After a brutal seven-game skid to start the new year, the Winnipeg Jets are finally showing some fight-and just in time. With four straight wins under their belt, the Jets are clawing their way back into the Central Division conversation, and while they’re still sitting in eighth place, they’ve pulled within one point of St. Louis and two of Chicago, with a game in hand on both.
That’s not nothing.
This recent surge matters not just for the standings, but for the bigger picture. The Jets, last year’s Presidents’ Trophy winners, are dangerously close to following in the footsteps of the 2022-23 Boston Bruins-another top regular-season team that flamed out early and missed the playoffs the following year. Winnipeg’s trying to avoid becoming the second straight team to suffer that fate.
So, is this turnaround legit? Or is it just a dead-cat bounce before things fall apart again?
That’s the question being asked around the league, including on Daily Faceoff LIVE, where former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton and host Tyler Yaremchuk broke down Winnipeg’s playoff hopes.
Yaremchuk posed a simple but telling question: “There is a [blank] percent chance the Jets can salvage their season and get back into a playoff spot.” With the team currently sitting eight points back of the eighth-place San Jose Sharks, it’s not an easy road.
Hutton’s answer? A cautiously optimistic 40%.
“I think they can,” Hutton said. “I just don’t know if they want to, right?”
That might sound harsh, but it’s less about effort and more about the big-picture motivation. The Jets have the talent-Connor Hellebuyck is still one of the best goaltenders in the league, and with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor leading the charge offensively, this is a team that can score and steal games. But the question is: what’s the payoff?
“Imagine they do all this work and then they finish just outside the wild card spot-for what?” Hutton added. “If you get in, you’re just going to get whacked by Colorado in the first round.”
That’s the dilemma for Winnipeg. They’re good enough to chase a spot, but are they good enough to make noise once they get there? And even if they do get hot enough to sneak in, is a first-round exit worth the grind?
Still, for now, this four-game win streak is a step in the right direction. It shows the locker room hasn’t quit.
It shows Hellebuyck can still steal games. And it shows that when the Jets are clicking, they’re not a team anyone wants to play.
The question now is whether this is a spark or a short-lived flicker. The next few weeks will tell us a lot about whether Winnipeg is ready to fight for a playoff spot-or fade into a season of what-ifs.