It feels like yesterday that the Winnipeg Jets training camp had just started. Truthfully, this season has flown by, and the Jets faced several season-long adversities.<\/p>\n
You don\u2019t go from winning the Presidents\u2019 Trophy one year to missing the playoffs the next. When you do, it usually means there\u2019s been something large at play.<\/p>\n
Whether it\u2019s a culture, on-ice performance, coaching, or something larger at play, Winnipeg\u2019s season was underwhelming. The expectations were too high for an aging team, and that exposed them.<\/p>\n
Back on April 6th, before Winnipeg\u2019s game against the Seattle Kraken, I opened up a mailbag, and everything was fair game. Unique questions from X, Instagram, and Facebook were all submitted, and now it\u2019s time to dive into the best of the bunch.<\/p>\n
Richard from Facebook asks: Which Prospects Are Closest to Making an Impact?<\/p>\n
This is a great question, and it\u2019s one on many fans\u2019 minds, especially after this season. <\/p>\n
Go through the prospect pool right now and see who\u2019s playing with the Moose. You have Brad Lambert, Elias Salomonsson, Brayden Yager, Colby Barlow, Jacob Julien, Alfons Freij, Fabian Wagner, Parker Ford, Danny Zhilkin, and Nikita Chibrikov all trying to improve and make an impact.<\/p>\n
Lambert, Salomonsson, Yager, Chibrikov, Ford, and Zhilkin have all played NHL games this season.<\/p>\n
Take a look at who\u2019s on the way: Kevin He, Sascha Boumedienne, Kieron Walton, Owen Martin, Viktor Klingsell, and Zach Nehring. There\u2019s uncertainty around whether Dmitri Rashevsky makes the jump to the NHL or not, but that\u2019s a bridge to cross later.<\/p>\n
I also haven\u2019t mentioned the Jets\u2019 goaltending prospects Thomas Milic and Domenic DiVincentiis. Milic suited up in three NHL games, while DiVincentiis was recalled, but never suited up in an NHL game.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg has a shot to get a high draft pick this year, and they currently own the seventh-best odds ahead of the draft lottery.<\/p>\n
You\u2019re seeing a prospect pool that isn\u2019t outstanding, but there\u2019s a chance for one of these players to make an impact sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n
Manitoba is a team that doesn\u2019t score much, and the Jets can have an offensive outburst from time to time. Down in Manitoba, Brayden Yager, Colby Barlow, and Parker Ford have been making the biggest impacts. Until the post-trade deadline recalls of Isak Rosen and Brad Lambert, there didn\u2019t seem to be any players making an NHL impact anytime soon.<\/p>\n
That changed as Winnipeg entered the playoff race and Brad Lambert started contributing, even in a limited-depth role. If Lambert can get a solid role right out of training camp, he\u2019ll be a good middle-six option for Winnipeg as they aim to rebound next season.<\/p>\n
Liam, via Instagram, asks: What do they (Winnipeg) need in the offseason?<\/p>\n
The needs of the Winnipeg Jets are public, and that\u2019s thanks to Darren Dreger. Winnipeg has to go out and get a top-six forward and a top-six centre. The former of those needs wouldn\u2019t be an issue if Winnipeg managed to re-sign Nikolaj Ehlers or bring in another player in last year\u2019s free agency.<\/p>\n
When it comes to needing a top-six centre, that\u2019s been an issue that Winnipeg has faced ever since Bryan Little\u2019s career came to an end in the 2019-20 season. Since then, Winnipeg\u2019s acquired Sean Monahan, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Paul Stastny (twice), Cody Eakin, and Kevin Hayes.<\/p>\n
Dubois and Hayes were traded out of Winnipeg, while Eakin and Stastny walked in free agency.<\/p>\n
This need for a top-six centre could\u2019ve been an entirely different narrative if Winnipeg had been able to retain Monahan, Dubois, or Stastny. If it were Stastny, well, that would\u2019ve been a temporary fix until his retirement at the end of the 2022-23 season.<\/p>\n
Dubois wasn\u2019t going to stay, so that narrows it down to Monahan, who left to play in Columbus in that offseason. This led to Winnipeg relying on Vladislav Namestnikov and Adam Lowry to fill those gaps full-time, while trade deadline acquisitions filled them for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n
The problem Winnipeg faces right now isn\u2019t the top-six center\/forward need; it\u2019s the fact that they don\u2019t have the assets to make that big acquisition. <\/p>\n
So where do you look?<\/p>\n
