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<\/p>\n\u201cDid we think we were going to get to college without going to high school? Did we skip a step?\u201d Cheveldayoff asked. \u201cSo, that\u2019s where I have to grade myself, too. Did I feel overconfident?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
The urgency to rebound from a down year is only amplified by the mounting frustration inside the locker room. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, the reigning Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy winner, bluntly stated that the team can\u2019t afford to run it back without notable adjustments. <\/p>\n
\u201cComplacency is not going to get us moving forward,\u201d Hellebuyck said in his exit interview last week. \u201cTo just put that same product on the ice, I don\u2019t think it worked for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Cheveldayoff and Arniel maintained their belief in the current roster, while acknowledging the need to inject youth and find a way to increase their overall team speed to adjust to the modern NHL. But executing that plan presents a significant organizational challenge, considering the club\u2019s salary cap space is heavily anchored by a veteran core.<\/p>\n
Hellebuyck, at 32 years old, joins players like Mark Scheifele (33) , Kyle Connor (29), Neal Pionk (30) and Adam Lowry (33) on long-term deals taking them into their late 30s. These contracts came with management\u2019s promise to compete for the Stanley Cup each year, only adding to the pressure to deliver.<\/p>\n
While Cheveldayoff still has belief in the foundation of the team, he made a notable concession regarding the untouchable status of his stars. Acknowledging the price paid for trading away draft capital in recent years to keep this contention window open, the GM didn\u2019t rule out the possibility of a franchise-altering move.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly open to talk about anybody,\u201d Cheveldayoff said when asked about moving a core piece. \u201cBut anything we do is about making this group one step closer to winning a championship.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the main areas of improvement Hellebuyck and others hoped to see is a return to a team who prides itself on speed \u2013 hard on the forecheck, relentless in puck pursuit and overall tougher to play against. Following the departure of Nikolaj Ehlers, the Jets attempted to build a heavier roster.<\/p>\n
Arniel admitted that trying to implement his systems with a lineup lacking foot speed was a persistent hurdle.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to coach what\u2019s in front of me,\u201d Arniel said. \u201cI\u2019d love to be a 100-mph team; I really would. We came off a Presidents\u2019 Trophy year, with hopefully adding to it \u2013 getting stronger, maybe heavier. Maybe that was right, wrong or indifferent, the decision we made. At the end of the day, now we got to shift, we got to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The coach lamented a lack of reliable secondary scoring, forcing him to overplay his top lines.<\/p>\n
That dependence led to longer shifts, defensive breakdowns and the team frequently chasing the puck in their own zone. It culminated in an 11-game losing streak that created a hole the Jets ultimately could not overcome, even if they played some of their best hockey down the stretch.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg has notoriously struggled to attract top-end unrestricted free agents, and with their nosedive in the standings this year, the Manitoba capital will not be atop players\u2019 lists for a trade, especially if they have some form of protection. That will likely mean looking to improve from within, with Arniel challenging prospects like Brad Lambert, Brayden Yager and Nikita Chibrikov to force management\u2019s hand come training camp in September.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo beat somebody out for a job,\u201d Arniel said. \u201cGo do what you can to get yourself to become a Winnipeg Jet full-time.\u201d<\/p>\n
With four and a half months until training camp, management is officially on the clock to improve the team and keep their playoff window open. Reflecting on the team\u2019s steep decline, Arniel outlined the organization\u2019s mandate for the summer.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a phrase out there: You either win or learn,\u201d Arniel said. \u201cIf you don\u2019t go out and find out why you didn\u2019t win, you\u2019re just going to end up repeating the same thing.\u201d\u2028<\/p>\n
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 20, 2026.<\/p>\n
Jeff Hamilton, The Canadian Press<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cDid we think we were going to get to college without going to high school? Did we skip…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":556933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5121],"tags":[5,78,4,77,18,5288],"class_list":{"0":"post-556932","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-winnipeg-jets","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-jets","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-winnipeg","12":"tag-winnipeg-jets","13":"tag-winnipegjets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116439490442978591","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=556932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/556932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/556933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=556932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=556932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=556932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}