Jets’ flight to the top took us all by surprise
Raise your hand if, back at the end of June, you were thinking the Winnipeg Jets would be making franchise history by moving into first place overall in the NHL standings just six months later.
I’m not imagining many hands in the air.
Entering Sunday’s games, the Jets, New York Rangers and Boston Bruins were tied atop the standings with 54 points each. Earn a single point Sunday night against Arizona and the Jets would be alone atop the NHL mountain Monday morning.
Who was really thinking the Jets were going to become a contender for the Presidents’ Trophy in 202324 when they seemed to be in such a mess last off-season?
After an embarrassing playoff loss to the Vegas Golden Knights ended their season, and after head coach Rick Bowness rightly called out his players and wounded their fragile pride, there was much talk of a rebuild, or at least a retooling, of the Jets roster.
Everyone knew centre Pierre-luc Dubois wanted out, most people realized the Jets needed to buy out former captain Blake Wheeler, and nobody knew what the future looked like for centre Mark Scheifele and goalie Connor Hellebuyck, both of whom were heading into the final seasons of their contracts and potentially were on the trading block.
Well, we all look pretty silly now, don’t we?
The Jets extended their franchise-record points streak to 11 games (9-02) with a 3-1 victory over Anaheim on Friday, winning their fifth straight and improving their record since Dec. 1 to 13-1-2.
And we can’t forget that they have done it all with leading goal scorer Kyle Connor missing the last 12 games with a knee injury.
With a 25-9-4 record and 54 points through 38 games heading into Arizona, the Jets had gone 28 straight games allowing three goals against or less and are 21-5-2 during that span.
It’s kind of mind-boggling to see how Bowness and his coaching staff have this team playing structured, defensive hockey in front of all-world goaltender Hellebuyck, while also getting key offensive contributions from all four lines and all three defence pairings.
The performances of players such as surprise secondline centre Vlad Namestnikov (4 goals, 22 points), fourth-liner Morgan Barron (8 goals, 12 points) and the third line of Adam Lowry (7 goals, 17 points), Nino Niederreiter (12 goals, 23 points) and Mason Appleton (6 goals, 19 points) have been key to transforming the Jets into a balanced team that often dominates possession time, no matter which line is on the ice.
For them to be at this level nearing the midway point of the season is a testament to the work of Bowness and his players.
How did this come about? It all started with GM Kevin Cheveldayoff trading away Dubois and getting a terrific return in Gabe Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari. It improved even more a few days later when the team bought out Wheeler.
Dubois didn’t want to be in Winnipeg and Wheeler’s voice and presence had grown stale in the dressing room. The Jets were immediately better off without the two of them because the club had a chance to start fresh under new leadership, and with a group of players who actually wanted to play in Winnipeg.
Then there was the bombshell news on the eve of the regular season that Scheifele and Hellebuyck had signed matching seven-year, Us$59.5-million contracts to stay long term.
Suddenly things didn’t look so bleak for the Jets. With Lowry installed as the new captain, the team has flourished like it never has, on pace for a franchise-record 116 points.
They look very much like Stanley Cup contenders a little less than a month away from the all-star break.
Of course, they don’t hand out trophies in January.
The concern, if there really even is one right now, is that they’ll fade as the season enters the stretch run.
Just think back to last year’s late-season swoon to temper expectations for a team that’s on the greatest roll of its existence.
The Jets were in first place in the Western Conference in mid-january last year, as well, but they slipped all the way to eighth place before bowing meekly out of the playoffs.
But it’s hard to imagine this team falling apart the way the 2022-23 version did.
It’s simply too well balanced, too structured, too deep, and too blessed with great goaltending for that to happen.