With a loss the the New York Rangers, the Winnipeg Jets have officially missed the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. This is just the first time the Jets have missed the playoffs since 2016-17, the year before making the Conference Finals (Maybe it is a sign for next year?).

I will start things off by quickly highlighting the game. Andrew Copp makes sure that the people of Winnipeg didn't forget about him, notching two assists, as did Artemi Panarin, and Ryan Strome registered two goals. Igor Shesterkin manages to pick up the Rangers 3rd shutout in a row, which is the first time this has happened since St. Louis shut-out Arizona, Colorado, and Minnesota in February of 2019.

There isn't much to talk about for this game at all, and while I could talk about the struggles the Jets had, it is starting to get repetitive, and the readers of this know all of the things that need to change.

So where do we go from here?

Lets have a look at the steps the Jets need to take to fix this team, that on paper, should've been a lock for a Central division spot, or a Wild Card spot at the very least.

Prepare for the draft

The NHL Entry Draft is one of the most important parts of the entire season. The success can be broken down into 3 different categories.

The player drafted, the trades made, and the trades not made.

Two of these are relatively easy to gauge. The players drafted, where you can watch highlight packages, read scouting reports, listen to interviews and podcasts with segments on the player, and simply look at their stats. It is important to look at more than the stats, and for those of you who are dedicated to this blog, I will have scouting reports up within a week or two of the draft for the players the Jets select. I will have a brief breakdown right away, but I will spend time watching and reading each player and provide you my best breakdown.

Obviously, these players are only 18, 19 and sometimes 20. They are growing, and have a long ways to go before reaching their true potential, but you can make a pretty confident rating on the value of a teams selections if you pay attention.

Secondly, the trades made at the deadline. Every team has a different cost value on their draft picks. Moving up and down in the draft are pretty hard to judge, as not many teams are too busy with that, and they are usually miniscule moves. The players dealt for picks, however, can be very interesting. Some players I see the Jets potentially moving at the draft are Brendan Dillon, Nate Schmidt, and I won't say that Scheifele moving is impossible, rather very unlikely. The immediate returns can't be judged too quick on these, as the chemistry, team fit, and team need are all taken into account with trade prices.

Free Agency

The Jets have a lot of contracts up. I see these players falling into three tiers.

Must re-sign:
Pierre-Luc Dubois
Evgeny Svechnikov

Should probably re-sign:
Mason Appleton
Jansen Harkins
Eric Comrie

Probably shouldn't re-sign:
Zach Sanford
Adam Brooks
Paul Stastny

I think the only "hot take" in here may be having Stastny in that bottom tier, but hear me out. He is aging, the Jets failed to move him to a contender at the deadline, and the Jets need room at C for some of the prospects coming up. Sure, Stastny is usually a LW, but he is one of the first guys to jump into center when need be. The Jets will not be competitive next season, let him go.

As for Free Agency, the Jets should try and find a few younger guys to fill out the roster. If the Jets could find 2 or 3 Svechnikov-esque signings, they absolutely should. They don't need to add anything in free agency that they aren't comfortable scratching or waiving if they get outplayed by a rookie. Time to embrace the youth.

With the Jets eliminated (actually, I think if the Jets win out, and the Stars lose out, and Vegas and Vancouver get no more than 3 points, the Jets will tie the Stars, and be in via tiebreaker, but c'mon, that isn't going to happen) the off season picture is getting clearer, and I am hoping to hear, or at least see some direction being taken in the off season.

Thank you for reading, I appreciate it, leave your thoughts in the comment box as always, enjoy!

Jacob

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