The Winnipeg Jets are going to be heavily scrutinized in 2023-24 as they’ll attempt to compete amidst a retool afoot after another disappointing early playoff exit and the departure of two key players (and possibly more departures before training camp.)
While some Jets will look to build off of strong 2022-23 campaigns, others will be looking to bounce back after rough ones. Three players in particular fall into that latter category.
3: Nikolaj Ehlers
Nikolaj Ehlers doesn’t need to bounce back from a performance perspective, as he had 38 points (12 goals, 26 assists) in 45 games last season and was analytically one of their best players (no surprise there.) Where he does need to bounce back is from a health perspective.
The Danish winger is a dynamic talent but has spent a lot of time on the shelf over the past two seasons. Last season, he missed three months with a sports hernia that knocked him out of the second game and required surgery, then in mid April was rocked by a dirty Ryan Hartman hit that led to a prolonged “will-he-play, won’t-he-play” saga and him missing four of five first-round playoff games.
His 45 games played was a career low that came on the heels of a 2021-22 season where he played just 62. He has played 70-plus games just once in the past four full seasons (he suited up for 71 in 2019-20.)
Despite the injuries last season, Ehlers was a force when he was in the lineup and an analytics darling — he improved in shot metrics and was able to control most shots and chances at even strength and once again posted extremely strong possession metrics. The fact he did that while still getting back up to speed after surgery and a long layoff is impressive.
Ehlers is a high-level producer, and one the Jets need available for all 82 next season. Pierre-Luc Dubois and Blake Wheeler are gone via trade and buyout, respectively, and Mark Scheifele could be traded before the season begins as well. This means there’s an offensive vacuum that needs to be filled and potentially a bigger role for Ehlers as long as he stays healthy.
2: Laurent Brossoit
Laurent Brossoit’s 2022-23 season ended wonderfully, but wasn’t an easy one for him overall.
The goaltender, who played for the Jets between 2018 and 2021 and has returned on a one-year deal, won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights but experienced many ups and downs along the way. He feels far less than satisfied entering 2023-24 and believes he has much more to achieve.
“I was a part of the team that won the Stanley Cup. But the way it shook out, it doesn’t feel like that craving’s really been fully satisfied,” he said recently. This was a reference to getting injured in the second round and watching the rest of the way as Adin Hill stole the show. He said while it was a great experience, it made him “hungrier to be a bigger part of another Stanley Cup win.” (From ‘Signing with Jets a no-brainer,’ Winnipeg Free Press, July 4, 2023.)
Brossoit found himself on the outside looking in for much of last season as the Golden Knights’ goalie carousel never stopped spinning. He spent time in the AHL for the first time since 2018, but got another NHL chance late in the season and made the most of it.
He went 7-0-3 with a 2.17 GAA and .927 SV% in 10 starts and 11 regular-season appearances down the stretch, then soundly outplayed then-former and now-current teammate Hellebuyck in the first round of the playoffs, going 4-1-0 with a 2.42 GAA and .915 SV%. He started Games 1 and 2 of the second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers, but an injury he suffered in Game 3 ended his postseason.
By signing a one-year deal, Brossoit is betting on himself and said his goal is to prove he can be a “bona fide starter” over a full season. He has 96-career starts under his belt over nine NHL seasons, but none as an undisputed number-one.
“I think I showed a lot of people what I can do, showed myself what I can do this past year. But everyone wants to see a little more of that, a full season…” he said. “That’s my goal for this season, to prove to Winnipeg and to prove to everyone and anyone who would value me that I can be one of the best in the league.”
Brossoit may just be given the keys to the Jets crease soon, and all eyes will be on him if he does. Hellebuyck has one year left on his contract but no interest in re-signing with Winnipeg, and will either be gone before the season starts or sometime during it.
1: David Gustafsson
David Gustafsson was on THW’s edition of this same article for last season, and he’s on it again.
The “Gus Bus,” as he’s come to be known, is coming off his second-straight disappointing season. As he enters the 2023-24 campaign on the last year of a two-year deal, he seems to be down to his last chance.
Last season, the Swedish forward played 46 games but recorded no goals and six assists while skating an average of 10:06. Most of his playing time came in the first half as Kevin Stenlund — a fellow Swede who began the season with the Manitoba Moose — was given an opportunity to be fourth-line centre in December, impressed head coach Rick Bowness, and kept the job. Gustafsson was regularly relegated to the press box as a result, playing just two games in January, none in February, seven in March, and one in April.
It was far from what was envisioned of the 2018 second-rounder who was coming off a challenging 2021-22. That season, he was given multiple chances to cement a role on the bottom six, but was derailed by injuries and only played two NHL games. (He was injured both in the first period of his season debut on Dec. 17, 2021 and in the first period of his return to the lineup on Jan. 2, 2022.)
Gustafsson’s upsides are obvious. He has been a top-line centre in the AHL and has recorded 56 points in 82-career AHL games. He has two-way skill, the ability to play on the power play and penalty kill, and is strong in the faceoff circle, but hasn’t been able to put it together in the NHL, with just one goal and six assist in 74-career games.
Stenlund is gone, having signed a one-year deal with the Florida Panthers as an unrestricted free agent, but that won’t make Gustafsson’s path back to being a regular easy. He’ll now have to compete for playing time with Gabriel Vilardi and Rasmus Kupari, two players capable of playing centre and wing who were acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in the June trade that sent Dubois the other way.
Which Jets do you think will bounce back? Are there any others candidates in your mind? Comment below!