Winnipeg has the seventh-best odds in the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery, but they can\u2019t cross their fingers and hope they\u2019ll fall backwards into a top-three pick. That\u2019s just entirely unrealistic. The draft class is strong enough that Winnipeg can get an impact player, but some things just have to line up in the Jets\u2019 favour.<\/p>\n
Looking at the free agent class, Winnipeg\u2019s best bet would be to go out and hope to pick up a player like Bobby McMann (29), Mason Marchment (30), Connor Dewar (26), or Michael Bunting (30). The free agent class isn\u2019t young, so pickups must be strategic, and attracting any top free agent talent is another factor.<\/p>\n
Without sugarcoating it, but this offseason will be a rollercoaster for the Jets to navigate. It seems like making that acquisition is the most likely via trade, but if something gives in free agency, Winnipeg could start to snowball that into something bigger.<\/p>\n
Nick, via Facebook, asks: Who is the most important player to extend this offseason?<\/p>\n
The most important player to extend in my eyes was Cole Koepke, and no time was wasted to re-sign the player who publicly voiced his satisfaction to play in Winnipeg.<\/p>\n
The focus now turns to restricted free agent (RFA) Cole Perfetti, who also has arbitration rights this time around. The last time Perfetti and the Jets entered contract negotiations, it was the biggest storyline of the 2024 training camp.<\/p>\n
Given the last go-around of Perfetti\u2019s negotiations, I wouldn\u2019t be entirely surprised if something similar happens. I\u2019m also going to out myself here. I said that Winnipeg should\u2019ve signed Perfetti to a long-term deal after he had a breakout season in 2024-25.<\/p>\n
Perfetti is projected to get a four-year contract extension worth just under $5.8 million per AFP Analytics. A one-year deal is projected to come in just under $4.26 million.<\/p>\n
Given that we\u2019ve seen Perfetti perform to a strong top-six level at times before the 2024-25 season, and parts of the 2025-26 season, I don\u2019t see a world where Winnipeg wants this negotiation to drag out. If he gets another strong top-six player, ideally a centre, to go along a line with him and Gabriel Vilardi, Winnipeg should have two top lines to play with.<\/p>\n
Until then, the focus remains on Perfetti\u2019s negotiations, and it\u2019ll certainly be an offseason storyline to watch.<\/p>\n
Joe, via Instagram, asks: Should there be changes behind the bench this offseason?<\/p>\n
No, and I don\u2019t get the sense that any changes will happen.<\/p>\n
This sense comes from Scott Arniel saying that he has four and a half months of work to do, and it doesn\u2019t seem like the organization would move away from letting coaches go out on their own terms.<\/p>\n
The only coach to ever be relieved in Winnipeg Jets 2.0 history was Claude Noel, and he was replaced by Paul Maurice. Maurice left midway through the 2021-22 season, and Dave Lowry took over. Lowry wasn\u2019t renewed, and the Jets replaced Lowry with Rick Bowness. Bowness retired in the 2024 offseason, and it became time for Scott Arniel to take over as head coach.<\/p>\n
Simply put, Winnipeg doesn\u2019t fire coaches, even after missing the playoffs just a year removed from winning the Presidents\u2019 Trophy.<\/p>\n
It feels like Winnipeg peaked in 2024-25, and Scott Arniel was able to get the absolute most out of the roster he had. In 2025-26, Winnipeg seemed a little overconfident at times, especially with a hot start to the season.<\/p>\n
When injuries piled up, Winnipeg wasn\u2019t able to work around any top player being out of the lineup. In November, disaster struck as Connor Hellebuyck went down needing a minor knee surgery. Without their top goaltender, Winnipeg spiralled into an 11-game losing streak.<\/p>\n
Arniel said it later in the year about needing to make changes, and you can pinpoint the 11-game losing streak as a time when changes were needed to the lineup.<\/p>\n
The biggest takeaway at the end of the season? Arniel took responsibility for how things unfolded, and he expressed disappointment for not being able to compete in postseason action.<\/p>\n
If anything was ever to be mentioned following the 2025-26 season, it\u2019s that Winnipeg\u2019s coach took accountability, and that alone should give him runway to coach through the final year of his contract.<\/p>\n
The 2026-27 season becomes a chance for the Jets to rebound, and that falls under Arniel\u2019s leadership behind the bench. Sure, the argument will be made that there are more established coaches on the market. However, Arniel did coach Winnipeg to a franchise record, and so that chance to rebound becomes all the more important for Arniel\u2019s coaching tenure.<\/p>\n
