The Winnipeg Jets have played three games since their trade-deadline additions arrived in Winnipeg. It’s time to take a look at how each of them have done so far and the roles they have played since joining the lineup for the stretch run.
Toffoli Finding Chemistry, Scoring Touch on Second Line
Tyler Toffoli potted his first two goals as a Jet on Friday night against the Anaheim Ducks, pushing his season total to 28.
Related: Jets’ 2024 Trade Deadline: Getting to Know the New Additions
The 31 year old, acquired from the New Jersey Devils for a 2024 second-round pick and a 2025 third-round pick, has been tapped by head coach Rick Bowness to play right wing on the second line with Sean Monahan and a rotating cast of wingers (most recently, Nikolaj Ehlers.) Toffoli had no points through his first eight periods, but received a standing ovation from a sold-out crowd at Canada Life Centre after his pair of tallies in the third period against the Ducks. First, he activated off a Monahan faceoff win and ripped a shot past John Gibson’s glove side to make the score 4-0.
He lit the lamp again a few minutes later, this time on the power play in the crucial net-front role he’s taken over with Gabriel Vilardi out indefinitely with both an undisclosed injury and an enlarged spleen. Toffoli, who is known for his nose for the net, went straight to the front of the blue paint and redirected a hard pass from Mark Scheifele home.
Related: Jets Need to Be Concerned With Gabriel Vilardi’s Repeated Injuries
The author, who was in attendance, can testify the ovation for Toffoli may have been the loudest the downtown arena has been all season, with the scoreboard decibel-level reader displaying a high of 111.9. There’s no doubt fans understand the addition of a veteran goal scorer such as Toffoli means their team is all in for a Stanley Cup run.
“It was awesome,” Toffoli said of the crowd reaction. “I got a little taste of it in our first game, with the standing ovation too. Definitely a special moment and obviously nice to get my first one here and hopefully, keep rolling.”
Toffoli had a few glorious chances to complete his natural hat trick thereafter, but Gibson made a couple of good stops. “I should have had four or five there by the end of it,” Toffoli, who finished the game with two goals and five shots, but his lowest ice time since joining the Jets at 12:28, said.
Toffoli has found quick chemistry with Monahan as they played together on the Calgary Flames and in juniors on the Ottawa 67s (they were roommates back then, in fact.) In his debut against the Washington Capitals, he was held off the scoresheet while skating 15:15 and registering three shots. He was, however, noticeable in the 3-0 victory as he provided a nice screen for Alex Iafallo’s deflection goal and executed a beautiful deke through Alex Ovechkin’s legs that ultimately didn’t lead to a scoring chance but got the arena buzzing. Against the Nashville Predators Wednesday, Toffoli skated 16:57 and had one shot.
While Iafallo and Kyle Connor have also been Toffoli and Monahan’s left-winger, the Ehlers/Monahan/Toffoli trio produced the best results. Against the Ducks, they had an expected goals for of 0.82 while having an expected goals against of just 0.146, as per MoneyPuck. Toffoli’s individual expected goals for of 0.63 was the best on the Jets.
Toffoli, who has 255 goals and 257 assists for 512-career points in 797-career games now, garnered praise from Bowness after his performance against the Ducks.
“Chevy made a great trade there,” the bench boss said. “He’s a goal scorer and if you get the puck to him in the right spots, he’s going to put it on the net and it’s going to go in the net.”
Look for Bowness to continue to use his newest forward in crucial situations down the stretch and in the playoffs. Toffoli is one of only two current Jets to have hoisted Lord Stanley’s Mug (he did so 2013-14 with the Los Angeles Kings) and in 88-career playoff games, has 18 goals and 26 assists for 44 points.
Miller Plays 2 Solid Games, Sits For 1
Colin Miller, meanwhile, watched Toffoli’s goals and the Jets’ romp from the press box.
The defender, also acquired from the Devils on deadline day in a separate trade, was a healthy scratch alongside Dylan Samberg as Bowness deployed Nate Schmidt and Logan Stanley on the third pairing.
Schmidt and Stanley hadn’t played since Miller — a right-handed defender and veteran of more than 500-career NHL games — arrived in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick. He made his Jets’ debut against the Capitals, skating with Samberg on the third pairing and logging 13:48, one shot, and three hits.
Against the Predators, he once again skated with Samberg, logging 11:43, two shots, five hits, and tallying his first point as a Jet — an assist on Mason Appleton’s power-play goal that made the score 4-2 Predators with only a few seconds remaining. Miller — who is known for having an absolute bomb of a shot from the point — has not hesitated to fire the puck on net; that trait makes him perfect for a Bowness-run blue line as Bowness likes his defence to be involved in the offence.
Overall, in a small sample size, Miller has been extremely solid and is an upgrade over both Schmidt and Stanley when it comes to shutting down opponents and moving the puck. His CORSI and Fenwick possession numbers are elite — at 68 per cent and 63.9 per cent, respectively — so his removal from the lineup was not an indictment of his play, but rather a combination of Bowness trying to keep all eight of his defenders fresh and spark his team after a sleepy effort. Expect Miller to return to the lineup soon.
Jets Head on the Road Seeking Consistency
Miller, Toffoli, and the Jets are slated to begin their longest road trip of the season (five games) on Sunday against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Through the Eastern Conference swing that has them face the Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, Devils, New York Islanders, and Capitals, they’ll look to be more consistent. They’ve alternated between having an exceptional game and a poor one in their past five: they shut out the Seattle Kraken 3-0 in a defensive masterclass on March 8, then got hammered by the Vancouver Canucks 5-0 the next night in what Bowness called “the worst game” he’d seen in his two years behind the bench.
They got back on their game in the 3-0 shutout of the Capitals on March 11, then fell off it again in a 4-2 loss to the Predators, a game where the final score flattered the Jets as both their goals came late in the third when the outcome was not in doubt. Then, of course, they dominated the Ducks, a rebuilding team that sold off assets at the deadline and also has some injuries to key personnel, 6-0.
The Jets’ record in 2024 against opponents in a playoff position is just 3-8-0. The Rangers (first in the Metropolitan Division) and the Capitals (holding the second Eastern Conference wild-card spot) are the only opponents on the road trip that hold that status.
The Jets struggles over the past two-and-a-half months to defeat the league’s better teams is certainly a cause for concern. If they are able to beat some of the playoff-bound opponents the rest of the way, it’d help them prove to themselves they can get back to the level of consistency they showed earlier in the season (especially on the defensive side) and that they can defeat their first-round playoff opponent, whoever it is.
Banking points on this road trip would be a boon to their position in the Central Division standings, too. The Jets are two points behind the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, who both have 91 points, but have two games in hand on the Avalanche and three games in hand on the Stars.
