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The Winnipeg Jets had an impressive 2023-24 regular season, achieving 52 wins and securing second place in the Central Division. A key highlight of their campaign was setting a franchise record with an eight-game winning streak, demonstrating their consistency and strength throughout the year.
This success positioned them as strong contenders heading into the postseason, where they looked to build on their regular-season momentum. Unfortunately for the Winnipeg Jets, their promising regular season didn’t translate into playoff success.
Their postseason journey was cut short as they were eliminated in five games by the division-rival Colorado Avalanche. The early exit was a disappointing end to a campaign that both players and fans had hoped would lead to a deep run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
The Jets underwent a significant leadership change after the conclusion of their season, as head coach Rick Bowness announced his retirement. In his stead, assistant coach Scott Arniel was promoted to head coach, a decision that has generated enthusiasm from general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff, via NHL.com:
“We’re excited about Scott Arniel coming in and getting a chance to be the head coach here,” Cheveldayoff said. “He’s developed a great relationship with a lot of the players on the team. We added several new assistant coaches that will have specialties in the power play and the penalty kill, but there’s a lot of the same in some respects because we really didn’t want to change what we had.”
“It’s not like we fired a coach and needed to switch the pendulum from one side to the other so to speak,” Cheveldayoff continued. “With ‘Bones’ [Bowness] retiring, it was a great natural progression for ‘Arnie’ [Arniel]. Having said that, he had to earn that right and went through a different kind of interview process that we did with ‘Bones,’ but we went through an interview process.
Arnie had the lead because of all the relationships he had built, so we’re excited about that.”
As the Jets get set to begin the 2024-25 season, did they do enough over the offseason to earn a third straight trip to the postseason?
Winnipeg Jets Projected Roster
The Jets will need to supplement the offensive burden that was lost by the departures of Tyler Toffoli, who was acquired from the New Jersey Devils at the NHL Trade Deadline, along with Sean Monahan, who signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets. They'll look to players like Cole Perfetti and Nino Niederreiter to help shoulder some of that load.
Meanwhile, the Jets' success will ultimately hinge on the performance of goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, the reigning Vezina Trophy winner recognized as the NHL's best player at his position. Winnipeg lost the services of reliable backup Laurent Brossoit, who joined the Chicago Blackhawks.
To back up Hellebuyck, Winnipeg signed Kaapo Kahkonen; he split last season between the basement-dwelling San Jose Sharks before being dealt to the New Jersey Devils; he amassed a 7-24-3 record with a 3.64 goals-against average, numbers that should improve on a vastly more talented Jets team.
The Jets also brought back goaltender Eric Comrie, who previously spent the last two seasons with the Buffalo Sabres. This marks his third stint with the team.
Forwards: Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Gabriel Vilardi, Vladislav Namestnikov, Nikolaj Ehlers, Cole Perfetti, Adam Lowry, Nino Niederreiter, Mason Appleton, Morgan Barron, Alex Iafallo, David Gustaffson
Defensemen: Josh Morrissey, Dylan DeMelo, Dylan Samberg, Neal Pionk, Logan Stanley, Colin Miller
Goaltenders: Connor Hellebuyck, Kaapo Kahkanen, Eric Comrie
Winnipeg Jets Season Outlook
According to Arniel, the Jets want to continue to play as an elite team and have already laid the foundations for continued success, via NHL.com:
“What we did (last) year was special,” Arniel said at his introductory media availability during the summer. “Two years ago, we started to build a foundation on how we wanted to look and how we wanted to play, how we wanted to go about our daily business and this year a lot of it came to the forefront.
We had 52 wins, 110 points, which is obviously a great accomplishment in this league, but it’s something that we need to strive for every year,” he continued. “We want to be an elite team always.”
The Jets will continue to face stiff competition in the Central Division from the Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and the recently reloaded Nashville Predators.
If Hellebuyck maintains his strong performance and the Jets achieve balanced scoring, they should remain a formidable team in the Western Conference. However, their ability to translate regular-season success into postseason wins will be crucial.
The Jets open up the regular season against the defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday before returning home to Canada Life Centre to host the Blackhawks on Friday.
