The Winnipeg Jets have spent years building toward something special, and yet when the Stanley Cup was handed out once again this past spring, they were watching from home just like the majority of the league.
Lessons from the teams that went furthest, the Western Conference champion Vegas Golden Knights and Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, are sitting right there for Kevin Cheveldayoff to absorb and act on.
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The Golden Knights remain perhaps the most instructive case study in modern NHL roster construction. General manager Kelly McCrimmon has built a culture of aggressive, calculated risk-taking, consistently flipping draft assets and prospects for proven impact players at exactly the right moments.
Almost no one on the Vegas roster is homegrown, yet the Golden Knights have remained perennial contenders by positioning their organization as an irresistible destination, the kind of place where players know the front office is committed to winning at all costs.
To their credit, the Jets have shown a willingness to operate with a similar mindset, locking up world-class talents like Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele and Connor Hellebuyck to long-term commitments speaks to an organizational vision that players have bought into.
But where Winnipeg has fallen short is in making the kind of complementary moves that push a contender over the top. Instead of swinging for the fences this past offseason, the Jets brought in Jonathan Toews and Gustav Nyquist, additions that underwhelmed and ultimately did little to move the needle behind the team’s core stars. In a league where the margins between playoff teams are razor thin, those are the kinds of misses that cost you.
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The consequences of those misfires have now created urgency at the highest level with Hellebuyck being vocal in the media about his desire to win a Stanley Cup, and his comments carried the unmistakable weight of a ticking clock.
Winnipeg enters this offseason with some major positives like over $21 million in available cap space and an opportunity to reshape a forward group that badly needs new blood after too many players underperformed this past season.
Carolina’s blueprint is worth studying closely with no players earning eight figures, building their roster through a combination of bold acquisitions and smart, affordable signings.
They landed Nikolaj Ehlers in free agency, traded for Mikko Rantanen and later added Logan Stankoven from Dallas, brought in Taylor Hall at the right price, and filled their bottom six with reliable contributors like William Carrier, Jordan Martinook, Eric Robinson, Mark Jankowski and Jordan Staal. They also fortified the back end through a trade for K’Andre Miller and the signing of Sean Walker.
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Winnipeg does not need to replicate every one of those moves, but the approach is a model worth following. The Jets have an opportunity to dip into a free agent market rich in capable middle-six and bottom-six forwards.
Names like Michael Bunting, Scott Laughton, Eeli Tolvanen, Bobby McMann, Mason Marchment, Anthony Mantha, Jason Dickinson and Oliver Bjorkstrand all represent realistic targets who could make meaningful contributions without breaking the cap bank. Adding three of these kinds of players to the mix could go a long way toward restoring the offensive depth this team has been missing.
Beyond the depth market, the Jets need to take an all-in swing on a true top-six impact forward, the kind of move that changes the complexion of the lineup the way the Ehlers acquisition changed Carolina’s. Winnipeg still has draft picks and prospects to work with, and if the window is as open as Hellebuyck’s comments suggest the organization believes, those assets need to be spent.
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Despite a season hampered by injuries, the Jets defense is not a concern as they still have their top four anchored by Josh Morrissey, Neal Pionk, Dylan DeMelo and Dylan Samberg. The focus this offseason needs to be entirely on rebuilding the offense.
Winnipeg is ahead of many teams around they league, with elite goaltending, proven star forwards and a legitimate defensive core that is closer to contending than most teams in the league. The gap between the Jets and the Golden Knights is not talent at the top but rather the finishing touches, the kinds of moves that create meaningful separation in the standings and genuine depth for a playoff run.
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