Setting the bar
Jets captain Blake Wheeler says time is now for team to make playoff push
Before training camp even began, Blake Wheeler set the bar for the Winnipeg Jets.
It’s basically playoffs or bust this season for the NHL club’s second-year captain.
“It’s got to be this year, it just has to be,” Wheeler told reporters after an informal skate in late August. “It’s been a lot of the same thing. We have enough talent, there’s no reason why we can’t push this to the next level this year.”
The Jets’ only playoff appearance since relocating to Winnipeg from Atlanta in 2011 was a first-round sweep at the hands of the Anaheim Ducks in 2015. Since then, the franchise’s draft-and-develop plan has added plenty of youngsters who are beginning to excel.
Players are confident the Central Division squad now has the talent, depth and experience to qualify for the post-season.
Winnipeg finished ninth (4035-7) in the Western Conference last season — seven points behind Nashville for the final wild-card spot — and begins its playoff quest Wednesday with a home opener against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Third-year winger Nikolaj Ehlers said he’d view anything less than a playoff spot as a failure.
“Yes, I would,” the speedy 21-year-old Dane said recently. “I think everybody else in this room would, too, because we’ve been working really hard the past couple of years at getting to where we want to go, and that’s the playoffs. “We all believe that this is our year. We feel ready. The older guys have shown the younger guys the way. We want it. We want it bad.”
Ehlers was one of four Jets who finished with more than 60 points last season. Centre Mark Scheifele led with 82 points, followed by Wheeler with 74 and Ehlers and Patrik Laine with 64 each.
Laine fired in a team-high 36 goals and was a finalist for the Calder Trophy as top rookie. The goal for the Finnish sniper this season isn’t, well, more goals. At least, he’s not saying that publicly.
“Just making the playoffs,”
Laine, 19, said. “That’s my only goal for the season, and working hard everyday so we can make that happen.”
While the Jets’ scoring flair was often on display last season, flaws were also exposed on the defensive side.
Winnipeg scored 249 goals (tied for sixth in the NHL), but its 256 goals against was 27th of the 30 teams.
Management tried to address those shortcomings by signing some veterans: goalie Steve Mason, defenceman Dmitry Kulikov and Matt Hendricks, a forward whose strengths are faceoffs and killing penalties. Winnipeg’s penalty kill was 26th in the league last season.
Mason is expected to get the bulk of games in his 10th NHL campaign, with last season’s inconsistent starter Connor Hellebuyck learning from him and pushing for his turn during his third season.
A key to Winnipeg’s success will be avoiding injuries.