The Winnipeg Jets are happy to be in the position they are in. The 2023 offseason looked bleak as the Jets expected to lose Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck for nothing in free agency. However, both players signed late in the offseason to signal to fans that they were still a contending team. The Jets now hope for some of their young players to emerge as breakout candidates in 2024-25 and usher in a new era of Jets hockey.
The Jets' declining attendance is one issue they have after the 2023-24 season. Hockey failed in Winnipeg before when they moved to Arizona in 1996. The NHL trusted them to return in 2011, and they had immediate success for the hockey-starved fans. The luster of the new team is now beginning to wear off and the owners are having flashbacks to past failures.
The front office believed the excitement of Scheifele and Hellebuyck's trust in the team may reinvigorate the fans. The belief didn't come true, failing to generate ticket sales even with a successful team last season. It remains to be seen how their loss to the Colorado Avalanche in the playoffs will affect ticket sales, but it wasn't a good sign of things to come.
The Jets were everyone's pick to emerge from that series due to the goaltending matchup, but Hellebuyck played some of the worst hockey of his career and ended Winnipeg's season early.
Will Cole Perfetti finally get a chance?
Winnipeg's reluctance to give Cole Perfetti a chance has a trickle-down effect on the organization. Perfetti joined the Jets in 2020-21 after his junior career ended, but he played just 18 games in his first two seasons. Perfetti joined the Jets full-time in 2022-23 but played just 51 games. The Jets didn't insert Perfetti into the lineup in the 2023 postseason but gave him 71 games in 2023-24. Perfetti had a great season with 38 points but received just one playoff game.
The Jets' handling of the Perfetti situation could be why Rutger McGroarty asked for a trade this offseason. He may see that there could be a long wait for the front office to give him an opportunity and that he wants to explore other options. It's an intriguing time for the Jets, as Perfetti still hasn't re-signed his restricted free-agent contract with the team. Is there a chance he wants a fresh start as well?
The Jets were middle of the pack in the NHL last season, with 3.16 goals per game. The lack of scoring also buried them in the postseason, as they couldn't keep up with the high-powered Avalanche attack. They could have used a young, scoring forward who managed 38 points while playing in the bottom six for most of the season.
So, will the Jets finally give Perfetti a chance full-time in the top six? He would likely eclipse 50-60 points if placed alongside Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, or Kyle Connor for an entire season. The Jets have to be thinking about it, as there were rumors early in the offseason that Ehlers could be involved in a trade.
Ville Heinola could increase the Jets' scoring
It's been a long wait for Heinola to become a full-time member of the Jets, but this could finally be the year. Heinola was the 20th overall pick in the 2019 draft but bounced back and forth between Finland and North America in his first couple of seasons.
Heinola debuted as an 18-year-old and tallied five points in eight games for the Jets. He appeared in 27 games since then but has just six assists. The 2023-24 season was the first one since his debut that he hasn't been given a shot in Winnipeg, but injuries held him to only 41 games in the American Hockey League.
Heinola recorded 14 goals and 50 assists in 89 games in the AHL over the last two seasons. He hasn't been able to score at that pace in his Winnipeg appearances, but it'll soon be time to figure out whether he can be a full-time contributor in Winnipeg.
Heinola is projected on the Jets' opening night roster and is one of four bargain defensemen competing for the last three spots. He likely needs to grab a role in the lineup because the Jets won't carry him as their seventh defenseman. If Heinola can't play every night, Hadyn Fleury will likely get the promotion from the Manitoba Moose to be their seventh guy.
The Jets bought out Nate Schmidt this offseason to make room on the left side. The move was a plan to give Logan Stanley more ice time, but it could affect Heinola.
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