Back after a short absence! The Winnipeg Jets face the St. Louis Blues tonight in a must-win game to keep their playoff hopes alive. The St. Louis Blues have been a hot team since the Olympic break and both teams have similar records for their last 10 games: 6-3-1 for the Jets and 6-2-2 for the Blues. Heading into St. Louis has been a challenge for the Jets in the past, so they'll need to play their best tonight to secure the win.

Projected Lineup
Forwards
Connor - Scheifele - Iafallo
Perfetti - Lowry - Vilardi
Koepke - Toews - Rosén
Niederreiter - Namestnikov - Lambert

Defense
Morrissey - DeMelo
Samberg - Pionk
Fleury - Bryson

Goaltenders
Hellebuyck (starting)
Comrie

Winnipeg will face a stiff challenge as they try to collect more points in that race for the last wildcard spot as the Colorado Avalanche visit. The season series between the two teams is tied 1-1 and the biggest question as to who's going to take tonight's game is which Winnipeg Jets team will show up on the ice tonight. Recent games have seen them play some of their best hockey this season, punctuated with lapses that demonstrate why they're where they are in the standings. Hopefully the team can come out with energy and tonight's game is an entertaining one!

Projected Lineup
Forwards
Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Alex Iafallo
Cole Perfetti - Adam Lowry - Gabriel Vilardi
Isak Rosén - Morgan Barron - Brad Lambert
Cole Koepke - Jonathan Toews - Gustav Nyquist

Defence
Josh Morrissey - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Elias Salomonsson
Haydn Fleury - Neal Pionk

Goaltenders
Connor Hellebuyck (starting)
Eric Comrie

The Jets will see if they can rebound off one of their worst performances of the season as they face the New York Rangers, a team only 2 points behind them in the standings that can’t win at home but tends to be a solid road team.

Projected Lineup
Forwards

Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Gabriel Vilardi
Cole Perfetti - Adam Lowry - Alex Iafallo
Gustav Nyquist - Jonathan Toews - Isak Rosén
Cole Koepke - Morgan Barron - Brad Lambert

Defence Josh Morrissey - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Elias Salomonsson
Haydn Fleury - Jacob Bryson

Goaltenders Connor Hellebuyck (starting)
Eric Comrie

The Winnipeg jets return to home ice to face the Vancouver Canucks after a dominant showing on Thursday that led to a 4-1 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The trade deadline has passed, though, and the Jets will be looking at several changes to the lineup.

Of note, Winnipeggers will get their first look at Isak Rosén tonight, the promising add to our forward depth received as part of the Stanley/Schenn trade. Jacob Bryson will also likely make an appearance on 3D paired with Heinola; while small, he's a good puck mover that should be able to help break out of the defensive end. Lambert will also play tonight, called up from the Moose yesterday, likely making him a fixture while the forward core deals with injuries.

Projected Lineup
Forwards
Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Alex Iafallo
Cole Perfetti - Adam Lowry - Gabriel Vilardi
Gustav Nyquist - Jonathan Toews - Isak Rosén
Cole Koepke - Morgan Barron - Brad Lambert

Defense
Josh Morrissey - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Elias Salomonsson
Hayden Fleury - Jacob Bryson

Goaltenders
Connor Hellebuyck (starting)
Eric Comrie

The Winnipeg Jets face their toughest opponent in a while as the Tampa Bay Lightning visit Canada Life Center. Will it be a tank commander blowout? Will the Jets manage to find more points? Will today bring trade deadline drama?

Projected Lineup
Forwards
Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Gabriel Vilardi
Cole Perfetti - Adam Lowry - Alex Iafallo
Gustav Nyquist - Jonathan Toews - Walker Duehr
Cole Koepke - Morgan Barron - Tanner Pearson

Defense
Logan Stanley - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Elias Salomonsson
Haydn Fleury - Luke Schenn

Goaltenders
Connor Hellebuyck (starting)
Eric Comrie

The Jets bring their losing streak back to home ice as the Chicago Blackhawks look to start a winning streak.

Projected Lineup
Forwards
Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Gabriel Vilardi
Cole Perfetti - Adam Lowry - Alex Iafallo
Gustav Nyquist - Jonathan Toews - Walker Duehr
Cole Koepke - Morgan Barron - Tanner Pearson

Defence
Logan Stanley - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Elias Salomonsson
Haydn Fleury - Luke Schenn

Goalies
Connor Hellebuyck (starting)
Eric Comrie

The Jets face a much tougher opponent tonight as they head into the barn in Anaheim to face the Ducks. How about that Logan Stanley top pairing D?

