The Winnipeg Jets tied a 2.0 era record with 52 regular-season wins in 2023-24 and got strong contributions from throughout the lineup. Unfortunately, however, they made a second-straight first-round exit, losing to the Colorado Avalanche in five games. In this Report Card series, we’ll take a look back on the season, player by player, and grade their individual performances with an eye toward their future with the team.
Kyle Connor had another successful campaign from a scoring standpoint as he led the Jets with 34 goals. However, his defensive flaws stood out more than in seasons past.
Connor Got Off to a Strong Start
After scoring a disappointing-by-his-standards 31 goals in 2022-23 -— including only two in his first 14 games — the right winger got off to a comparatively scorching start in 2023-24. The now-27-year-old notched 13 goals in his first 15 games, including a trio of two-goal efforts and a hat trick on Nov. 9 against the Nashville Predators.
By early-December, the Jets were locked into a tight battle for first place in the Central Division and were exceeding expectations. Connor was a key contributor to their success to that point, with a team-leading 17 goals and 11 assists and on pace to be the first 50-goal scorer in Jets 2.0 history and to break his personal goal-scoring season high of 47. But enter Ryan Strome.
Connor Was Derailed By First-Career Long-Term Injury
In the early second period against the Anaheim Ducks at the Honda Center on Dec. 10, Strome nailed Connor with a vicious knee-on-knee hit as Connor cut to the front of the net on a backhand chance. The situation looked immediately dire as Connor was slow to get up and did not put any weight on his right leg when being helped off the ice by Josh Morrissey and Nikolaj Ehlers. Strome was ejected from the game, which the Jets ultimately won, but all the concern was on how the team would fare moving forward without the man who sat fourth in league goal scoring at the time.
The next day, news broke that Connor would be out six-to-eight weeks with a knee injury. Strome was not suspended for his indiscretion, which was reckless at best and malicious at worst.
Life without Connor was not something the Jets are used to as he never missed more than six games in the seven full seasons he played with the Jets in his career. However, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff’s work over the offseason to add forward depth paid off big time — even without their purest goal scorer in the lineup, they kept winning thanks to contributions from all four forward lines.
Connor’s recovery went even better as could be reasonably hoped. He ended up missing 16 games and returned on Jan. 16 against the New York Islanders after five weeks on the shelf. The team went 12-2-2 in his absence and even put up an eight-game winning streak.
Connor Produced Upon Return, But Defensive Game Left Much to Be Desired
Upon his return, Connor continued to post strong offensive numbers, ending the season on a seven-game point streak to finish with 34 goals and 27 assists for 61 points in 65 games, his sixth-career 30-plus goal season, and fifth-career 60-plus point season. Unlike in 2022-23, he did not suffer through any prolonged slumps and never went more than four-straight games without a point.
He also showed up for the playoffs, scoring three goals and adding two assists for five points in five games, including three points in the Jets’ Game 1 7-6 win.
However, Connor’s lack of defensive ability and indifference without the puck — two traits more typical of frequent linemate Mark Scheifele in seasons past — were glaring at times and exposed him as rather flawed superstar. His poor defensive play — turnovers, bad passes, and lack of effort when backchecking — especially hurt the team during their six-game losing streak in March. The line of he, Scheifele, and Alex Iafallo kept getting greatly outshot, out-possessed, and out-chanced, but now-retired head coach Rick Bowness was reticent to split them up. Connor, at times, seemed exempt from Bowness’ demand that every player give their best effort defensively.
New Jets head coach Scott Arniel would be best to keep Scheifele and Connor apart next season. The Jets don’t need Connor to be a shutdown forward, but they do need to make sure he’s on a line that’s defensive ineptitude doesn’t outweigh its offensive contributions.
Connor still has two more seasons on his seven-year deal and his average annual value of $7.142 million is worth it for everything he brings to the ice. There’s little reason to expect anything less from him next season than to play a top-six role and operate at around a point-per-game clip. Even if he’s a complementary piece rather than a cornerstone, his continued contributions will be paramount if the Jets want to get past the first round in their contention window, which seems like it’ll be open for a few seasons yet.
Connor’s final grade will take a slight hit because of his defensive struggles, but one has to take the good with the bad in elite finishers like him and his offence cannot be ignored. He has the ninth-most goals in the NHL since his first full season and 243 in his career to go along with 242 assists for 485 points. It’s not because he’s a scrub.
Final Grade: B+
Read more Jets 2023-24 report cards below:
