The Winnipeg Jets have a strong but imperfect core group of players, led by Connor Hellebuyck, Josh Morrissey, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor \u2014 in that order. The Jets do not have an obvious next wave of elite talent, nor is their roster deep in game-breaking talent beyond the aforementioned core.<\/p>\n
It is difficult to chart their route to the Stanley Cup.<\/p>\n
If there was hope on Monday that Kevin Cheveldayoff or Scott Arniel would offer clarity to that route, they did not share it with reporters at Canada Life Centre. Instead, it seems as though the same people will enact the same processes, searching for the same answers \u2014 a second-line centre at minimum \u2014 with the same depleted asset pool, drained by multiple seasons of trading draft picks for veterans who signed elsewhere as free agents.<\/p>\n
How did the Jets go from Cup contenders with an elite collection of young talent in 2018 to this year\u2019s mess \u2014 with last year\u2019s Presidents\u2019 Trophy as a thrilling diversion? What could put the existing core over the top before they\u2019re too old to handle their part of the bargain?<\/p>\n
This is the story of a hockey team stuck in the \u201cmushy middle\u201d \u2014 too good to tank, too flawed to win \u2014 without an obvious route out.<\/p>\n
The 2026-27 Jets\u2019 starting point<\/p>\n
This 2026-27 Jets roster includes all veterans under contract, plus young NHL players like Brad Lambert and Isak Ros\u00e9n and prospects like Danny Zhilkin and Nikita Chibrikov \u2014 all of whom will require waivers next season:<\/p>\n
LWCRW<\/p>\n
Kyle Connor<\/p>\n
Mark Scheifele<\/p>\n
Gabriel Vilardi<\/p>\n
Isak Ros\u00e9n<\/p>\n
Cole Perfetti<\/p>\n
Brad Lambert<\/p>\n
Morgan Barron<\/p>\n
Adam Lowry<\/p>\n
Alex Iafallo<\/p>\n
Cole Koepke<\/p>\n
Vladislav Namestnikov<\/p>\n
Nino Niederreiter<\/p>\n
Nikita Chibrikov<\/p>\n
Danny Zhilkin<\/p>\n
LD<\/p>\n
RD<\/p>\n
Top prospects<\/p>\n
Josh Morrissey<\/p>\n
Neal Pionk<\/p>\n
Brayden Yager<\/p>\n
Dylan Samberg<\/p>\n
Elias Salomonsson<\/p>\n
Sascha Boumedienne<\/p>\n
Haydn Fleury<\/p>\n
Dylan DeMelo<\/p>\n
Colby Barlow<\/p>\n
Kieron Walton<\/p>\n
G<\/p>\n
Alfons Freij<\/p>\n
Connor Hellebuyck<\/p>\n
Kevin He<\/p>\n
The second line needs a massive upgrade. Winnipeg got six points in 25 games from Lambert and three assists in 21 games from Ros\u00e9n this season. Cole Perfetti produced like a 50-point player down the stretch, which is enough to rekindle hope for a strong season next year, but not so much that he can be thought of as a surefire driver with two inexperienced linemates.<\/p>\n
The first line is kept intact because Arniel told me on Monday he didn\u2019t think splitting Connor and Scheifele would be a long-term solution.<\/p>\n
\u201c(We were) having a tough time scoring goals,\u201d Arniel said. \u201cNow I\u2019m going to take away the line that actually can give me a chance to stay in a game, to win a game for us? Could I, should I? Maybe that\u2019s part of what I will look at. And then it might happen next year. I really, really hope it doesn\u2019t, but I don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
This forward group needs Adam Lowry to bounce back from one of the least effective seasons of his career. He didn\u2019t perform like a shutdown stalwart following his return from hip surgery, losing too much explosiveness to control play at either end of the rink. Winnipeg\u2019s third line only works if the $5 million AAV captain returns to form as a play driver.<\/p>\n
On defence, the year is 2026 and Winnipeg still misses Dustin Byfuglien. I\u2019ve rearranged the Jets\u2019 lineup to promote Elias Salomonsson, projecting continued growth from the 21-year-old, and to demote Dylan DeMelo from the top pair. The Jets would ideally replace DeMelo on the top pair with a big, right-shot defenceman who can kill plays and move the puck well enough to contribute to offence \u2014 the best-case version of Salomonsson, who is still recovering from his concussion.<\/p>\n
Route 1: Make the No. 7 overall pick<\/p>\n
How do the Jets find the next Byfuglien (or, more realistically, a second-line centre)? The obvious answer is to trade their first-round pick: No. 7 overall heading into the May 5 draft lottery.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also the wrong answer. Winnipeg is not a premier UFA destination. Cheveldayoff said he tried \u201clike hell\u201d to make trades to upgrade this year\u2019s team; Winnipeg getting stymied by no-trade clauses is an old, oft-repeated story. The Jets\u2019 No. 1 route to top-end talent \u2014 and most importantly, top end talent that stays in Winnipeg \u2014 is through the draft. The Jets need to make the No. 7 pick and that pick needs to develop into an NHL player, whether they\u2019re able to choose a big, talented, right-shot defenceman like Keaton Verhoeff and Daxon Rudolph or a top centre like Tynan Lawrence or Caleb Mahotra.<\/p>\n
It seems possible that the No. 7 pick could be moved for a top young player on an entry-level or RFA contract. If the Jets managed to acquire a pending RFA like Leo Carlsson or Jason Robertson and then signed him to a long term contract, I\u2019d walk back my caution. From here, it seems like the only realistic win is to make the pick. Two years of Dawson Mercer, Tye Kartye, or another middle-six centre with 2028 UFA rights would be a disaster next to several years of team control on a homegrown player.<\/p>\n
But the 2026 draft pick can\u2019t help this core!<\/p>\n
Imagine preparing for a future beyond the prime years of Connor and Scheifele. If the only options are to win a Cup with this core or never, then the premise is flawed.<\/p>\n
Route 2: Trade the Sabres\u2019 2027 second-round pick<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve sent the most draft picks out the door to try to win,\u201d Cheveldayoff said when asked about his commitment to winning with his existing core of players.<\/p>\n
From the 2018 Western Conference final run to now, the Jets have made 40 draft picks \u2014 well short of the full complement of 56. I don\u2019t know that a second-round pick and a top prospect returns a good second-line centre, but it might bring back a secondary scorer who can help the Jets win now more than young players like Lambert, Chibrikov, Colby Barlow or Sascha Boumedienne.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s some precedent for useful middle-six players. The Seattle Kraken recently acquired perennial 30-point forward Bobby McMann from Toronto for a second- and a fourth-round pick; McMann scored 14 points in 18 games for the Kraken down the stretch. Ottawa got 24-year-old defenceman Jordan Spence from Los Angeles at last year\u2019s draft for a third- and sixth-round picks; Spence is delivering decent second-pair minutes for a playoff team. At that same draft, Washington acquired 23-year-old forward Justin Sourdif, from whom they got 31 points in 73 games in a middle-six role.<\/p>\n
These are all incremental wins, but they\u2019re still wins. Any viable middle-six or second-pair player \u2014 especially in that early 20s age range, with multiple years of team control \u2014 makes the Jets a better team. And even a 40-point player would have been Winnipeg\u2019s fourth-most productive forward last season.<\/p>\n
Route 3: Reimagine the approach to young players<\/p>\n