Projected Lineup
Forwards
Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Gabriel Vilardi
Cole Perfetti - Adam Lowry - Alex Iafallo
Gustav Nyquist - Jonathan Toews - Vladislav Namestnikov
Cole Koepke - Morgan Barron - Tanner Pearson

Defence
Logan Stanley - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Elias Salomonsson
Ville Heinola - Luke Schenn

Goaltenders
Eric Comrie (starting?)
Dominic Divincentiis

The Jets are back in action, facing one of the few teams that's probably worse than they are tonight!

Projected Lineup
Forwards
Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Alex Iafallo
Cole Perfetti - Jonathan Toews - Gabriel Vilardi
Nino Niederreiter - Adam Lowry - Vladislav Namestnikov
Cole Koepke - Morgan Barron - Tanner Pearson

Defense
Josh Morrissey - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Elias Salomonsson
Logan Stanley - Luke Schenn

Goaltenders
Connor Hellebuyck (starting)
Eric Comrie

The Jets host the Canadiens tonight, seniors club vs youth for 2 important points.

Projected Lineup
Forwards
Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Gustav Nyquist
Cole Perfetti - Adam Lowry - Gabriel Vilardi
Nino Niederreiter - Jonathan Toews - Vladislav Namestnikov
Alex Iafallo - Morgan Barron - Tanner Pearson

Defence
Josh Morrissey - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Elias Salomonsson
Logan Stanley - Luke Schenn

Goalies
Connor Hellebuyck (starting)
Eric Comrie

It’s a tall order for the Jets to start another winning streak tonight as they face off against the top Atlantic division team. That said, the Jets have a knack for showing up and beating teams they shouldn’t, then losing to teams they should crush, so who knows what’ll happen tonight!

Projected Lineup

Forwards
Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Alex Iafallo
Cole Perfetti - Jonathan Toews - Gabriel Vilardi
Nino Niederreiter - Adam Lowry - Vladislav Namestnikov
Cole Koepke - Morgan Barron - Tanner Pearson
​
Defense
Josh Morrissey - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Elias Salomonsson
Logan Stanley - Luke Schenn
​
Goaltenders
Connor Hellebuyck (starting)
Eric Comrie

The Winnipeg Jets host the Detroit RedWings tonight at Canada Life Centre and it’s still freezing outside. Detroit is running hot at 7-2-1 in their last 10 games; can the Jets leave with two points tonight?

Projected Lines Forwards Kyle Connor -Mark Scheifele - Alex Iafallo
Cole Perfetti - Jonathan Toews - Gabriel Vilardi
Nino Niederreiter - Adam Lowry - Vladislav Namestnikov
Gustav Nyquist - Morgan Barron - Tanner Pearson

Defence Josh Morrissey - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Elias Salomonsson
Logan Stanley - Luke Schenn

Goaltenders Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie

The Winnipeg Jets host the Florida Panthers tonight at Canada Life Centre in the midst of the coldest temperatures to hit the city this winter. It will be a tougher matchup tonight for Winnipeg as we’ll see if they can carry any momentum into tonight’s game after the win against St. Louis.

Projected Lines Forwards Kyle Connor -Mark Scheifele - Alex Iafallo
Cole Perfetti - Jonathan Toews - Gabriel Vilardi
Nino Niederreiter - Adam Lowry - Vladislav Namestnikov
Gustav Nyquist - Morgan Barron - Tanner Pearson

Defence Josh Morrissey - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Luke Schenn
Isaak Phillips - Logan Stanley

Goaltenders Connor Hellebuyck (starting)
Eric Comrie

The Jets came out on the losing end of a 4-point game against the Blackhawks last night in Chicago. Will the Jets be able to get 2 points tonight in a critical Central Division game against the St. Louis Blues?

Projected Lineup
Forwards
Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Alex Iafallo
Cole Perfetti - Jonathan Toews - Gabriel Vilardi
Nino Niederreiter - Adam Lowry - Vladislav Namestnikov
Cole Koepke - Morgan Barron - Gustav Nyquist

Defence
Josh Morrissey - Dylan DeMelo
Dylan Samberg - Luke Schenn
Isaak Phillips - Logan Stanley

Goalie
Eric Comrie (starting)
Connor Hellebuyck

The Chicago Blackhawks (19-22-7) host the Winnipeg Jets (19-22-6) for two critical western conference points. Can the Jets rebound from an OT loss against the Leafs on Saturday night and climb out of last place in the Central Division?

