Well, it is official. With their recent loss to the Avs, the Winnipeg Jets are now on pace to have the worst season since NHL hockey returned to the province of Manitoba in 2011. Before Sunday’s action, the True Northers are looking at a 77 point season, which would be slightly worse than the Jets’ 2015-16 campaign (78 pts). That resulted in Winnipeg getting their first top 5 draft pick of their second reincarnation in the next Entry Draft.

Yet despite that, the Jets are only 5 points back of the Western Conference’s final wildcard spot, with two games in hand on the San Jose Sharks. So the club’s post-season hopes haven’t been dashed completely and they have been playing better hockey as of late (lost the last 3 games by 1 goal). One of those teams that Winnipeg (15-17-2) is battling with for a playoff berth is the Utah Mammoth (17-17-3), who they are set to clash with this evening at 6 pm Central.

With so many negatives to focus on this year, I opted to search for the silver linings of the Jets’ season to date in order to give us a little hope to cling to:

Both Mark Scheifele & Kyle Connor are doing very well offensively, despite the chaos surrounding them. Tied for the 11th most points in the league, the two forwards are on pace for a career-high 100 points as they look to post back-to-back point per game campaigns. Now some might think because of Winnipeg’s scoring woes, the duo are getting more playing time this year and that has helped them pad their stats. Yet the reality is that only 2 players with more points have averaged less ice time than Scheif & KFC (the Stars’ Robertson & Rantanen).

The other most common 1st line forward is also having a career season, as Gabriel Vilardi is on pace for a 72 point campaign which would easily eclipse his previous best mark of 61. Gabe is also looking to set a new high in goals this year, as the winger is on pace for 38 (prev. best 27). Currently tied for the 50th most points, the biggest asset gained in the PLD trade is paying off for Winnipeg.

Then there is goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who despite missing 3 weeks due to an injury, is still 4th in the NHL for Goals Saved Above Expected. His +16.78 rating this year would put him on pace to put up a whopping +58.7 if he played the same number of regular season games as last year. To put that into context, Bucky had ratings of +39.59 & +33.12 in his last two Vezina winning campaigns. The star tender’s save percentage of .916% is slightly lower than expected (three straight seasons above .920%), yet that is probably more a reflection of the team playing in front of him.

Josh Morrissey continues to be one of the league’s better defensemen at putting up points, as he is on pace for another 60+ pt campaign (67.5). That would give the defender 4 straight seasons with more than 60 points.

Honorable mentions to guys like Morgan Barron, Dylan Samberg, & Logan Stanley. The Bear has used his speed & size to earn some extra looks from the coaching staff, which he grasped with both hands as he is on pace for a 30 pt campaign and to set a new career high (prev. best 21 pts). His 6 goals to date also have him on pace to pocket around 16 on the year, which would set another personal best. Sammie had the start of his season delayed due to injury, but that hasn’t stopped him from being the best Jets’ defenseman in his own end. Once again, Dylan is above the 50% expected goals mark during 5 on 5 play….which isn’t something that anyone other than Dylan DeMelo has done in 2025-26. Finally, Big Stan had scored 5 goals in 5 NHL seasons before this year….and now Logan has already put 6 into the net for Winnipeg in less than half a season. Both his 14 goal & 29 point pace would be career bests…..yet the lumbering d-man still has issues in his own zone (43.2% On Ice Expected Goals at 5 on 5 for 5th best defender on the Jets).

Down in the minors, potential bright spots include a pair of Manitoba Moose goaltenders being amongst the AHL’s top 20 goalies in both save percentages & goals against average. Dominic DiVincentiis (.912%/2.59 GAA) and Thomas Milic (.917%/2.25 GAA) have been giving the Jets’ low scoring minor league affiliate a good shot at making the playoffs, as they are comfortably sitting in 3rd place in the Central.

Finally, Winnipeg’s best looking non-professional prospect appears to be forward Kieron Walton. The big 6’6″ skater was coming off a 92 pt campaign in 66 games (1.39 pts/gm) with the Sudbury Wolves after being drafted by the Jets and has built on this in 2025-26. Despite his OHL club being near the bottom of the league, Walton has excelled with an impressive 48 pts in 28 contests (1.71) and that has him tied for the most points in the junior league. Notably, the rest of his scoring competition are on the better OHL teams and the rumour mill has indicated that the big forward may be on the move, as any squad that has championship ambitions would love to add his offensive. Flirting with a 50 goal pace with the Wolves, the 19 yr old could add some much needed scoring to Winnipeg or Manitoba next year.

Enough of trying to pump up the True North fanbase with the few bright spots in this nightmare season….time to get back to today’s contest. Lets start off by looking at Winnipeg & Utah’s seasons to date via ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers:

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Statistically, most of the team stats for Winnipeg & Utah are similar, though the Jets have the better powerplay and the Mammoth have been stronger when down a player. Not many teams can have a goalie advantage against the True North franchise when Hellebuyck is available and today’s contest is no exception.

Utah recently sustained a huge hit when star forward Logan Cooley was injured and since he isn’t expected to return until early February, the Mammoth will have to try to work their way into a wildcard spot without him.

The True Northers aren’t doing a pre-game skate today, but we saw the coaching staff make some alterations to the forward lines in practice yesterday. In a move that I applaud but may cause a lot of grief in other fans, head coach Scott Arniel has moved snake-bitten Gustav Nyquist up to the top line with Mark Scheifele & Kyle Connor. Adding a defensively responsible winger to that duo sounds like a good idea to me and hopefully it unlocks the offensive abilities the Swede has shown in the past. That allowed the Jets to shift around the bottom nine forwards in a desperate hope to find consistent secondary scoring. Here is how PuckPedia is predicting line ups for tonight’s clash….what do you think about the alterations? Will they work? Which units will win the xG battle?

WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP

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UTAH MAMMOTH LINE UP

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Running out of things to say…..but did notice that Winnipeg has 14 players in their 30’s compared to Utah’s 5. More notably, if you removed the 4th forward & 3rd defensive pairings, the Mammoth would only have 1. The Jets on the other hand would still be at 9.

Youth versus experience. That hasn’t worked out very well for our club this season….but here’s hoping. Time to make some lunch and get a few things done around the house before the Moose game kicks off at 2 pm.

See you all back here tonight for the game……as the saying goes…misery loves company!!

Go Winnipeg Jets!!!!!

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POST-GAME INFO

Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)

FINAL SCORE:  

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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)

Expected Goals (all): 

Expected Goals (5on5):  

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BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:

I am officially on holidays until the New Year…so if I don’t get distracted, the article should be updated with all the post-game information about an hour after it concludes.