The biggest news in Winnipeg this off season was the buy out of Blake Wheeler’s final year on his contract, and the trade of Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Los Angeles Kings.
Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck stops a shot on goal – Photo by Jack Lima
Wheeler signed a free agent deal with the New York Rangers as soon as he was free of the Jets. His deal was for less than a million for one season.
Dubois’ trade to the Kings returned on that investment with LA sending Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo and Rasmus Kupari, and a second-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.
“I do believe that this opportunity that we had to acquire these players does serve our organization very well,” Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said at the time of the Dubois trade. “We’re a much deeper team; our top nine has a lot of different kinds of players that can come in and contribute in a lot of different ways.”
At the very least, the Jets got a couple of hard working players. Something they may think was a huge upgrade.
“It’s great that I had a successful year last year, but I definitely want to keep improving,” Vilardi said. “I see myself doing even better and I just want to keep growing my game, and that’s how I kind of look at it.”
Winnipeg’s core group of Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Adam Lowry remain in the fold. The Jets are hoping Cole Perfetti has a year that he builds off the success of his sophomore campaign.
The Jets did make the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season, but were bounded in five games in a first round loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.
Jets defenseman Mark Scheifele looks for a pass in front of the net – Photo by Jack Lima
“I thought they were really good last year,” Vilardi said. “In the playoffs, they battled with Vegas, and I think if they didn’t lose Scheifele (with an upper-body injury in Game 4), they could have gone even further. They have a great team and I’m super excited to be joining them and hopefully help them out. We’ll see how it goes.”
The blue line corps is led by Josh Morrissey (16 goals, 60 assists) with Neal Pionk, Dylan DeMelo, Brenden Dillon, and Nate Schmidt rounding out a decent roster of defensemen.
“I thought they were really good last year,” Vilardi said. “In the playoffs, they battled with Vegas, and I think if they didn’t lose Scheifele (with an upper-body injury in Game 4), they could have gone even further. They have a great team and I’m super excited to be joining them and hopefully help them out. We’ll see how it goes.”
In goal, the Jets still benefit from Connor Hellebuyck who is in his final year on the current contract. Questions in Winnipeg are focused on whether the Jets can, and will, re-sign him as well as Scheifele, also in the final campaign of his contract.
Laurent Brossoit was signed by Winnipeg to a one-year deal in the off season to back up Hellebuyck.
“I felt a familiarity, coupled with the fact we’re retaining a lot of guys in Winnipeg,” Brossoit said of signing with the Jets. “It’s going to be a little bit different then it was last time, and that excited me. I felt there was a little more opportunity for me to win starts and be a bigger part than I was last time. Those were big key points for me.”
The Jets have one prospect expected to make the roster this season.
Defenseman Ville Heinola iced 10 games for the Jets last season collecting one assist. He played for the Moose of the AHL for the balance of the season (37 points on 33 assists).
“He’s a very intelligent player who makes the right play at the right time,” Jets director of player development Jimmy Roy said. “He moves the puck before he gets into trouble. He’s got a few years of pro under his belt now and knows what’s expected, and he’s a guy that’s knocking on the door.”
The rest of the Jets prospect pool has expectations from next season through the 2026-27 season.
The Jets to avoid their mid-season swoon. Last season they were strong to open the season, and then had to rally late to find the second wild card spot in the We3stern Conference.
Wheeler’s departure may be felt early, but the suspicion is the Jets will adapt to the loss of their former captain, who is likely to have wanted out of Winnipeg for several seasons.
The Dubois trade was inevitable. His production improved in Winnipeg, but his promise did not.
Winnipeg will need to work hard from the opening drop of the puck through the April of next year to make the playoffs. The rest of the Central Division and Western Conference has looked to improve. A fast lift off will help.
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