The Winnipeg Jets are visiting the Minnesota Wild this evening with puck drop shortly after 7 PM. Can the Jets make it 4 wins in a row in what should be an intense divisional match-up?

The Winnipeg Jets host the New York Islanders this evening with puck drop shortly after 7 PM. Will the Jets keep building on recent success, or will the poor habits of the last 6 weeks reappear?

This is a stats piece about a struggling Winnipeg Jets hockey team.

If you’re looking for ways to pile on as the Jets tumble down the standings, losing four of five and occasionally looking downright miserable, it’s easy to find statistics to support you. If you want to talk about the importance of secondary scoring, Saturday night’s win was all the proof you need.

But one win against the worst team in the Western Conference doesn’t change the Jets’ most important trend.

Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Gabriel Vilardi and Josh Morrissey have scored more points in Winnipeg’s last 10 games than every other player on the team combined. Winnipeg’s second-line centre, Jonathan Toews, has been outscored 7-2 at even strength in his last 10 games, while scoring only three points in 13 November games.

Toews isn’t alone in his struggles, though; more than half of the Jets roster scored three or fewer points in November, while defencemen Neal Pionk, Logan Stanley and Dylan DeMelo have outscored Toews, Gustav Nyquist, Tanner Pearson and Cole Koepke — Winnipeg’s four most notable UFA signings — in that same time frame. Eric Comrie and Thomas Milic aren’t good enough to make up for that on their own, the way Connor Hellebuyck so often is.

It all feels like rearranging the same information to take the same swipes at an offensively challenged team. Winnipeg has three players — Connor, Scheifele and Morrissey — who can break games open and a collection of players who won’t cheat you but need more help breaking through. I don’t question effort level with respect to anyone on Toews’, Lowry’s or Namestnikov’s lines, despite their lack of production.

But it hasn’t been good enough. The Jets are still looking up at the playoff cut line after Saturday’s win. They’re still 4-6-0 in their last 10 games, despite Stanley Cup ambitions. So what can we learn about this year’s Jets? Why is this happening?

There’s insight to be had about this team beyond “they’re old” or “nobody is scoring.” Let’s start with a quick conversation with head coach Scott Arniel and a look at why secondary scoring has fallen off quite as badly as it has.

The Jets have gone from a top-10 team at five-on-five last season to one of the worst, whether you measure quality by zone time, shots or scoring chances.

Via Natural Stat Trick, Winnipeg has the third-worst percentage of shots and expected goals this season. Via the NHL’s tracking data, it’s spent the eighth-most time in its own zone at even strength. You know this by watching it: The Jets have gotten hemmed in their own zone for long stretches in ways the last team avoided, while so many more of their offensive attacks are one-and-done this season than last.

The idea of Lowry’s line spending 45 seconds cycling in the offensive zone, then going for a line change, then watching from the bench as the next line carved through the offensive zone in the same fashion, used to be routine. Now, hand-off shifts by any line stand out because of their rarity, such as the eight minutes toward the end of the second period against Washington, when the Jets looked like a great team again.

So why the lack of goals?

I put that question to Arniel this week, asking about the role of Winnipeg’s breakout problems in the Jets’ lack of sustained offensive pressure. I believe that part of Winnipeg’s offensive struggles is about what happens in the offensive zone — scoring chances that don’t get finished or perimeter play caused by a lack of speed. I think a lot of it is about the quality of exit passes Winnipeg’s forwards get from its defencemen.

My preamble referenced the importance of Winnipeg’s first pass.

“We showed some examples of that this morning,” Arniel said. “Our five-man breakouts, we did a great job of getting to our blue line. And then it was the next play after that. So I don’t always call it the first pass. I call it the next pass.”

Arniel said Winnipeg’s centres have done a good job of getting low, picking up the first pass from their defenceman. The Jets’ breakout problems have come after successful passes from D to centremen die on that next player’s stick, whether they tried to skate it out or pass it off to a winger.

“Our offence starts that way,” Arniel said. “If you can push a team back on their heels because of the rush and you don’t have to dump the puck in all the time — or start again and regroup and do it again — that’s tilting the ice. That’s making the team play in the other end of the rink.”

Garret Hohl has been tracking Winnipeg Jets zone exits and other microstats at The Five Hohl.

