The Winnipeg Jets were the biggest surprise of the first half of the 2023-24 NHL season. They came in considered on the playoff bubble, but have been dominant on both sides of the puck and sit in first in the entire league with a 28-9-4 record and 60 points. Entering the second half of their campaign — they played game 41 on Thursday, Jan. 11 — they are riding a franchise-record eight-game winning streak and have lost in regulation just once in their past 19.
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The Jets have a balanced offense with four lines capable of scoring, have been historically stingy on defence, are getting excellent goaltending, and have embraced a “no excuses, only solutions” attitude under head coach Rick Bowness and new captain Adam Lowry.
Their success has come as a result of collective effort, game in and game out, and they truly have no dead weight or players who aren’t pulling the rope in the right direction. It’s almost unfair — and certainly difficult — to single out just three top performers, but there’s no doubt the trio we’ll cover here have been very, very good and key to the team’s “glow up” since last season.
3: Mark Scheifele
Mark Scheifele led the Jets in points with 41 (14 goals, 27 assists) in the first half season after signing a big seven-year contract extension in October. The top centre had been especially good since being put on a line last month with Nikolaj Ehlers to his left and Gabriel Vilardi to right, recording 17 points (seven goals, 10 assists) in his past 19 games.
Perhaps just as importantly, though, the alternate captain has recommitted himself to his defensive play and is no longer hurting the team with a lack of effort without the puck. In fact, the he has been the poster boy for buying in to what Bowness is selling — that no matter how talented you are offensively, you have to be consistent defensively. He was minus-17 and minus-16 in the past two seasons, but is plus-18 this season. Plus/minus can be a flawed stat, but that huge swing is no fluke.
Scheifele suffered a lower-body injury versus the Chicago Blackhawks on Jan. 11 and is currently considered day to day. While Bowness called this “very good news” —and that is true — Scheifele missing any time would be a curveball nonetheless, and just the latest piece of adversity for a team that’s been without still-team-leading goal scorer Kyle Connor for a month already.
However, the fact Scheifele — the Jets’ first-ever draft pick who recently became just the second player in Jets/Thrashers history to reach the 400-assist mark with the franchise — was not only not traded like everyone thought he would be last summer but is excelling as a two-way player is nothing less than a massive boost to the Jets’ chances of contending for many seasons to come.
2: Josh Morrissey
Josh Morrissey has been described as “omnipresent” this season and continued to prove he’s an elite two-way NHL defender in the first half.
Some regression was expected — or even seemed inevitable — after he broke out massively with 16 goals and 60 assists for 76 points last season to smash his previous career highs and emerged as a locker room and on-ice leader. There has been no regression to speak of.
Not only has Morrissey continued to get on the scoresheet — he has seven goals and 25 assists for 32 points to sit third on the Jets — but he’s been rock solid defensively. He’s one of the biggest reasons — if not the biggest — that the team has allowed a league-low 95 goals and has given up three or fewer goals in 31-straight games (the second-longest streak in the modern NHL era behind the 2014-15 Minnesota Wild.)
The 28-year-old is logging a career-high 24:19 per game, has CORSI and Fenwick numbers near 60 per cent (anything higher than 50 is good), and has a plus/minus of plus-24, behind only his defensive partner Dylan DeMelo. He is worth every cent of his $6.25 million contract and more.
Bowness recently had high praise for Morrissey when asked, after the Jets defeated the Boston Bruins 5-1 on Dec. 22, 2023, how he thought his number-one defender played.
“Dominant. He can take over the game, both sides of the puck,” Bowness said. “He just loves to be challenged and he rises to it. He wants to be out there, like I’ve always said, ‘he wants the ball’… he wants to be out there in all those key situations, he wants to play against the best lines on the other team, and more times than not he answers the bell.”
1: Connor Hellebuyck
Connor Hellebuyck is well on his way to his second Vezina Trophy. He’s still the straw that stirs the Jets’ drink, although he’s not being relied on to bail them out and steal wins to nearly the same extent as past seasons.
The 30-year-old goaltender, who last captured the award for the NHL’s top goaltender in 2020, has been stellar nonetheless and is dispelling any notion he’d get complacent after signing a big seven-year contract extension on the same day as Scheifele. The fire to win a Stanley Cup burns deep within him, and he’s doing his part to get the Jets a ticket to Lord Stanley’s dance.
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When opponents do get a high-danger chance against the Jets — a rarity considering how stout and stifling the team defence has been — getting it past Hellebuyck has proven to be a daunting task.
Hellebuyck, who was named an NHL All-Star for the fourth time in his career earlier this month, has put up eye-popping numbers even by his standards. He has a 21-6-3 record, 2.20 goals against average (GAA), .923 save percentage (SV%), two shutouts, and a 19.7 goals saved above expected, which leads the NHL. The GAA and SV% numbers would be career bests if he could maintain them.
He has not lost in regulation since Nov. 30 and is 11-0-2 since then. He has not allowed more than three goals in his past 22 starts, and in 18 of those, has allowed two or fewer. The last time he allowed more than three in a game was Nov. 2 against the Vegas Golden Knights.
These numbers are not only a testament of how well the team has played in front of him, but also a testament to his preparation, dedication, and ability to rebound after a poor start to the season (he allowed 14 goals in his first three starts.)
Hellebuyck has made 30 starts and Bowness has said he’s serious about keeping his number-one goaltender fresh for the stretch run — which could involve trying to lock down first place in the Central Division and/or Western Conference if the Jets avoid a second-half slump like a season ago — and potential playoff run.
Backup goaltender Laurent Brossoit has been rock solid in his own right as he owns a 7-3-1 record, 2.18 GAA, .923 SV%, and 3.3 goals saved above expected in 11 starts. Even though Hellebuyck is a noted workhorse who always wants the net, it would be best for him and everyone involved if Brossoit gets 12-15 more starts in the back half.
Jets Begin Second Half With Lighter Schedule
The Jets will play the Philadelphia Flyers Saturday evening and have a chance to not only start the second half on the right note against a team that will be on the second half of a back to back, but also extend their winning streak to nine.
The game will be their ninth in 15 days. They will have a comparatively lighter schedule after that up to the All-Star break, with just five games from Jan. 14 through Jan. 27. They will then be off until Feb. 6.
