WINNIPEG \u2013 The tone set by Winnipeg Jets players during Friday\u2019s final media availability carried over into Monday, as head coach Scott Arniel and general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff addressed the media.<\/p>\n
Cheveldayoff started off by saying the expectations that fans had were high but internally \u2013 they were higher.<\/p>\n
\u201cSitting here today, we all feel the emotions, the disappointment, of not living up to those expectations,\u201d said Cheveldayoff.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you go through something like this as an organization, it\u2019s incumbent on everyone – starting with myself – to ask themselves critical questions of what could\u2019ve been done better and what we need to do to move forward to get back to achieving the standards we\u2019ve set for ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not many teams can have a stretch where not winning for 11 straight games and find their way into the playoffs. That drought was brought up a lot by the players as to a reason for lack of success, Arniel touched on the uphill climb that created for the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe went 6-2-2 after we finally got out of that 11-game stretch, but we were still chasing all year right up to the Olympics. We got to the break, we had a great second half but that was a tough run chasing five, six other teams to get ourselves in the playoffs,\u201d said Arniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike I said earlier; there’s a phrase out there, I forget who said it but, \u2018You either win or you learn.\u2019 If you don’t go out and learn, if you don’t go out and find out why you didn’t win, you’re just going to end up just kind of repeating the same thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hope is that the Jets have learned something from this up and down season that will get them back to where they were the previous two seasons, a contender for the Stanley Cup. Arniel was asked about what he will take from his second season as the head coach.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not the first coach this has happened to. I actually will reach out to coaches, and I will talk to different people \u2013 it\u2019s not just about winning and losing, it\u2019s about different stuff. At the end of the day, it sucks,\u201d said Arniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a terrible feeling to be standing here today and explaining why we didn\u2019t even make the playoffs after what happened last year. But it is about getting better and learning. Learn from it, so we\u2019re not standing here next year.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
When Nikolaj Ehlers departed to join the Carolina Hurricanes, he took with him a reliable 20-goal presence. The season prior, Ehlers produced 22 power-play points, helping the Winnipeg Jets lead the NHL in that category. This year, that production dipped. Secondary scoring dried up for stretches, and injuries didn\u2019t help \u2014 including a preseason setback for Cole Perfetti and offseason hip surgery for Adam Lowry.<\/p>\n
Cheveldayoff admitted replacing a player like Ehlers isn\u2019t straightforward in today\u2019s NHL landscape.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the flat-cap era, you might\u2019ve been able to find players who got squeezed out because teams couldn\u2019t afford them,\u201d said Cheveldayoff.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, with more cap flexibility, you\u2019re seeing teams keep their own free agents more often. So, replacing a player like Ehlers isn\u2019t easy. That becomes the challenge \u2014 you either make a trade, draft and develop which takes time, or try your luck in free agency. Otherwise, you look within and find ways to make the players you already have better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another significant drop-off for the Jets this season came in their play in their own end. After winning back-to-back Jennings Trophies as the NHL\u2019s top defensive team \u2014 allowing 199 goals in 2023\u201324 and 191 the year prior \u2014 that number ballooned to 260 in 2025\u201326.<\/p>\n
Unsurprisingly, that had a direct impact on Connor Hellebuyck\u2019s numbers. He went from a Vezina and Hart Trophy season to posting a .895 save percentage \u2014 the lowest of his career \u2014 along with zero shutouts, something that had never happened during his time with the Jets.<\/p>\n
Hellebuyck was very blunt when asked about the season last Friday, and his words didn\u2019t go unnoticed by either the coach or the general manager.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don’t become an elite player in this league unless you have that kind of emotion, that kind of fire, that kind of drive. But as far as putting the organization on notice, that’s something that happens each and every day. It doesn’t take someone to say it in public,\u201d said Cheveldayoff.<\/p>\n
\u201cEach and every day, my job \u2014 whether it’s over the course of a day, a week, or a month \u2014 is to find a way to fill the pieces, fill the gaps, and keep building toward something. I would not expect any of these players to come into exit meetings and say, \u2018You know what, it’s okay. It’s alright.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Injuries forced the Jets to give several prospects extended looks, including Elias Salomonsson, Brad Lambert, Danny Zhilkin, Brayden Yager, and Nikita Chibrikov. Cheveldayoff also added youth and speed by bringing in Isak Ros\u00e9n. Clearly, they are all part of the Jets\u2019 future \u2014 but will they be part of the immediate future?<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need these guys to be part of our future. And who that is? I don\u2019t know \u2014 it\u2019s up to the players. It\u2019s their responsibility,\u201d said Arniel. \u201cWhen you come in September \u2014 and this was my message to these young guys when we left the other day \u2014 they\u2019re going to go play with the Moose.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo have success there. Go play well. Go help them win. But if there\u2019s a job available, go take it. Do everything you can. The things they can control are their attitude, their work ethic, and their conditioning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pressing issue for the Jets is the age of their core. Hellebuyck turns 33 next month, Mark Scheifele is already 33, Josh Morrissey just turned 31, and Kyle Connor will be 30 in December. Hellebuyck, Scheifele, and Connor all re-signed with the belief that this group would contend for a Stanley Cup each year.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the beauty of the sport. The focus \u2014 and if anything has to be reset \u2014 is that nothing will be given to you,\u201d said Cheveldayoff. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter if you make four or five trades or bring in four or five different people \u2014 you still have to earn it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever group is assembled next year, we have to come in with the mindset that we have to earn it. There\u2019s no easy path. If there was, 31 other teams might as well just go home.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WINNIPEG \u2013 The tone set by Winnipeg Jets players during Friday\u2019s final media availability carried over into Monday,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":618561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":{"0":"post-618560","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-winnipeg","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-winnipeg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=618560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/618560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/618561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=618560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=618560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=618560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}