The Athletic Hockey Show - How to Fix: Winnipeg Jets

Episode Date: August 31, 2026

Connor Hellebuyck’s name has dominated off-season trade rumours. Will the former Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy winner be moved by the Jets, or can Winnipeg rebound to a league powerhouse like they were two seasons ago? Sean Mcindoe and Murat Ates take a look at the Jets from their strength in goal with Hellebuyck and Stuart Skinner, to their stable defense led by Josh Morrissey and newcomer Mario Ferraro and their deep forward group headlined by Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Gabriel Valardi and Cole Perfetti and they ask, can the Winnipeg Jets return to the top 8 in the Western Conference and once again become a favourite to compete for the Stanley Cup?Host: Sean McIndoeWith: Murat AtesExecutive Producer: Chris FlanneryProducer: Jeff DometWatch full episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@theathletichockeyshowJoin our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/VTm9VjkFSubscribe to The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the Athletic Hockey Show. Welcome back to the Athletic Hockey Show summer series. We are fixing NHL teams. I'm Sean McIndoo, and today I'm joined by our Winnipeg Jets beat reporter, Maradatesh, who is going to help us fix, coincidentally, the Winnipeg Jets. Two years ago, President's trophy winners, last year, seventh in the central, 82 points, a big time plummet down the standings. Hard to really get your head around what happened in Winnipeg last year.

Put it this way, imagine if I came to you today and I said, in my predictions for this coming season, I think the avalanche are not only going to miss the playoffs, I think they're going to miss by a mile. I think there'll be 10 points out and we won't even be talking about them down the stretch. that would sound not just wrong, it would sound ridiculous bordering on impossible. And yet, this is what happened with the Winnipeg Jets. Murat, explain.

Before we dive in, we're going to do it by position, and obviously we're going to start with goalie in a few. But just at a high level, what the heck was that? Like what happened last year that a team dropped? 30 plus points in the standings, which is not quite unheard of, but very, very rare. It's one of those situations, Sean, where I want to say it's death by a thousand paper cuts, but each of the paper cuts were a little bit sharper and more violent than paper. You've got to go step by step.

You can start with losing Nikolite Eulers in the off season. That guts your second line offense for a little bit. Some secondary scoring is missing, but that in and of itself, not nearly enough to explain. You take Connor Hallibuck out for just about a month with the Niesco. Not enough all on its own to explain it because Eric Comrie was usually a solid backup for them, but he happened to play really poorly during that time. So that hurt. The number one overall Winnipeg Jets had an elite power play.

They flirted with setting an NHL record this season before. Everything was going well. They were scoring like gangbusters. Well, it turns out, below average last season, they struggled in that regard. So that takes away a lot of goals. So that takes away a lot of points in the standings. You've got an old-school approach to line matching, where it's scoring line one, checking line one, scoring line two.

Adam Lowry, phenomenal shutdown center for so, so many years, had off-season hip surgery, came back, never matched his previous performance, just didn't have that pop in his step. So now you miss a shutdown line. So that third line is now scoring teams. The second line's got it because of Nicola. departure. Cole Profetti's also hurt to start the year. Takes him a while.

It goes on and on and on. I haven't told you about Dylan Sandberg, i.e. poor man's Jacob Slevin type of impact in his injury to start his season. Add it all up and over and over again, plus some offseason bets on some really old and really slow players. It all went wrong. And Winnipeg absolutely struggled. and the end of that story, we thought, involved the, at the time, reigning MVP still, Conor Hellebuck, 2025 MVP, who seems to want out. Now, I'm going to do, I'm going to do a peek behind the curtain here, give you a sense of how the sausage gets made at the Atlantic Hockey Show Industries. a lot of the shows that you've been listening to this summer about how to fix various teams were recorded early in the summer, like middle of July sort of thing.

Get them done, get the conversations happening, and then you spread out the release over the course of the summer. And at a point in mid-July, you and I sat down with producer Jeff. We were all ready to go. Cameras up, mics up, lights on. And just before we started, we kind of looked at each other and went, how can we do a Winnipeg Jet Show when the Connor Hellibuck deal hasn't happened yet? Because even if we talk about, well, you know, without Hallibuck,

this is what it's going to look like. We don't know what they got back, what holes in the lineup they might have plugged, what other moves they might have made. And so we pulled the shoot on that show. We said we can't do it. We got to wait until late August, which is when we're recording this. Because by that point, it goes without saying, Connor Hellebuck will have been traded.

