After an incredible regular season which saw the Winnipeg Jets post an stellar 52-24-6 record, followed by a quick five-game exit from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Jets and their management group find themselves in an interesting spot this offseason. There are four clear needs that the organization needs to address if they are to make a deeper run in the playoffs next season.
Winnipeg Jets’ Biggest Need is a Top Four Right-Handed Defenceman
The Jets defensive structure led them to the lowest goals against in the league this season (199) and the William M. Jennings Trophy. That structure got picked apart by Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, and Mikko Rantanen in the first round as the Jets allowed 28 goals in five games. Their biggest need this offseason is finding a defenceman to play in the top-four, either with Josh Morrissey on the top pairing or to push Neal Pionk off of the second pairing.
With Dylan DeMelo’s status up in the air as a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA), and with Pionk having struggled in a second-pairing role for now two seasons in a row, the Jets will have to explore the market for a top four defenceman this offseason.
The easiest path to acquiring a top four defender is using Nikolaj Ehlers, who will potentially be shopped this offseason, as trade bait. Bringing back DeMelo would be wise as he has shown great chemistry with Morrissey on the top pairing, and if they acquire a top pairing defender, he could even thrive in a second pairing ‘shutdown’ role.
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Wth Brenden Dillon’s status up in the air regarding a return to the Jets, Pionk needing a smaller role next season, and their overall ineffectiveness outside of Morrissey in the playoffs, the Jets acquiring a top four defender is the most pressing need this offseason.
Jets’ Cheveldayoff Needs to Find a Way to Manage Cap Space Efficiently
According to CapFriendly, the Jets will have $13.35 million to spend in cap space this offseason. Pending UFAs include: Sean Monahan, Tyler Toffoli, Laurent Brossoit, Colin Miller, DeMelo, and Dillon. Pending restricted free agents (RFAs) Cole Perfetti and David Gustafsson will be needing a new deal as well.
It’s unrealistic to expect all of these players to be back next season outside of the RFAs, however, finding a way to shed Nate Schmidt’s contract with one year remaining at $5.9 million is an avenue the Jets should look to explore this offseason. Other candidates to be traded for cap reasons include Pionk with $5.875 million remaining for one season, and Alex Iafallo, who is set to make $4 million with his contract expiring next offseason.
Moving off of this money would go a long way to bringing back the long list of UFAs that the Jets are set to negotiate with, and it’s one of the biggest tasks for General manager Kevin Cheveldayoff to complete this offseason.
Having said that, Toffoli and Brossoit have likely priced themselves out of Winnipeg regardless of how much money the Jets have, and will almost certainly get raises from their current contracts on the open market.
A Solid Head Coach Who Will Push the Current Core Over the Top
Craig Berube, Sheldon Keefe, Jay Woodcroft, Dean Evason, Scott Arniel, or Todd Nelson? There are a plethora of head coaching candidates on the open market, and the Jets will need to make the right decision if they want to improve upon last season. Rick Bowness announced his retirement on May 6, and when looking back at his two-year tenure, he has put the next head coach in a great position to continue the success he created.
He re-shaped the teams’ culture by stripping Blake Wheeler of the captaincy and handing that responsibility to Adam Lowry, who was a fantastic captain in his first full season wearing the ‘C’. He also instilled a defensive structure that resulted in the Jennings trophy, and likely the Vezina Trophy for his star goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck.
Whoever takes over for Bowness will be stepping into a roster with playoff expectations, year-in and year-out. With Scheifele and Hellebuyck’s seven-year extensions kicking in next season, the Jets next head coach should have a long-term outlook on the franchise and where it’s headed. An integration of youth is coming either next season or the year after, and this coach will have to be adept at developing those younger players in order to remain competitive.
Players such as Rutger McGroarty, Elias Salomonsson, and Brad Lambert could all be playing massive roles on the 2025-26 version of the Jets, and a coach that is unwilling to trust younger players could severely alter those players development paths.
Finding Short or Long-Term Stability at Second-Line Centre
The Jets need to find stability at second-line centre. We know that Mark Scheifele and Adam Lowry are going to be filling in the first and third line centre spots, but that second line position remains an unknown. Monahan is a 29-year-old centre who posted 24 points in 33 games after being acquired by the Jets, but went through the first round series recording only one assist. An extension for Monahan could give them short term stability at that position, but they also potentially have a higher upside option in-house who could be the long-term option.
Related: Winnipeg Jets 2024 Free Agents: Sean Monahan
2022 first-round pick Lambert is coming off of an incredible season with the Manitoba Moose of the AHL, where he posted 55 points in 64 games and led the team in scoring. He was named to the AHL’s All-Rookie first team as well as being named an AHL all-star. After being moved into the middle to play centre with the Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL) in 2022-23, his devlopment curve has taken a sharp turn for the better, and even at 20 years old, he could be in the battle for the second-line centre role in training camp.
Whether it’s Monahan, Lambert, another shot for Cole Perfetti, Gabriel Vilardi, or Vladislav Namestnikov, the Jets will need to find a solution at second-line centre heading into the 2023-24 season.
Namestnikov was extremely productive in that role for the better part of three months last season, and could very easily be the opening night 2C if Lambert doesn’t win the job in training camp. He is a solid short-term option, but if Lambert isn’t ready to seize that role at any point in the season, you may once again see the Jets in the market for a second-line centre around the Trade Deadline.
Between improving the blueline, managing cap space, finding a solid head coach to support this core, and finding long-term stability at second-line centre, there is plenty that the Jets organization and GM Cheveldayoff have to figure out this offseason. Repeating their regular season success from 2023-24 will be difficult, but if they are able to succeed on two or more of these needs, they will put themselves in a prime spot to be right back in the mix for the Central Division title.