Doug, via Facebook, asks: Why does the team struggle in big games\/against top teams?<\/p>\n
Winnipeg had a strong stretch of games following the Olympic break, and they nearly clawed their way into the playoffs because of it.<\/p>\n
Along the way, Winnipeg got shelled by teams with speedy youth and by top teams that have incorporated speedy youth.<\/p>\n
In March, Winnipeg lost two key games during an eight-game homestand in back-to-back fashion. March 10th in a 4-1 loss to Anaheim, and March 12 in a 6-3 loss to the Rangers.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg did the same thing just a week later on the road against Boston in a 6-1 loss on March 19th, and then on March 21st in a 5-4 shootout loss to Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n
On April 2nd, with zero room for error, Winnipeg lost 3-0 to the Dallas Stars. This game seemed to put Winnipeg\u2019s back against the wall, and it created a scenario where Winnipeg needed to win its remaining seven games to have a playoff chance.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg picked up their next three games in regulation, and they kept within striking distance, but then they laid a monumental egg against Philadelphia on the 11th in a 7-1 loss. They followed that up with a 6-2 loss to Vegas on the 13th, a 5-3 loss to Utah on the 14th, and another monumental egg in a 6-1 loss to San Jose.<\/p>\n
The pressure became too much for Winnipeg to manage, and it ended their season in early April because of it.<\/p>\n
You see, Winnipeg was able to compete with top teams, and they beat Colorado plenty of times throughout the regular season, but the stakes felt lower. The pressure of needing to win in regulation and hope for a favourable outta town scoreboard seemed to pile up almost immediately.<\/p>\n
Once Los Angeles took charge with needing a regulation win and a Winnipeg loss to clinch the playoffs, Winnipeg was already dead in the water.<\/p>\n
Scoring goals and playing a strong defensive game weren\u2019t Winnipeg\u2019s problems; it was allowing smaller errors to compound, and it gave the opposing teams enough room to burn the Jets with their speed.<\/p>\n
A four-game losing streak to end the season didn\u2019t bode well either, and players left disappointed. Even Scott Arniel echoed the same message in his year-end press conference.<\/p>\n
The weight of the 2025-26 season goes all the way back to that 11-game losing streak. That was the first bit of adversity Winnipeg faced, and they never recovered.<\/p>\n
They came out of the Olympic break 11 points out of a playoff spot, and they managed to get within one point of that final wildcard spot, but they couldn\u2019t string together more wins to push harder.<\/p>\n
Winnipeg also found itself in several one-goal games, and at one point in the season, it felt like they had invented new ways to lose a hockey game.<\/p>\n
Every game coming out of the Olympic break was a big game, and that alone was almost too much for Winnipeg. With a long offseason ahead, it will be interesting to see how they navigate to get themselves back into a playoff spot.<\/p>\n
Kimberley, via Facebook, asks: Did losing key players (like Ehlers in free agency) hurt more than expected?<\/p>\n
Looking back at everyone that Winnipeg has lost in free agency, losing Nikolaj Ehlers hurt the roster the most.<\/p>\n
The void of losing Ehlers was seen several times this season, and I was alluding to that in an earlier question.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m always going to wonder just how the lineup would look right now had Ehlers been retained by Winnipeg. Alex Iafallo had a big season, spending most of the year on the top line next to Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor.<\/p>\n
Does this remain a line if Ehlers is still a Jet? Or does Winnipeg have more depth at the wing than they\u2019ve had in years, as Vilardi seemingly transitioned to an effective second-line winger who can play on the top line as needed.<\/p>\n
Where does Cole Perfetti slot in on the Jets\u2019 lineup? Who\u2019s the second-line centre? There are so many questions that would be answered had Ehlers remained a Jet.<\/p>\n
Regardless of the what-if scenarios, Winnipeg pivoted, but their secondary scoring took a hit, and there was nobody to step up and fill that gap.<\/p>\n
I said it earlier with the available talent, but again, I stress the age factor of the free agent pool. Winnipeg isn\u2019t a young team to begin with, and adding veterans who can contribute now must be done carefully.<\/p>\n
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