The Winnipeg Jets head into the first full week of November with their season already asking hard questions. After a promising start to the 2026-27 campaign, the club has hit a rough patch, and the combination of inconsistency and injuries has made the next stretch feel especially important.
Winnipeg is sitting at 4-7-3 with 11 points, near the bottom of the Central Division, and the recent results have not been kind. The Jets opened the year with wins over the Detroit Red Wings, Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild, but that early momentum has faded fast. By the end of October, the losses had piled up, and the defensive problems were getting harder to ignore.
The numbers from the late-October skid tell the story. Winnipeg gave up five goals in losses to the Anaheim Ducks and Florida Panthers, allowed six against the Tampa Bay Lightning, then dropped another game to Florida to close out the month. That kind of run puts the spotlight squarely on the coaching staff and the team’s structure, especially in its own zone.
The Jets do not need to reinvent themselves, but they do need to get cleaner. Better coverage in the defensive zone, smarter puck management and fewer giveaways are all part of the fix. The core is still there - Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor remain the main engines up front, while captain Adam Lowry continues to provide leadership and defensive reliability - but the supporting cast has to carry more of the load.
That becomes even more pressing with Josh Morrissey out. The defenceman suffered an upper-body injury against Colorado on Oct. 7, was placed on injured reserve and was initially described as week-to-week. The team’s October update said surgery was not considered necessary.
Morrissey’s absence goes well beyond one pairing on the blue line. He is a key part of Winnipeg’s transition game and power play, the kind of defenceman who can move the puck quickly and help the forwards enter the zone with control. Without him, the rest of the defence has to absorb more minutes and more responsibility, which is a tougher ask when the team is already spending too much time defending.
The injury list does not stop there. Nick Bjugstad is on long-term injured reserve with a pectoral injury, and the latest report suggested he could be out until March.
Vladislav Namestnikov is on injured reserve with an undisclosed injury, leaving his status for the opening games of November uncertain. Garrett Brown is also on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and is expected to miss time into November.
Those absences matter on both ends of the ice. Bjugstad’s size and versatility are not easy to replace.
Namestnikov’s absence limits the staff’s options when sorting out the forward lines. Brown’s injury thins out the defence even further while Morrissey works his way back.
The schedule does Winnipeg no favors either. The Jets have four games on the slate this week, starting with a road matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday, Nov. 1 at 1:00 p.m.
ET. That is followed by a visit to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, Nov. 3 at 7:00 p.m.
ET. Winnipeg then returns home for games against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 7:00 p.m.
ET and the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, Nov. 8 at 6:00 p.m. ET.
Carolina looks like the toughest assignment of the bunch. The defending Stanley Cup champions entered late October among the league’s strongest teams, and Winnipeg will need a disciplined defensive effort to keep pace. It is also a chance for the Jets to answer back after a frustrating finish to October.
Montreal brings a different kind of test. The Canadiens have shown they can be difficult to contain, and Winnipeg will need to be sharp with the puck in a road environment that could demand a lot from them. The home games against Vancouver and Tampa Bay offer a chance to settle in and build some momentum, but neither opponent is a soft landing.
For Winnipeg, the immediate goal is simple: stop the slide. The club’s eight consecutive losses through Oct. 30 have created an early hole, and the longer this stretch continues, the harder it becomes to climb out.
The path forward starts with structure. The forwards have to support the puck better, the defence has to keep opponents out of dangerous areas and the team has to cut down on the turnovers that turn into quick chances the other way. With Morrissey unavailable and Hellebuyck gone, the margin for error is thinner than ever.
At the same time, the Jets need more than just Scheifele and Connor to drive the offence. Dawson Mercer could help add versatility and energy, and the coaching staff will keep searching for combinations that create sustained pressure instead of isolated looks.
November is packed for Winnipeg, and this four-game stretch could go a long way toward setting the tone. A strong response would not erase what happened in October, but it would give the Jets something they badly need right now: a steadier base to build on.
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Sean Walker was right in the middle of the offensive surge, and the defenseman kept popping up in dangerous spots as the margin kept growing. The Jets had already been forced to turn to another goalie early in the second period, and Carolina kept pressing from there, leaving the bigger question not about the result but about how quickly this version of the Hurricanes can carry over when the competition stiffens. [Read more 🡒]