WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets are entering a pivotal off-season burdened by a harsh reality.
Just one year removed from capturing the Presidents鈥 Trophy, the organization must now prove its aging roster is still good enough to compete for a Stanley Cup, while facing an NHL landscape that no longer views them as legitimate contenders.
Following a 35-35-12 campaign that left them outside the playoff picture, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff and head coach Scott Arniel addressed the media on Monday. Together, they detailed a season derailed by inconsistency, a lack of overall team speed and a lost defensive identity.
Cheveldayoff also admitted the organization may have suffered from overconfidence following back-to-back Jennings Trophies 鈥 awarded each year to the team with the best goals-against average 鈥 and a first-place regular-season finish a year ago.
鈥淒id we think we were going to get to college without going to high school? Did we skip a step?鈥 Cheveldayoff asked. 鈥淪o, that鈥檚 where I have to grade myself, too. Did I feel overconfident?鈥
The urgency to rebound from a down year is only amplified by the mounting frustration inside the locker room. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, the reigning Hart Trophy and Vezina Trophy winner, bluntly stated that the team can鈥檛 afford to run it back without notable adjustments.聽
鈥淐omplacency is not going to get us moving forward,鈥 Hellebuyck said in his exit interview last week. 鈥淭o just put that same product on the ice, I don鈥檛 think it worked for a reason.鈥
Both Cheveldayoff and Arniel maintained their belief in the current roster, while acknowledging the need to inject youth and find a way to increase their overall team speed to adjust to the modern NHL. But executing that plan presents a significant organizational challenge, considering the club鈥檚 salary cap space is heavily anchored by a veteran core.
Hellebuyck, at 32 years old, joins players like Mark Scheifele (33), Kyle Connor (29), Neal Pionk (30) and Adam Lowry (33) on long-term deals taking them into their late 30s. These contracts came with management鈥檚 promise to compete for the Stanley Cup each year, only adding to the pressure to deliver.
While Cheveldayoff still has belief in the foundation of the team, he made a notable concession regarding the untouchable status of his stars. Acknowledging the price paid for trading away draft capital in recent years to keep this contention window open, the GM didn鈥檛 rule out the possibility of a franchise-altering move.
鈥淐ertainly open to talk about anybody,鈥 Cheveldayoff said when asked about moving a core piece. 鈥淏ut anything we do is about making this group one step closer to winning a championship.鈥
One of the main areas of improvement Hellebuyck and others hoped to see is a return to a team who prides itself on speed 鈥 hard on the forecheck, relentless in puck pursuit and overall tougher to play against. Following the departure of Nikolaj Ehlers, the Jets attempted to build a heavier roster.
Arniel, who has one year remaining on his contract, admitted that trying to implement his systems with a lineup lacking foot speed was a persistent hurdle.
鈥淚 have to coach what鈥檚 in front of me,鈥 Arniel said. 鈥淚鈥檇 love to be a 100-mph team; I really would. We came off a Presidents鈥 Trophy year, with hopefully adding to it 鈥 getting stronger, maybe heavier. Maybe that was right, wrong or indifferent, the decision we made. At the end of the day, now we got to shift, we got to figure it out.鈥
The coach lamented a lack of reliable secondary scoring, forcing him to overplay his top lines.
That dependence led to longer shifts, defensive breakdowns and the team frequently chasing the puck in their own zone. It culminated in an 11-game losing streak that created a hole the Jets ultimately could not overcome, even if they played some of their best hockey down the stretch.
Winnipeg has notoriously struggled to attract top-end unrestricted free agents, and with their nosedive in the standings this year, the Manitoba capital will not be atop players鈥 lists for a trade, especially if they have some form of protection. That will likely mean looking to improve from within, with Arniel challenging prospects like Brad Lambert, Brayden Yager and Nikita Chibrikov to force management鈥檚 hand come training camp in September.
鈥淕o beat somebody out for a job,鈥 Arniel said. 鈥淕o do what you can to get yourself to become a Winnipeg Jet full-time.鈥
With four and a half months until training camp, management is officially on the clock to improve the team and keep their playoff window open. Reflecting on the team鈥檚 steep decline, Arniel outlined the organization鈥檚 mandate for the summer.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a phrase out there: You either win or learn,鈥 Arniel said. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 go out and find out why you didn鈥檛 win, you鈥檙e just going to end up repeating the same thing.鈥
This report by 好色tvwas first published April 20, 2026.