And we'll have done all of the, we'll have the trade grades and the winners and losers. And Mara will have done his behind the scenes, how it all came together. And we'll be all set to go. So here we are. Well over a month later, there is no Conner Hellebuck trade to talk about. What were we thinking? What were we thinking, Sean? I even remember saying to you, I'm like, mid-July, Sean is going to be so ticked-off.

Or no, late August, Sean will be ticked off at mid-July, Sean for kicking this can down the road. He's going to have to work on some random Monday. Here we go. What's going on? I thought this guy was packed and ready to head to Buffalo at the draft. What's going on in Winnipeg? Is Connor Hellbock going to be a Winnipeg jet next year? I mean, it certainly seems like it, as we're talking right now,

because I was like you, and I sincerely believed at the draft that we were going to get a trade with the Buffalo Sabres and Winnipeg Jets, heading into that first round involving the number four overall pick from Buffalo, and I think the sticking point was the number eight overall pick from Winnipeg that became Big O'Biore. I thought that this was going down, that a trade had been consummated, and all of a sudden, hold on, pump the brakes. That's not actually what's going down here. That's the closest and most likely out the door

that I've personally felt with respect to Connor Hallibuck and the Winnipeg Jets. I thought that was going to happen, but it didn't. And then the first round happened. So now first round picks are up the door, and those can't necessarily be moved unless we're talking about next year. Fast forward, Winnipeg signs Stuart Skinner, who at 3.75 mil for two years and the level that Stuart Skinner plays at is the perfect

1B if Hellebuck's still around or more likely because he shares the same agent. He knows Hella Buck. He knows players who fight for Winnipeg for a long time. Probably he's reading the room and saying, hey, here's a place where I can grow into an unequivocal number one. It seems for a guy that spends or plays at least 50 games every year like the play. and here we are. For me, the later we get, it's August now for a little while longer.

This isn't the type of time where teams pony up and pay big for a starting goalie. I don't think because it's the time of season where you squint at your lineup and you think, well, hey, that prospect's going to work out. That 1B goalie is going to work out. Like, why are we giving up number one assets or big assets for a goalie? And yet, I still don't think it's a long-term situation for Winnipeg and Hessex. hollow bucks on. So you're right. I mean, there's there's not any teams that didn't like their goaltending or like their goaltending in, in mid July and have decided that it's a problem now

in the last month. If he's there, let's just say for training camp, is there animosity? Is this going to be a problem? Like this is, it's been a weird summer, right? We've got the Dylan Larkin thing still hanging out there. You've got Zach Werenski making peace with the blue jackets, kind of, we think. Is there going to be any bad blood here? Does Connor Hellebuck, you know, there's a difference between, hey, I'm open to some change and I want out. Where does, what's the one outometer on Connor Hallibuck?

And how is he going to feel about this situation if nothing happens and he's pulling on a Jets uniform at least for training camp? Yeah, the one outometer is tough to be official about because. neither he nor his agent or the Winnipeg Jets have said yes to me talking to him about this, despite multiple asks, of course. I mean, I'm not sure that it's necessarily in his interest other than to just clear the air, which I think would be valuable for all of us and Winnipeg Jets fans. If you were to say, well, hey, this is where I'm at.

This is my level of commitment right now. But I've spoken to some of Connor Hullabuck's teammates recently. I talked to the captain, Adam Lowry. Talk to an alternate captain, Josh Morrissey, really important Winnipeg Jets. And I asked them the sort of question that you're asking me. And, you know, one of the questions I asked was when the goalie comes out and says, well, hey, we don't seem like a contender. You know, it's tough to run it back and really believe in what we're doing here and then

presumably wants out. Isn't that a shot across the bow of the quality of your team? And while there was some hemming and awing about it and like no one said, no, that's not a criticism of our. our team. The idea that they gave me back was, hey, you know what, this is between Hellebuck, his agent and the team. Whatever happens happens until he, until something happens, Adam Lowry told me he's a Winnipeg jet and he's a good friend. I'll be there at camp ready to help him become the best goalie in the world to prove he's the best goalie in the world. So what this tells me,

