{"id":561331,"date":"2026-04-28T03:03:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T03:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/561331\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T03:03:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T03:03:17","slug":"3-burning-questions-winnipeg-jets-must-answer-in-2026-offseason","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/561331\/","title":{"rendered":"3 burning questions Winnipeg Jets must answer in 2026 offseason"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Winnipeg Jets (35-35-12)<\/a> were due for regression after winning the Presidents\u2019 Trophy in the 2024-25. Little did fans know that they would regress all the way outside the playoff line in 2025-26.<\/p>\n

The team failed to agree on an extension with winger Nikolaj Ehlers<\/a>, and while he has his issues in durability, he was hard to replace. The Jets didn\u2019t, instead electing to shore up the depth with Jonathan Toews<\/a> and Gustav Nyquist<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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More: Golden Knights vs Mammoth Game 4 live stream: NHL Playoffs, TV channel<\/a><\/p>\n

That didn\u2019t work, and the ineffectiveness of the depth, plus an up-and-down season from Connor Hellebuyck<\/a>, caused Winnipeg to become sellers at the deadline. They shipped Logan Stanley<\/a> and Luke Schenn<\/a> to the Buffalo Sabres<\/a>, and it might be a very eventful offseason.<\/p>\n

Is there a front office shakeup?\"\"<\/p>\n

The Jets struggles this season felt years in the making. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, despite his seeming lack of accountability for his performance this season, has been the biggest reason the Jets have been a consistent playoff team. With Hellebuyck struggling, the Jets didn\u2019t have the offensive output to counter that.<\/p>\n

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That falls on the feet of Kevin Cheveldayoff. He\u2019s had some good signings in the past, but the failure to replace Nikolaj Ehlers led to this point.<\/p>\n

More: How to live stream Flyers vs Penguins Game 5:\u00a0 NHL Playoffs, TV channel<\/a><\/p>\n

Ehlers was a consistent 20-goal, 35-assist winger for Winnipeg, even with durability concerns. He was a consummate first-liner, and with the Carolina Hurricanes<\/a> signing him, the Jets had a major hole on their roster.<\/p>\n

He put bare minimum effort in replacing Ehlers, signing Jonathan Toews (one-year, $2 million) and Gustav Nyquist (one-year, $3.25 million). Toews, who\u2019s 36 years old, had just 11 goals and 18 assists through his 82 games, while Nyquist had just a goal and 11 assists through 51 games.<\/p>\n

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There are also rough contracts around the roster, with Neil Pionk (six-year, $42 million) and Dylan Samberg<\/a> (three-year, $17.25 million) signed to bloated contracts last season. With the mediocre product on the ice, it might be time to move on from Cheveldayoff, who\u2019s been the general manager since June 8, 2011.<\/p>\n

What is the status on Connor Hellebuyck?\"\"<\/p>\n

Most of the fans will remember the season for the final comments of star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. \u201cI don\u2019t play this game for the money or the fame,\u201d he said. \u201cI do it because I love it, and part of that is winning a Cup. So for me, it\u2019s about how I can get there.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The stern comments don\u2019t come off as a trade request, but as a warning. If the Jets have a 2026-27 season like this season, then Hellebuyck might demand a trade request.<\/p>\n

More: Jeremy Swayman opens up on emotional outburst after Bruins\u2019 Game 4 collapse<\/a><\/p>\n

Hellebuyck has led the Jets through thick and thin over the past couple of seasons. He\u2019s earned three Vezina trophies, including winning both the 2024-25 Vezina and Hart trophies.<\/p>\n

However the Jets haven\u2019t done enough to insulate their goaltender. Some of that is due to location, but they haven\u2019t signed many marquee free agents in Hellebuyck\u2019s tenure, opting to trade franchise players like Patrik Laine<\/a> and Jacob Trouba<\/a> instead. If they don\u2019t act soon, Hellebuyck could be next.<\/p>\n

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How do the Jets revitalize their second line?\"\"<\/p>\n

If the Jets want to compete, they will need to create some semblance of a second line. The best three forwards (Mark Scheifele<\/a>, Kyle Connor<\/a>, Gabriel Vilardi<\/a>) notched 264 of the 626 points the Jets had last season. That\u2019s 42% of the Jets\u2019 point production to just three players.<\/p>\n

Last season, the Jets had Ehlers, allowing them to put Vilardi on the second line with Cole Perfetti and Adam Lowry<\/a>. Perfetti earned a career-high in points (50), and Lowry had a career-high in goals (16).<\/p>\n

More: Juraj Slafkovsky injury update brings relief for Canadiens ahead of Game 5<\/a><\/p>\n

However, both of those players regressed this season. Lowry went down to just 21 points in 70 games, and Perfetti shrunk to 32 points in 68 games.<\/p>\n

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The Jets will need a good second-line forward to bring the chemistry back. They could reach for a target in free agency, but Charlie Coyle<\/a> and Bobby McMann<\/a> are the only options I\u2019d slot as a top-six forward anywhere. They could also visit the trade market.<\/p>\n

More: Game 4 hero Brandon Hagel has 2 words for Lightning teammate\u2019s \u2018one of the best\u2019 praise<\/a><\/p>\n

Draft capital is lacking, but the Jets still have their first-round pick and some good prospects in the wings. If they truly wanted another shot with this core, there are definitely some wingers, such as Jordan Kyrou<\/a>, they could trade for. It could be foolish in hindsight, but the Jets are running out of time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Winnipeg Jets (35-35-12) were due for regression after winning the Presidents\u2019 Trophy in the 2024-25. Little did…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":561332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5121],"tags":[1746,3819,97,530,229,29,1285,2000,1171,3652,3937,149,1121,5,3124,156,78,3862,1479,976,8684,1290,189,4492,2604,501,3522,4,794,640,168,2222,31,77,18,5288],"class_list":{"0":"post-561331","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-winnipeg-jets","8":"tag-adam-lowry","9":"tag-bobby-mcmann","10":"tag-brandon-hagel","11":"tag-bruins","12":"tag-buffalo-sabres","13":"tag-carolina-hurricanes","14":"tag-charlie-coyle","15":"tag-cole-perfetti","16":"tag-connor-hellebuyck","17":"tag-dylan-samberg","18":"tag-gabriel-vilardi","19":"tag-golden-knights","20":"tag-gustav-nyquist","21":"tag-hockey","22":"tag-jacob-trouba","23":"tag-jeremy-swayman","24":"tag-jets","25":"tag-jonathan-toews","26":"tag-jordan-kyrou","27":"tag-juraj-slafkovsky","28":"tag-kevin-cheveldayoff","29":"tag-kyle-connor","30":"tag-lightning","31":"tag-logan-stanley","32":"tag-luke-schenn","33":"tag-macklin-celebrini","34":"tag-mark-scheifele","35":"tag-nhl","36":"tag-nikolaj-ehlers","37":"tag-patrik-laine","38":"tag-san-jose-sharks","39":"tag-the-jets","40":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","41":"tag-winnipeg","42":"tag-winnipeg-jets","43":"tag-winnipegjets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561331","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=561331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/561331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/561332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=561331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=561331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=561331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}