The Winnipeg Jets are now 25 days away from opening their 2026-27 NHL season at home against the Boston Bruins. The Jets are also just 48 days away from hosting the Montreal Canadiens at Princess Auto Stadium for the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic, with tickets for all games of the 2026-27 season on sale now. The long days of the NHL off-season are almost over, as we’re now in less than two weeks away from pre-season games.

Tonight marks the end of a series that I’ve covered over the past two (now three) off-seasons known as the “goals and expectations” series. This series quickly previewed what to expect (and what to hope for) from Jets players in the 2026-27 season. After focusing on a handful of players on the Jets roster (including some new ones), I’ve decided to end this series by looking at the rest of the roster (in quick fashion), as well as overall team expectations (and predictions) for the upcoming season.

There’s no “best way” to go through the rest of the roster, so I’ll just go by the Jets projected lines, starting with the first line. I covered what to expect from Kyle Connor, but I didn’t talk about Mark Scheifele and Gabriel Vilardi. When talking about Kyle Connor I made sure to mention his talented linemates, who will equally be responsible for producing on the Jets top line. Scheifele is coming off a Jets 2.0 record setting 103 point season, and I’d expect him to be close to that again this season. Vilardi continues to improve each and every season, and there’s no reason why he shouldn’t be able to reach 75 points this season if he stays on the top line throughout the 84 games.

The 2nd line isn’t locked in yet, as it could possibly include the 2026 8th overall pick Viggo Bjork. The Jets may give Bjork a maximum of 9 games (to not use a year of his entry level contract), or if all goes right he could be a key contributor on the Jets throughout the year. Cole Perfetti is poised for a big season after his signing his new contract, and the third member of the 2nd line is unknown, but it could be the young Brad Lambert, who should get at least 35 points in his first full NHL season.

Moving down to the 3rd line, which could include a pair of veteran players looking for bounce back seasons. Alex Iafallo could be the top producer on this line, while Nino Niederreiter and Vladislav Namestnikov will look to each have at least 30 points this season as depth scoring options. The 4th line will include Cole Koepke and Morgan Barron, both of which will look to improve on their own play styles while also being secondary scoring options.

As for the blue line, the Jets will go into the season with the same top four as last season. Josh Morrissey continues to be an important member of the top powerplay unit, while DeMelo will be expected to play his defensive defenceman style to help Morrissey succeed. Samberg and Pionk will be the duo looking for bounce back seasons on the blue line, which could go a long way to lowering the Jets goals allowed per game. The new 3rd pairing will include Mario Ferraro and one or two depth defenceman on the ride side before Elias Salomonsson returns, a defenceman looking to take another step in his first full NHL season.

As for the goaltending situation, I covered a bit about what to expect in my latest article talking about Stuart Skinner. The upcoming (hopefully before the season begins) Hellebuyck trade could see the Jets acquire a new goalie to split the starts with Skinner, or the Jets will give a goalie already in their organization (like Thomas Milic) a chance to be the new full time backup goalie.

Putting all these pieces together, I’d expect the Jets to finish the new 84 game regular season with a 39-38-7 record for 85 points. I’d like to be optimistic and hope that the Jets could get over 90 points this season, but with the uncertainty of how the Hellebuyck trade will play out it’s hard to give them a better record. If all goes well, the Jets could find themselves back in the playoffs in a wildcard spot, but if things go similar to last season, it could be a long and busy off-season for the Jets in the summer of 2027. Whatever happens, I’ll be cheering on the Jets throughout the season, and fans have a variety of reasons to be excited for the new hockey season.

Up Next

The 2026 NHL off-season is almost done, with pre-season games starting in less than two weeks. Teams are now back on the ice getting ready for the season, so hockey is almost back. Stay tuned here on Daily Faceoff Winnipeg for the latest news on the Jets, as well as a variety of different articles leading up to the Jets first pre-season game on September 19th.

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