Sean, is that they're not acting. Like the core key pieces of the Winnipeg Jets are not unequivocally acting. Like he's a 100% forever Winnipeg jet. And they're not going to be jerks about it should he come back and report to camp and be Winnipeg Jet and start next season as the number one goalie all over again. And I mean, you said best goalie in the world, which for a lot of guys would kind of sound like typical preseason hyperbole, but not for Connor Hallibuck. He's been that guy. You know, Vezina winner, MVP, you go on down the list. I think you could make a very strong argument that he is the best goalie in the world right now, has been for the last several years.

So, I mean, it's so tough as we shift to looking ahead at Winnipeg's 2012-27 season. I mean, obviously, if Connor Hellebuck is there and he's doing his usual 60 starts, you might get the best goaltending in the entire league. Now, maybe you don't. maybe this is a distracted Connor Hallibuck or a frustrated Connor Hallibuck or just, you know, goaltending being what it is, he, you know, he's, he's not guaranteed to be Vesina caliber, but you would assume he is. For the sake of argument, let's say that Connor Hallibuck is not in the lineup by opening night.

You talked a little bit about Stuart Skinner. Is he, yeah, he maybe is the perfect 1B. Is he also the perfect transition starter for a team that's, it's maybe on the precipice of making a big change? I mean, yes. Like, I really like the needle that Winnipeg threaded by signing him. I think 3.75 mil is an ideal cap hit for Stuart Skinner. The two years, which gives them time to sort out Connor Hallibuck's future, is also ideal.

The idea about a transition starter, though, it needs somebody else in the pipeline who is going to be the guy. I think Winnipeg does have goaltending prospects and Dom de Vincentis and Thomas Millage. They drafted two more goalies at the draft this year. They have people in the pipeline, but they don't have a clear-cut starter, let alone somebody on Connor Hellebuck's tier. Like there's no obvious solution beyond what's on the NHL roster right now. So if Stuart Skinner is the ideal transitional starter, and he could be, he's 27 years old, manageable cap hit, all of those things, it kind of has to be.

from Stuart Skinner to Stuart Skinner extended because he played really well and gave Winnipeg the chance to move Helibuck and address some other holes on their lineup. Without that happening, I think that they're one of those teams almost like the Carolina Hurricanes who are just trying two or three guys every single year, except they're not the Carolina Hurricanes and they're not dominating teams at five-on-five, so it's harder to bet on them to win or to go deep. Yeah, and I mean, it worked pretty well for Carolina, I guess the first thing you've got to say. I like Stewart's Giner. I like that signing a lot. I mean, he got beat up in Edmonton,

and some of that was deserved for the playoff performance. But you look at the numbers over the years. They're quite solid, lots of playoff experience. And, you know, the old, you don't know what you got till it's gone thing kind of happened with him and the Oilers last year. So I think that's an interesting situation to watch. And look, I mean, maybe the best case scenario is Connor Hallibuck says I changed my mind. I love it in Winnipeg and I'm going to be here forever. And then you've got a real good backup that probably looks pretty attractive to a lot of teams by deadline time or next off season. But I guess we cross that bridge when we get to it. Let's talk about the blue line.

The guys who are going to make this goalie, whoever it is, look good or not so good. Where are we at there? where, you know, not exactly huge changes. Still the Josh Morrissey show as far as who's leading the way. Give me a grade on this blue line, A, B, C, or below. In the Bs, let's call it like a flat B with potential for better than that. If Neil Pionk steps forward back to his best after kind of a poor season from him, I don't see it being an awful defense by any stretch,

but this is a team that gave up the fewest goals in the league in back-to-back seasons before last season. The defense was part of that, and it is part of what fell apart last year. So, yeah, we'll go with the B. It is the Josh Morrissey show to the extent that it can become the Dillon-Samberg shutdown defense show on the second pair that requires more from Samburg this year and more from Kiyon, who like I mentioned had an off year last year. I like their Mario Ferraro signing on the third pair though, Sean. I got to tell you that.