I put my theory to him, based on Winnipeg’s struggles and Arniel’s commentary, that Winnipeg’s breakout issues are costing the team real goals. He sent me a ton of information and insight, but let’s start with this look at Winnipeg’s year-over-year decline in controlled zone exits per game.

This year’s Jets are getting out of their own zone with possession of the puck eight fewer times per game than last year’s version did. They’re chipping it out to release the pressure (without icing it) roughly the same amount as before. They’re getting stuffed one extra time per game, whether in the form of a turnover or a breakout attempt that turns into a battle situation.

That first number is a big one. We know that controlled zone exits are the gold standard of breakout situations because they help in two ways at once: the opportunity to create offence and the opportunity to avoid defending, all because Winnipeg still has the puck. Arniel put it plainly while talking about tilting the ice.

Hohl’s math can help us quantify the impact in a little more detail. Each breakout type has a different value. We know clean exits with possession are better than chipping it out. We know chipping it out is better than turning it over. These things are obvious, but Hohl’s tracking and his math help us create an “expected shots” value for each type of breakout. The combination of video tracking and analytics can give an “expected shots” number for each type of breakout — how likely each type of zone exit is to turn into a Jets shot.

Winnipeg’s breakout problems are costing it shots, scoring chances and real goals compared to last year’s team.

Winnipeg’s forwards and defencemen are suffering this season, but the D’s numbers have dropped off dramatically. It’s leading to roughly three fewer Jets shots per game, based on Hohl’s math, on a team that’s taking five fewer shots per game than the one that came before it.

It’s interesting, isn’t it? A team that’s removed Nikolaj Ehlers, Mason Appleton and Rasmus Kupari and replaced them with Toews, Gustav Nyquist and Pearson might expect a bigger drop off from its forwards. It’s possible that some of the forwards’ impacts are affecting the D numbers — a defenceman can only make a pass if there’s someone in a good spot to pass it to, but I think it’s pointing at a bigger problem among Jets defencemen.

With Samberg hurt to start the year and Pionk hurt now, the Jets have had to push a lot of defencemen above their ideal playing tier.

Luke Schenn, Logan Stanley, Haydn Fleury and Colin Miller have the four worst controlled-exit percentages on the team. Schenn has been a healthy scratch of late, but his propensity for dusting the puck off and then failing to hit his exit pass helped contribute to long defensive zone shifts in the 16 games he played. (That said, it was Schenn’s exit pass that Nino Niederreiter collected off his skate on the way to scoring Winnipeg’s second goal on Saturday night.) Stanley has impressed in key moments and may help on the third pairing but was outmatched alongside Pionk in the season.

Let’s connect this idea back to Winnipeg’s lack of secondary scoring. Here are Winnipeg’s defencemen and their zone exit numbers. Note that 20 games have been tracked, but only one involving Salomonsson.

Wouldn’t it make sense that forwards who get their exit passes from Morrissey have better offensive numbers than the other Jets? Lo and behold, Morrissey has shared roughly 200 minutes of icetime with each of Connor, Scheifele and Vilardi and not as many as 100 minutes with any other Jets forward.

Samberg, whose controlled exit numbers are second best, has only played eight games, while Salomonsson’s sample is way too small for any conclusions. (He’s been beaten up in terms of goals against so far while making a high rate of successful exit passes.)

Here’s a reminder of what a clean exit pass can do, giving Niederreiter credit for the way he handled Schenn’s pass off his skate.

LOOKING FOR THE COOKIES 🍪 pic.twitter.com/QsbxMN3yPv

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) November 30, 2025

What does it all mean? I think there is a real and dangerous temptation to blame Winnipeg’s lack of offence solely on the forwards who aren’t finishing their scoring chances. It would be a lot wiser to consider why the Jets aren’t generating scoring chances at all — and that’s a problem that starts well before Cole Perfetti, Toews or whoever gets stopped by a goaltender. Scoring chances turn into goals in the long run, even if failed chances burn in the memory right now. Perfetti’s relief-inducing goal against Nashville is proof; it came after multiple scoring chances in multiple recent Jets games.

The bigger problem is all of the chances you’re not seeing happen at all. A lack of transition could sink the Jets’ playoff chances far more effectively than a lack of finishing will, because transition problems are way more likely to last.

Winnipeg could use a prime-aged Blake Wheeler or Nikolaj Ehlers or any top-end forward who can single-handedly dominate transition hockey. The team’s more pressing need — by far — is another defenceman who can make stops and then move the puck.