed a combined 49 games – but in a bottom-line business, Winnipeg’s bottom line was too close to the bottom, especially in a Central Division that features powerhouse clubs in Chicago, Minnesota, St. Louis and Nashville. Interestingly enough, the Jets did outscore three of those four teams in 2016-17, piling up 249 goals (only Minnesota had more in the West, with 266). However, only three of the league’s 29 other teams surrendered more goals than did Winnipeg (256).
Clearly, the task for Cheveldayoff & Co. was to improve their play in their own end, and that began in net, where presumptive No. 1 Connor Hellebuyck failed to lock up the starter’s job, registering a .907 save percentage in 56 games last year. And while the Jets did add an experienced hand via the free agency front, I’m not sure the signing of former Flyers netminder Steve Mason to a two-year, $8.2-million deal was the move that’s going to solidify the situation between the pipes.
This isn’t to say Mason isn’t capable of stretches of excellent play; in 2014-15, he logged a .928 SP in 51 games for the Flyers, and in the season prior, he posted a .939 SP in five playoff games with Philadelphia. He also wasn’t playing behind the best blueline in Philly last season, and considering the improved D-corps he’ll have working for him now in Winnipeg, there’s a chance he enjoys a renaissance and gets himself back in the 30-win column for the first time since 2013-14.
Yet there’s also a reason why Mason didn’t re-sign with the Flyers, and why he’s joining his third NHL team since Columbus drafted him in 2006. Consistency is an issue for the 29-year-old, and last season was a perfect example: he began the year with a miserable .878 SP in October, rebounded somewhat in November (.911) and December (.914), then cratered again in January (.883). If anything like that happens again this season, the Central will eat him, and the Jets, alive. (And let’s not forget that four-team juggernaut Winnipeg has to contend with will likely grow to five given the retooled and refocused Dallas Stars are also there.)
Now, Cheveldayoff has also added veteran blueliner Dmitry Kulikov to the group, and his presence could help Winnipeg tighten up. But there is no assurance the Jets will be leapfrogging over any teams they finished behind last season, and that’s where the questions get tough and fan frustration will mount. With Trouba – an ultra-valuable right-shot D-man who has already expressed an interest to get out of Winnipeg – becoming a restricted free agent in the summer of 2018, management will be at a crossroads of sorts with him. And with the 32-year-old Enstrom showing signs of heavy usage last year, there’s going to be a need for replenishment sooner than later. Would dealing Trouba for a multi-player package be the answer to address a few needs and push them into that next competitive echelon? It’s definitely conceivable.
But first thing’s first: the Jets must make a strong impression early this season, both to save the job security of head coach Paul Maurice, and to give fans an indication Cheveldayoff’s patience is still the way to go. Yet there’s no shortage of questions that could have awful answers, and at this time next August, we could be saying the same things about this franchise as we are now:
Some special components, but nothing to show for them.
Blogger •NHL Columnist • 
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