Yep. That is a good one. And sometimes those what feel like depth moves at the time can play a lot bigger. But I want to zero back on something you said where you talked about how it, I think the words you used where it fell apart last year. Can you talk a bit more about that? because I think a lot of us outside Winnipeg are just going to look at this and go, oh, yeah, Connor Hallibuck stood on his head and was the best goalie in the world for two years, so they gave up the fewest goals.

And then Connor Hallibuck gets hurt and or isn't absolutely elite, and suddenly the blue line doesn't look good anymore. This is just an average blue line with a superstar back there. But it certainly sounds like it's more to that, both as far as the top level, of what they have been and the not so top level of what they were last year. Can you go into a little more detail on what went wrong? Yeah, it almost takes a history lesson that starts with the 22 Winnipeg Jets that Paul Marisa walked out on and they missed the playoffs and they really underperformed.

And they kind of did a top to bottom audit of themselves in that offseason and came away with the decision to hire Rick Bonus. And I think a lot of people questioned that at the time. And as a veteran coach, older than most coaches at that stage, he'd seen it all, he'd done it all other than, I think, win the cup in his career. And Winnipeg had been on Barry Trots watch all summers. So how could Rick Bonas be the right guy? But he went through and he made changes to the leadership group in Winnipeg, took the captain's away from Wheeler. He was eventually bought out.

There were some cultural changes, a little bit more. How you played was what lineup was corresponded to how many minutes you got. And the most important thing that Rick Bonas did was he got the Winnipeg Jets playing really high-level team defense. Their forecheck was locked. They turned over pucks generated turnovers in the offensive zone. They track back so hard defensively that they spent less time in their own zone. If you think about defense, your own zone starts on the backtrack. If you're outnumbered because you didn't dog it back and now it's a three on two, now you've got chasing

situations going. Teams have momentum on you. They've got separation. The Winnipeg's defensive zone was so good for two years because they played like a five-man team. It started with Rick Bonas. It carried forward into Scott Arneal's President's trophy first year. Last season, when nobody could score other than the top line, the top line started chasing offense. The second and third line couldn't control flow of play. They were too slow. Some of the players just weren't able to play the forechecking and back checking style of play that Winnipeg needed them to do. And all of a sudden you had Winnipeg chasing in the D zone, chasing the D zone, too much time,

too many high quality chances right from the slot. All that stuff you don't want, they gave up last year after being a tremendous team defense for two straight years. And there weren't superstars driving that bus. It was just five guys playing connected. And they deserve credit for what they did when it went well. just as they deserve criticism for completely getting derailed last year. That's really interesting how you link the breakdown on the defensive side to, in part, the struggles up front,

the lack of offense from anyone other than the first line. Is that problem going to be any better? Let's move the discussion up front. The forward group, again, not wildly. different. Let's, we got to talk about some of the youth coming in, and we will, but let's just start with the veterans. Is there reason to think that we're going to see another level from this group that maybe we didn't see for most of last year? I think the most important players up front are Mark Schifley and Kyle Connor in terms of generating offense. And it's hard

for me to believe that they can be better offensively than they were last season. Shifley hit 103 points. It was an incredible performance. Conner was in the 90s again. It was, they managed to score 195 points between the two of them. The crazy thing was, since they were the only ones that were scoring for most of the season, the Jets started running only Josh Morrissey's D pair behind them. If you take Connor and Shifley, who scored incredibly, Like they were the ones who did their job because they generated half the offense that Winnipeg scored. But if you just look at the minutes without Morrissey backing them up, they were minus players. And that, I think, partly because of their own skills and strengths and weaknesses, but a lot had to do with the rest of that forward group being completely unable to generate offense for most of the season.

We'll talk about the things that went well at the end of the season in a moment. But when your second line's not scoring and your third line's not scoring, you've got to open things up. And I think that Connor and Shively opened things up to the point where they were giving things up in the other direction as well. I think had Lowry been at his best,

shutting things down, had there been a second line that scored, you would have seen a rising tide kind of float all bolts with that group. And your question is, can they do it this year? And you're really betting on a rejuvenated Adam Lowry who's finally had a solid offseason,

no hip surgery this year, no lingering ailments. You're betting on him to be able to go toe to toe to with the elite forwards of other teams again. And you're betting on Vigo Bjork to be your number two center at less than 5 foot 10, 18 years old coming out of the draft in 2026.

