Congratulations, Winnipeg! You have a hockey team again, as the Atlanta Thrashers have become the Jets. You inherit a team that last season got 80 points, finished 12th in the Eastern Conference, had the second worst goal differential in the conference at minus-46, had the third fewest regulation wins in the conference at 29, and were tied for 29th in the league in goals allowed. Plus, you are still playing in the Southeast Conference, despite being neither southern nor eastern, which means a lot of massive road trips. Still, you've got hockey again. That's something, right?
The Jets need help both scoring and preventing goals. Andrew Ladd led the team with 29 goals and 59 points, but only one other player had 20 goals, and that was Dustin Byfuglien. The big defenseman was great last season, but it remains to be seen if he can do that again, especially with a new head coach in Claude Noel at the helm. Nevertheless, Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom make a great top pairing. Aside from that, there are going to be issues.
Winnipeg didn't really add anybody this offseason, with their biggest signing probably being Eric Fehr. The Jets will just hope their young players get better. Bryan Little is only 23, Evander Kane is only 20, and Alex Burmistrov is only 19. Kane and Little have already accomplished things at the NHL level, and I do like Kane's potential, but Burmistrov is still more potential than results to date. Of course, there's also Zach Bogosian on defense who is only 21. Bogosian was drafted one pick after Drew Doughty. Now, Doughty is one of the best defensemen in the NHL, while Bogosian had five goals and 17 points with a minus-27 rating in 71 games. That is a bit concerning, but you can't give up on him yet. On the flip side, the Jets lost Anthony Stewart, and folks like Rich Peverley and Niclas Bergfors were traded last season.
While the Thrashers were awful at goal prevention last season, Ondrej Pavelec wasn't the problem. He had a .914 save percentage, which, while not good, certainly won't lead to giving up a ton of goals. Chris Mason, meanwhile, had an awful .892 SV%. Just playing Pavelec more, or having Mason rebound, could help a bit. That being said, clearly Winnipeg's defense needs to be better this season.
I think 12 of the teams in the Eastern Conference can make the playoffs. I do not think Winnipeg is one of them. I don't think they are the worst team in the conference, but they aren't good. While their young players will likely get better, I think a couple of players might regress a bit. As such, I think they will be about the same team this season. The issue is that most of the other teams around them have gotten better. Combine that with the travel, and I think this is going to be a rough year for the Jets. Not that the fans will care much.
Last team up: Washington Capitals
Next team up: Chicago Blackhawks
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