\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
![\"Melissa](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/3841604_web1_CP175512525.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n
Melissa Majchrzak \/ The Associated Press<\/p>\n
Jets\u2019 defenceman Josh Morrissey is an elite blue-liner on a team stuck in a terrible rut.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Notably, Chipman was standing in the hallway outside the team\u2019s locker room just a short distance away as the bench boss spoke with obvious frustration in his voice.<\/p>\n
With the Jets now heading into a five-day holiday break \u2014 a period Arniel said he hopes includes some \u201cinner soul-searching\u201d for his players \u2014 it\u2019s fair to wonder what awaits on the other side of Christmas.<\/p>\n
When a team is languishing near the bottom of the standings with nearly half the season in the rear-view mirror, particularly one built with legitimate Stanley Cup aspirations, nothing should be off the table.<\/p>\n
Fair or not, this is a results-oriented business. For a Jets team that is now fully healthy \u2014 something few around the league can claim \u2014 the excuses are gone.<\/p>\n
And perhaps, so is the time for patience. Let\u2019s explore the options:<\/p>\n
1) FIRE SOMEONE: Arniel\u2019s seat may be warming, and some of his recent in-game and lineup decisions have come under scrutiny.<\/p>\n
Starting overtime Sunday with defensive centre Adam Lowry backfired in a big way, as Utah took full advantage and burned the Jets with speed and skill to score the winner 13 seconds into the three-on-three session.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also fair to wonder whether players are still buying what Arniel is selling, given how often they\u2019ve started games looking disorganized and borderline disinterested. Falling behind early and taking careless penalties have become familiar themes.<\/p>\n
Sending Arniel packing, however, one year after he led the Jets to the best regular-season in franchise history and earned a Jack Adams Award nomination, would miss the point. He hasn\u2019t forgotten how to coach. Why let everyone else off so easily?<\/p>\n
Which brings us to Kevin Cheveldayoff, now in his 15th season running the team. He will soon become the NHL\u2019s longest-serving general manager once Doug Armstrong retires in St. Louis after this season. Arniel is his fifth head coach, following Claude Noel, Paul Maurice, Dave Lowry (interim) and Rick Bowness.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Melissa Majchrzak \/ The Associated Press<\/p>\n Jets\u2019 forward wing Gustav Nyquist shoots the puck over the Utah net during Sunday\u2019s loss the the Mammoth.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n It\u2019s obvious to many that the current Jets roster isn\u2019t nearly good enough. Cheveldayoff\u2019s four free-agent signings last summer\u2014 Jonathan Toews, Gustav Nyquist, Tanner Pearson and Cole Koepke \u2014 have not worked out. Typically, three are now forming an unproductive fourth line, with the other sitting as a healthy scratch.<\/p>\n In a league getting faster and younger, the Jets got slower and older, and it shows night after night. Incredibly, not a single significant move has been made to address it as the losses pile up and the Jets slide further down the standings.<\/p>\n All of that would seemingly put the architect under fire, certainly in most if not all other NHL markets.<\/p>\n Chipman has previously suggested Cheveldayoff will outlast him in the organization, which doesn\u2019t exactly hint at an appetite for change. Loyalty runs deep, and it would be surprising if both Arniel and Cheveldayoff aren\u2019t given the chance to try to fix this.<\/p>\n 2) MAKE A TRADE: This is where Cheveldayoff \u2014 assuming he\u2019s still at the controls \u2014 must tread very carefully.<\/p>\n If the Jets are going to miss the playoffs, which looks more likely by the day, they\u2019re better off failing spectacularly rather than marginally. The website MoneyPuck, which uses advanced statistics to track odds, currently gives the Jets a 28.6 per cent chance of qualifying for the post-season.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not to say a deliberate, full-blown tank is the play, but an early first-round pick in a deep draft year could be exactly what this organization needs.<\/p>\n The Jets were reportedly sniffing around Seattle Kraken forward Mason Marchment, who ultimately went to the Columbus Blue Jackets last Friday for a second- and fourth-round pick.<\/p>\n That suggests some appetite to make a move, but at what cost? Pushing chips into the middle of the table right now feels futile, with the risks far outweighing the reward. Is there a single deal that suddenly fixes this team? Highly unlikely. The problems run far deeper.<\/p>\n At this point, becoming sellers rather than buyers may be the smarter move, recouping assets for expiring contracts, even if the return is limited to later-round picks.<\/p>\n 3) PROMOTE FROM WITHIN: Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the Manitoba Moose dressing room these days. Players down on the farm are surely seeing the issues with the big club and wondering why no one\u2019s phone is ringing.<\/p>\n It\u2019s genuinely baffling. The Jets have no shortage of underperforming skaters, while the AHL roster is filled with guys having solid seasons.<\/p>\n Yet only Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov, Parker Ford and Elias Salomonsson have been given looks, and that was due to injuries and before things truly went south.<\/p>\n Now, with everyone healthy, there\u2019s somehow no room. You get the sense Arniel is frustrated by this, based on his recent comment about only \u201cbeing able to coach what I have here.\u201d<\/p>\n The NHL roster freeze is now in effect and prevents any movement until the weekend. Once that lifts, the Jets could \u2014 and should \u2014 be shuffling the deck in some fashion, even if it means exposing a player or two to waivers.<\/p>\n 4) MAINTAIN THE STATUS QUO: Last, and we would suggest least.<\/p>\n Yes, doing nothing might improve draft lottery odds, but does the ticket-buying public have the patience to watch this continue?<\/p>\n This isn\u2019t a brief slump. The Jets have been shaky from the outset, even during a 9-3-0 start that masked troubling underlying numbers suggesting it wouldn\u2019t last. Standing pat isn\u2019t sustainable.<\/p>\n As Arniel himself has said, this has been a season-long issue. It\u2019s now a full-blown crisis, one that\u2019s wasting strong years from core players like Connor Hellebuyck, Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey.<\/p>\n If nothing else, injecting fresh energy into a group that feels like it\u2019s been waiting for something to happen could offer a glimmer of hope.<\/p>\n Otherwise, the \u201cgloom and doom\u201d Arniel referenced recently is only going to deepen.<\/p>\n www.winnipegfreepress.com\/mikemcintyre<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Mike McIntyre Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Reporter
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n