Yeah. And yeah, well, let's just do it. Let's just jump in. Can you say say that name again? Because I mean, I would just say Vigo Bjork, but you've got like there's a twist on it. Give it to us one more time. It could be my Manitoba accent, but I say Vigo, Bjork.

Okay. I like that. And it sounds like I'm going to have to work on my pronunciation because he's going to be part of this team, which you don't often see for an eighth overall pick, right? That these days, your top three pick, you're expected to have an impact right away. But is this, I guess I'll, I guess I'll do my slightly cynical question. Is this a case of a kid who is just ready and he's going to kick the door down and take a spot? Or is this a case of a team that so desperately needs that secondary scoring that they're going to shove him into the lineup, whether he's ready or not?

It's so unusual for Winnipeg to push youth early. Like they haven't done something like this since Patrick Linae in 2016 where he was the number two overall pick. He came in. He scores 35 goals as a rookie. Okay, he's made it. But in the 10 years since that time, it's exceedingly rare. I mean, Colbert Fetti, 10th overall in 2020, it took him about a year, year two, to start making his impact. Winnipeg doesn't do this.

And I think that they know that their reputation around the NHL is that they don't do this either. You've had some players complain about it. You've had young players ask out because they're not getting enough opportunity. So this is a sea change. And why would Winnipeg make it? And I think the answer, Sean, is that they believe that this player is ready. From tip to toe of the organization, I've never seen their director of amateur scouting, Mark Hillier, as excited as he was at the draft, even though they always sell you that they are.

I believed it this time, if you know what I mean. Talking privately behind the scenes to multiple jets and people with that organization, I think that they are higher on this first round pick. They're so thrilled at the two-way play Vigo Bjork. They love that he played against men in the S.HL and Sweden last year. In the second half of the season, he played huge minutes as their number one overall, sorry, number one center. They played matchup minutes with him. He went to the world. He impressed Team Canada in their head-to-head matchup. Sidney Crosby had nice things to

say about him. And Winnipeg's belief is all this guy does is play the right way, win his battles, despite his size, read the game faster than the men he's playing against. And they think that he's ready. And I have multiple sources that tell me that they think that he's ready. Most recently and most publicly, Adam Lowry says, I think that he's going to play the full season with us. I hope to make his transition as easy as possible. It is such a big bet. They need Shifley to be incredible. They need Lowry to be incredible because I don't like putting that much pressure on him, even if he's ready to do it. It's just a lot to ask in the long-term career of New York as a person and as a player. It's a huge ask. What is for year one,

What's a realistic expectation? Because, you know, I'm hearing you talk about this kid, and I'm moving them up my fantasy hockey rankings real quick. But, I mean, at a certain point, what can you expect? What's really, what would be a success at the end of the year? What does that look like versus, you know, what are the scenarios where maybe this doesn't go the way that it should? Yeah, I'll start kind of, like, modestly, I think is the word that I want for Vigo, Bjork this season.

Winnipeg runs Shifley number one, Lowry number two. We all talk about him as a third line center, but at home, if you're Scott Arniel, what he actually does in practice is he matches Lowry up against teams so, with so much consistency, he usually plays the second most minutes. So that makes Vigo Bjork number two. two on paper. You'll see him that way on TV when they put the line charts up, but the number three center. And if he plays that role all season, call it 84 games or whatever it is, he sticks at center all season long,

he plays that role, he wins battles, he shows signs of being able to read the offensive zone quickly and crisply and comes anywhere near treading water in terms of those minutes in terms of outscoring them, I think that's a success. And for me, and I think Jets fans may be dismayed to hear this. If he scores between 30 and 40 points this season and looks like he belongs in the NHL as an 18-year-old center playing a really important role, for me that's phenomenal.

