Winnipeg Jets look like the inevitable 2026 NHL lottery draft team – The Hockey Writers – Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets are in complete free fall and look destined to be in the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery. Should they try to pull on the parachute cord?
sad winnipeg
Winnipeg’s hockey team has worse things than the weather.
We’re not going to spend a lot of time revisiting just how deep and fast the decline of last season’s Presidents Trophy winner was, but here’s a quick summary: This team is fragile. It’s like a cheap tent that will blow over at the slightest adversity. Secondary scoring was completely non-existent, with everyone but Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi struggling. The much-hyped signing of Jonathan Toews has been a flop so far. Logan Stanley ranks sixth on the team in goals.
The solid defensive structure that was the backbone of their 56-win season in 2024-25 is nowhere to be seen. Their power play was futile and their penalty kill was porous. Head coach Scott Arniel, a Jack Adams Award finalist last season, can’t seem to create any line combinations that can do anything but watch goals fire into his own net.
Connor Hellebuyck is out and Eric Comrie is struggling, but even the reigning Hart and Vezina Trophies might not be able to save this team.
Is the Jets’ season worth saving?
The Jets fell to the Dallas Stars 4-3 on Tuesday night in a game that followed a frustrating script similar to many of their losses this season. The Jets are sixth in the Central Division and 26th in the NBA with a 14-14-1 record and have lost 12 of their past 17 games. They are 20 points behind the conference lead, eight points behind the top three and two points behind the second wild-card spot in the West.
Any return to relevance will be a long and challenging process. Remember, teams not making the playoffs before Thanksgiving only had a 25% chance of making the playoffs, and the Jets were just as under the playoff line then as they are now.
Even if they do make the playoffs as a wild card, they’ll likely face the Colorado Avalanche or Stars in the first round. Both of these games scream “first round exit” in 2023 or 2024.
The Siren Song of Tanks is calling, but Winnipeg might not be tempted
NHL teams can no longer afford to tank in order to get a guaranteed No. 1 pick — thanks to the 1983-84 Pittsburgh Penguins. However, teams can still find stealthy ways to lose games and give themselves the best possible chance of landing a top draft pick, or at least a very high one.
The Jets probably won’t mess things up by trading away any big-name stars or firing A’Neil or general manager Kevin Chiverdayoff with 53 games remaining — if they believe their window to compete is closed, the organization will have nothing if not loyal to a fault and obviously won’t be able to sign their core to long-term contracts.
But the results and the Jets’ current standings are what they are. Before we might have to accept that they might actually be that bad, all we can say is “they don’t play as bad as they play.”
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If the Jets want to “tank” this season, they can always play some of their underperforming veterans and bring in younger players — Nikita Chibrikov, Parker Ford, Brad Lambert and Elias Salomonson — currently with the Manitoba Moose. It would be great if they could help turn things around. If not, these four will receive valuable NHL reps next season, and the organization will have a better chance of capturing a generational talent in Whitehorse-born winger Gavin McKenna.
Then again, the way the Jets are playing right now, they probably won’t need to decide on tanking. They might just do it all themselves.
