Make no mistake — team success is the most important thing in sports, and as the Winnipeg Jets near the 2024-25 season, the focus is rightly on how they’re going to fare after a second-straight first-round exit and number of key departures in free agency.
That being said, individual success is still something to be celebrated and you don’t have a strong team without talented individuals contributing to the cause. There are more than a handful of Jets’ players approaching some meaningful career landmarks we’ll take some time to highlight here.
Kyle Connor – 500 Points
Currently has: 485 points
Kyle Connor is 15 points away from 500 in his career and could hit the milestone sometime in October.
Related: Jets’ Stanley Cup Checklist Check-In
The only question is whether the prolific sniper and slick playmaker will bag his 500th-point on a goal or an assist. In 531-career games, his goal and assist totals are in a near dead heat: he’s put 243 pucks in the back of the net while dishing out 242 apples.
Nikolaj Ehlers – 500 Points
Currently has: 457 points
Nikolaj Ehlers has been the topic of trade rumours for months now, but remains a Jet and like Connor, is closing in on the 500-point mark.
The dynamic Danish forward just hit the 200-goal mark at the tail end of last season and needs 43 points to reach his next milestone. While it’s possible he’s traded near the 2025 Trade Deadline if he hasn’t signed a new contract with the Jets and they are not in playoff contention, he’s likely to hit 500 before any trade would happen.
Even if he is dealt before reaching 500, he’ll probably hit it before the season is over considering he has five 55-point plus seasons in his career.
Connor Hellebuyck – 500 NHL Starts, 300 Wins
Currently has: 496 starts, 275 wins
Connor Hellebuyck, a workhorse, will probably get the team’s first four starts of the season considering none of the games are back-to-backs, so the 500-start milestone is a foregone conclusion. Interestingly, the promotion for their fourth game of the campaign, on Oct. 18 at home against the San Jose Sharks, is dubbed “Hellebuyck Night.” Someone in the True North Sports & Entertainment marketing department appears to know exactly what they are doing.
25 wins should also be a fairly easy feat for the two-time and reigning Vezina Trophy winner to accomplish. He has 37 in back-to-back seasons and the last time he didn’t get at least 25 wins was in the 56-game 2020-21 season, where he had 24.
Alex Iafallo – 100 Goals
Currently has: 97 goals
Alex Iafallo was a streaky scorer in his first season with the Jets, but should hit the 100-goal marker before too long.
Iafallo — acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in the trade that sent Pierre-Luc Dubois the other way last June — recorded 11 goals in 2023-24, his lowest in six seasons. While he has not lit the lamp prolifically in his 502-game NHL career, he has scored as many as 17 in a single campaign and is pretty much a lock to hit his milestone regardless of where he’s deployed in the lineup.
Vladislav Namestnikov – 300 Points
Currently has: 298 points
The versatile Russian forward can play centre or wing and up and down the lineup, but regardless of his deployment in 2024-25, he will hit the 300-point milestone. He could even do it in the season-opening game, as he sits at 298-career points (126 goals, 172 assists.)
Namestnikov has been a reliable secondary contributor to all seven teams he’s played for across his 708-game NHL career, and the Jets are no exception. In 98 games with Winnipeg since being acquired from the Tampa Bay Lightning at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline, the now 31-year-old has 47 points (13 goals, 34 assists) and a plus-24 rating.
Cole Perfetti – 100 Points
Currently Has: 75 points
Cole Perfetti could hit this milestone quickly, or it could take him most of the season. It all depends on his role and his health.
If he plays like he did in the first half of last season, he should hit it by Christmas. Through 41 games of in 2023-24, the now 22-year-old was a fixture on the second-line right wing, recording 29 points (12 goals, 17 assists.)
If he plays like he did in the second half of last season, it could take a while. After his dominant start, he fell into an extended scoring drought, suffering through a 23-game goal-scoring slump from Jan. 11 to March 23. This led now-retired head coach Rick Bowness to bump Perfetti down to the fourth line and into the press box after the team added Tyler Toffoli to the forward group at the 2024 Trade Deadline. He was a healthy scratch 11 times in the regular season and four times in the playoffs.
Overall, Perfetti still set career highs with 19 goals and 38 points last season and his game took noticeable steps forward. If he his able to snag a top-six role — either as the new second-line centre or on the wing again — in what will be his fourth NHL season, the points will come.
Perfetti’s durability will also be a factor. He didn’t miss any time with injuries last season, a welcome development considering he suffered four separate injuries in his first two NHL campaigns that limited him to 69-combined games.
6 More Approaching Milestones (In alphabetical order)
- Morgan Barron – 200-career NHL games (has played 182)
- Josh Morrissey – 600-career NHL games (has played 582)
- Nino Niederreiter – 900-career NHL games (has played 887)
- Neal Pionk – 200 assists (Has 183)
- Mark Scheifele – 800-career NHL games (has played 797)
- Gabriel Vilardi – 200-career NHL games (has played 199)