Because I rate this guy's long-term growth and his hockey IQ and his ability to read the game quickly to win battles against players much bigger than him, I think there's so much long-term potential for him. I don't see that electric offensive pop of a south. or a, like, who could even come close to that type of player. And Ivan Demidov, who I watched with Montreal in their rookie camp last year, he's not at that level offensively.

So tamper those expectations, make sure he looks like he can belong and win those minutes. And then I think in years two, three, or four, you're going to see a really special two-seat type of player from him. So, I mean, that sounds great. And I think you're right. I think that's a much more realistic outlook for, for kids. in this position. But again, I guess I get back to where do the points come from?

Because, I mean, Mark Schifley, 33 years old now, coming off a career year, that's rare. There's not a ton of guys who have their best offensive season at that age. So not a lot of history to draw on. But I think it's fair to say a step back would maybe be more likely than a step forward. you know, Kyle Connor, not so much. But I was surprised. When I was looking back at the Jets' numbers from last year, you mentioned earlier in the show that they bet on some guys who were old and slow.

I'd like the bet on Jonathan Taves. I'd like the homecoming and all that I'm a sucker for that sort of thing. But I think everyone looks back at that and says that didn't work. Jonathan Taves was, well, that poor guy was washed. He just couldn't do it anymore. and I look at it and he was tied for sixth and scoring on this team. So that is, that makes me really brings into stark relief. What you were saying is who else other than the first line is going to put points on the board.

And if it's not going to be the kid and it's not going to be the first line just scoring even more because that doesn't feel realistic. Again, like where does the offense come from? You've talked about Lowry being healthy again, but where does just appear, like, you know, we're going to get the other team worried. We're sending these guys out to score other than the big two. Yeah, I think the only players who truly put the fear of matchups in a defenseman is our Kyle Connor and Mark Schifley. And Winnipeg has been so unequivocally committed to playing the two of them together

that they're not accidentally building two star lines by splitting them up and playing one on line one, the other on line two. So assume that those two are on line one. Winnipeg's probable bet is Cole Perfetti with Bjork and Gabriel Vilardi, perhaps on the other side of that line. What you're looking for there is Vilari taking another step forward. He scored like a really good, like a first line score at even strength a whole bunch of times in his career, but all of them are really when he's playing with Connor and Shifley.

When he's away from them, he's a solid second line score. not going to do it all by himself. He doesn't have the wheels. He doesn't have the physical dominance, but he reads the game really well. He'll protect the puck on the wall. His playmaking is excellent, and his hands from in tight are phenomenal. I don't know if Gabriel Valardi is enough to get that line into the offensive zone often enough for them to make eight, but I think that he'll finish plays off if that's what they do. They go Bjork, yeah, that's a question mark we just talked about. Cole Perfetti needs to have a bounce back season in a big way. A high ankle sprain to start last season really set him back. He's not a big guy either. And when he's at his

best, he can go into a corner and he's really smart. He plays quick. He can turn off guys. He can spin off of players. He'll initiate little contact. It helps him get away with the puck. He's got great vision in the offensive zone in terms of assists, like shot assists, if you're talking about plays that move the puck into the low slot for a scoring chance. He's good at that too. What he wasn't able to do was put together long stretch as a point production last season. And when you're talking about like all three of those players are players

you could believe in, but you're sort of saying maybe and maybe and maybe and you never get everything working out in that regard. I don't think that there's a game breaker there this season, just you're looking for them to create more than they did a year ago from that hole in the Jets lineup.

Yeah, Colopperfetti, it always surprises me when I pull up his player page and I realize he's already been in the league for parts of five seasons. What's the patience level in Winnipeg on the, I'm saying this kid, but I mean, at this point, this is an HL veteran? Where is the patience for him to take that next step? I think the organization has more patience for Cole Profetti than some Jets fans do even. Like I see it in the comments sections. I see it sometimes on Twitter and all.

