Think back to spring of 2018, after easily making their way through the Wild, the Jets were faced with quite the challenge in a very hard-fought 7 game series against Nashville, but ultimately came out on top to advance to the Western Conference Final for the first time in franchise history. They were winning the hearts of fans all across Canada to finally bring the cup back to where it belongs, only to have those hopes crushed in a lopsided 5 game series to send the Jets packing.
Since then? A few playoff appearances, but very little - if any - noise has been made despite attempts to bring in rental players at the deadline, most notably Kevin Hayes a few years ago.
Many fans have been on Cheveldayoff's case and saying he's been too soft at the deadline each year. While this does warrant frustration, consider the possibility that the window may have been slammed shut after that disappointing series against Vegas.
The Jets have seemed to go back and forth on having the firepower at the forwards, the size at the blue line, but have never seemed to be able to put it all together and build that complete team. Now may be the time to start thinking about the players coming down the pipeline.
This core is undeniably talented, but there are times where things seem amiss. Some of that blame has been placed on former Jets coach Paul Maurice, and in some cases, that blame was warranted due to his heavy reliance on Schiefele and Wheeler as well as his reluctance to use depth players. Speaking of the depth players, it is interesting that the Jets were playing some of the best hockey of the season while some of the bigger names were out. Could this mean younger talent such as Capobianco, Gawanke, and Barron will be allowed to shine? Could Winnipeg rebuild around a core of those guys along with Connor, Perfetti, and Morrisey, among others? If so, does that mean the window is only shut for a short amount of time, or just partially closed?
Time will tell, and how the Jets play down the stretch will dictate the direction of the team next season with contracts such as Wheeler and Scheifele expiring.