that that Colperfetti is what he is this last season where he scores 30-something points. It's just that's it, that's all. As if he wasn't a 50-point player in his only 82 game season a year ago. But I believe that they made him a priority this offseason with the long-term deal that he got. I believe that that's been a focus for the Winnipeg Jens since they extended Lowry last September, that this is a player that they were going to make sure was part of their long-term. term plans. That said, it is go time for Cole Prithetti. It's time for him to put together another 80-plus game season. I think that in and of itself would do wonders because I rate his

vision. I rate his hockey IQ. He makes really smart plays at both blue lines. Like he'll get a puck out and he'll keep a puck in. He'll hold onto the puck for just long enough to make a smart offensive play. Like I said, he does make a lot of passes into the slot, but those were going to Vladislav Nemestikov last season and without Nikolai Yelers on that line, nobody was really scoring. He's also hit a ton of posts and become kind of dispirited at times. And you wonder about the streakiness of such a player in that regard. I think he has the tools. And I think that were there a legitimate play driver and ideally Bjork becomes that sooner than later on that line,

perfetti is a sleeper for somebody who could produce all of a sudden a whole bunch of points if he gets power playtime, if he's with the play driver. But it's got to happen, I want to say, in the next year or two, for you to believe that it's going to happen for him in his career. All right. So let's wrap this up with the bigger picture. You said it's go time for Cole Profetti. It's kind of go time.

It feels like for this version of the Winnipeg Jets, it's, I'm not going to ask you yes or no, do they make the playoffs. Because, again, we don't know the Hela Buc situation. And that just, it looms over everything. Is there a realistic path back to the playoffs for a team that, again, was 117 or whatever it was, point team just one full year ago? Is there a path back in that central, especially being as top heavy as it is? What does that look like? And can this team be even more than that?

Or is that the ceiling to just get back into the race at this point? I wholeheartedly believe the Winnipeg Jets, as they're constructive. as we're talking about the Winnipeg Jets today, can make the playoffs. I think Connor Hellebuck is an excellent goalie. If you run a tandem of Hellebuck and Skinner, you've got perhaps the best tandem in the NHL, and you can ease Hellebuck's workload in a way the Winnipeg Jets have never been able to do. I also think that there's room for positive regression from the power play,

and I think most of the league and most observers underestimate just how hard the Jets run that Lowry matchup and just how much, much Lowry struggled physically last season. I think that there's improvement there. I think hockey is an interconnected game where if he can get the other lines on the Jets a couple more offensive zone shifts, I think that will bear dividends. I also think that Shifley and Connor don't need to score 195 points to help the Jets more next season than they did last.

They just don't need to be chasing that offense. They'll give up less as well. The big question marks on that second line. I think as constructed, that team can make, again, with Morrissey, Samberg, and Mario Ferraro, your top three left defensemen, like per second and third pair, it can make the playoffs. Do I believe they have the game breakers to overpower a team and go deep into the playoffs, win two or three rounds? No, I really don't. And I don't understand their path forward unless they retain Hellebuck and add a top six forward or two, which I think they can only do if they move Hellebuck. So the big challenge if you're the Winnipeg Jets, even if you're able to make him happy,

and I don't think that that's necessarily in the cards, is how do you go from this first round type of team to one that can genuinely make noise in the playoffs? While he's still in his mid to early 30s, Shifley's aging out at some point as well, I don't know that you can do that unless Bjork is a superstar, and I'm not ready to commit to that. So that's the challenge. That's the game I don't know how they can win heading into these next few years of Winnipeg Jets hockey. That's a good place to stop.

I don't know if I call that an optimistic take, but more optimistic than I think most. I'm a little bit surprised at how many fans, at least I've seen, sort of just almost write the Jets off, kind of forget how good they've been recently. but you're right. The path to something more than a playoff spot seems tough. Thank you very, very much, Marat, for your insights.

Thank you also to producer Jeff. And thank you, the listener or viewer, for tuning in and being part of the athletic hockey show. That is it for me. I'm going to talk to you all again probably just before the season starts in late September. I'll be back with my buddy Sean Gentile and Frankie Corrado. And we're looking forward to that. Speaking to Sean, other Sean finishes off the How to Fix series on Wednesday. He's got Max Boltman.

Speaking of teams that are sort of in wait and see mode on some big offseason stories, they're going to be talking about how to solve this mess in Detroit with the Red Wings. Tune in for that one. I'm guessing it could be a long one. We will see you next time. Thank you again for listening and watching, and we'll talk to you on the Athletic Hockey Show.